[HP] Three thousand days of innocence

Ginny gave Draco her address, and Draco said he would pick her up that evening.As soon as Ginny finished the call, she ran to her little fireplace, built a fire, and Flooed to Dean Thomas' house. "Dean!" she cried, her head suddenly appearing in his empty living room. "Dean, I'm Ginny, I'm in a hurry!"

A door in the hallway swung open, and Dean ran out in socks and pajamas, slipping on the floor. "Ginny, what's the matter?"

"I'm going on a date with a West Ham fan tonight and I told him I'm a fan too," she blurted out.

Clearly braced for something more dire, Dean paused and blinked. "Wait—that's all? Oh, Kim," he said with a smile. "Come on. I'll tell you roughly what you need to know."

Ginny crawled out of his fireplace and dusted her clothes. "I've got a spare jersey here for you," Dean continued, leading her back to his messy bedroom. "First, West Ham joined the Football League in 1919..."

Ginny listened carefully to every word Dean said, from the Boleyn Stadium where West Ham played at home, to the best player in the team-"Mention Green's scoring performance against Arsenal last year, you today I can definitely go to bed at night" - to the team song.He found the spare jersey in the back of the closet, and Ginny promised to return it to him when she was done using it.By this time it was lunchtime, and Dean offered to buy her something to eat, so they ate Indian takeaway in his cramped kitchen.

"If you're going to go to such trouble for him, he must be pretty nice," Dean said as they ate tandoori chicken. "I've never seen you like this."

Ginny swallowed, looking at him blankly.Dean worked in the advertising department of the Daily Prophet, so she couldn't discuss the case with him casually, but his words certainly sounded true.There was no reason for her to pretend to be with Draco - she should have arrested him, not dated him.But Ginny hadn't been on a formal date since she broke up with Harry, and to be honest, she couldn't help being a little excited. "Well," she said slowly, "I think he is."

"Can I see him?" Dean said. "If he's a West Ham fan, he can't be worse."

"I—" Ginny cleared her throat nervously. "He's - obviously Muggle-born." She lied.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Well, I already know."

"I mean, yeah, it's great right now, at first, but I don't know if it's going to last."

"Okay," Dean said, shrugging. "Take care of yourself, Kim. I bet you'll be at the game tonight, so if he's paying more attention to you than the game - then you'll know."

Ginny blinked. "what do you know?"

"Things may go against your predictions," he said with a smug grin. "You know, relationships can be like that sometimes."

Ginny smiled down at the plate. "Then maybe you should tell me more about West Ham," she suggested.Dean complied with a smile.They went on eating again.By the time she left his apartment nearly an hour later, she knew every player on the roster and his jersey number, their opponents on other teams, their history over the past decade, their coach's name...

That night, when Draco came to her apartment on time to pick her up for her appointment, Ginny tried not to smile when she saw his car parked by the side of the road.When he said he was going to pick her up, she couldn't help picturing the two of them on a broomstick. "Are you okay?" he said, and she opened the door to the building to find him standing on the front steps.She smelled faintly of aftershave and shampoo, which smelled wonderful.He was wearing a light blue oxford shirt unbuttoned and faded jeans - a little more dressy than what Ginny knew Muggles would wear to a pub, but she could think of a good reason to explain what he was wearing. "Wow." He said when he saw her come out. "You—uh, you look great."

Ginny blushed.She was wearing Dean's jersey, which she tied at the waist to keep it from looking too baggy, cropped jeans and sandals. "Come on, West Ham," she said to him with a smile.

"I agree." He turned around and led her to his car, and opened the passenger's door for her.

"My mates will meet us there," Draco said as he deftly pulled off the pavement and into traffic. "Some of them will bring their partner too, so you won't be the only girl."

companion.Ginny was surprised to find that the word made her uneasy.

They chatted lightly as Draco drove through the city.He told her he lived in Earls Court, a flat he shared with two other friends. "You met Simon before, and John Palmer, who was also in the park. We got along very well, come to think of it, we lived together, and they were both lazy and sloppy. "

"Aren't you?" Ginny asked.

"I can't stand clutter," he said haughtily, and she was taken aback.It's as if someone found an actor to play Draco, but that person mixed Draco with his own character.She knew he was strict about his appearance—his hair was always in place, there was not a single wrinkle in his school shirt—and she could only imagine him living in extremely clean surroundings.She took it all in her mind to enter in her case notebook.

The most interesting information she gathered was when he asked about her family and she answered the questions.His physical reaction was so slight that others might not have noticed, but Ginny noticed it immediately: his hand on the steering wheel tightened unconsciously, and his knuckles turned white. "Both my parents are dead," he said softly. "They're the only family I have, so it's just me now."

"I'm sorry," Ginny murmured, her mind scrambling.

His answer haunted her for the rest of the journey, until Draco parked the car and took her to the brightly lit Irish pub where they'd be watching a football match.A group of men and women were waiting for them inside, and Draco briefly introduced her.Simon Kincaid, his brown eyes gleaming, made his way through the crowd and planted a hard kiss on Ginny's mouth. "Welcome, dear," he called.

"Thank you very much," said Ginny, trying not to laugh.Simon reminded her so much of Fred that she didn't realize that other people wouldn't take the kiss the way she did.

"Do you think that's funny?" Draco said angrily.

"First night, friend," said Simon, putting his arm around Ginny's shoulders. "It's just exercising my right of first night."

Draco forced a smile at her. "What would you like to drink?"

"Give me a Guinness, please," Ginny said.He nodded and strode towards the bar.

"I did it again." Simon sighed, leaning towards Ginny. "Today's quota has been reached."

"Simon has a special knack for pissing off Ben," said a blond man; Draco had introduced him as John Palmer, his third roommate. "Simon would jump in front of the bus for any of his friends—"

"But in exchange for the cost, he will push me over first." Simon said with a smile.

"Dear May—God," Ginny changed her words. "We barely know each other, and things are screwed up, aren't we?"

John smiled and took a sip of his beer. "Don't worry," he said. "I think even if you were worse, he would love you just as much."

Ginny blushed when she heard him. "But—we barely know each other," she added.

"It didn't stop him from talking about you last night." Simon said knowingly. "When we were playing Grand Theft Auto: Las Vegas, I finally couldn't take it anymore and I said, 'Dear Benjamin, shut up, come and help me steal this goddamn car or the cops are going to get us gone.'”

"Video games." Seeing Ginny's blank expression, John said.His explanations didn't help either.

Draco came back with Ginny's drink, and she broke free from under Simon's arms to take it. "Are you talking about me?" he asked, looking at his roommate.

"Of course." John said with a smirk.He looks like he learned it from Draco. "She knows all your bad habits now—"

"Cleanliness," Simon interjected.

"It's impolite."

"Unusually clean."

"Poor driving skills."

"I'm still here despite the warnings," Ginny said to Draco with a smile.He grinned at her too, and the butterflies in her stomach flew back one after another.

They all sat down to watch the game, and for the next few hours the whole bar was engrossed in watching the projection TV in front of them.Ginny is one of the cheers that erupt here with every goal scored, as she finds watching a football match just as exciting as watching a Quidditch match - football is played on the ground, of course .Everything Dean taught her was useful and she impressed everyone with her knowledge.

"What do you do?" Draco asked her during a commercial break.They both ordered seafood chowder and ate it together.

"I'm a private eye," she improvised. "I work with—er, Scotland Yard."

"Wow." Draco exclaimed. "So if a wife suspects that her husband isn't doing good, she'll hire you."

"That's right." Ginny smiled. "My mom didn't like it and kept telling me to quit my job, get married and stay at home because it was too dangerous." She ate some more of the chowder. "What do you do?"

He gave her a shy look. "Actually - I hope this makes for a second date - if I haven't scared you off."

Ginny's heart was beating wildly.He wants to see her again.To tell the truth—but she suspected it was the alcohol—she wanted to see him again, too. "Then it's a secret?" said Ginny. "I like secrets."

She thought he would react to that statement, but he didn't.He just smirks at her like he did yesterday in the park and says, "Are you free on Tuesday?"

West Ham won the game by a narrow margin and half the pub was boiling.Draco's friends high-fived each other and ordered more beers for everyone.Everyone was clinking glasses for the team except Draco, who was driving Ginny home.

They were chatting about all sorts of topics now: their favorite foods, books, movies - Ginny had given herself a crash course in modern Muggle culture that afternoon - and they switched topics naturally.Muggle Draco was easy to communicate with, and Ginny found that she even talked about things she would never bring up.

“I had an older brother who died eight years ago,” she told him as they chatted about their family. "I miss him so much. This hurt will never go away."

That's when it happened.Hearing the word "eight years ago", Draco froze, his eyes widened, and he looked away immediately.Ginny paused, dumbfounded, until he cleared his throat and looked at her again. "That's horrible," he said softly, then changed the subject immediately.

At eleven o'clock, Ginny hinted that it was getting late, so Draco stood up and announced to everyone that they were done for the night.A "good night" followed them out the door, and Draco took Ginny to the car parked outside the bar.

"Tuesday night," he said after a few silent blocks of driving. "are you free?"

"There should be," she said, gazing at the streetlights overhead.The car window was cool against her cheek, which made her hot face feel better. "What are we going to do?"

"Surprise, remember?"

"Good surprise?"

Draco took his eyes off the road briefly to meet her eyes. "I hope you feel that way."

Half an hour later, he parked his car in front of her apartment, got out and escorted her to the door. "You don't have to, you know that," she said as they walked up the front steps of her house.

He smiled at her. "Didn't I tell you I was polite?"

They stopped at the door, and Ginny took out the key, but didn't insert it. "I had a great time tonight," she whispered, wondering why she felt like the whole world was waiting for something.Maybe she was waiting for something.

"I can see that." Draco whispered too.

Ginny giggled. "Have you ever paid attention to the TV?"

He didn't say anything, and there was no need to. "See you on Tuesday," he said, and leaned over to kiss her lightly on the lips.

Ginny watched Draco dazedly back into the car before inserting the key in the lock.He waved to her and drove off.

Ginny walked into her apartment, slid down to the floor, and covered her face with her hands.She could still feel the touch of Draco's lips.

This is not good at all.