The water looked deep and inviting. She knew it would be as cold as ice when she jumped in. She knew it would take less than minutes for her whole body to tense up and go into a shock that she may never recover from. But that was the idea, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to recover from this. After all that she’d been through, after all she’d been put through, she wasn’t going to allow herself to be subjected to more pain. Being a Gryffindor didn’t make her infallible; she had weaknesses and a breaking point. Her breaking point had been reached.

A single tear fell down her cheek. She choked on her tears, coughing back a sob. It was time for this to be over. It had to end. Her life had to end. This pitiful excuse for an existence needed to be over. Her beautiful soul, her fiery existence, had been extinguished like a candle in the wind. There was nothing left but pain.

She hugged herself. She wasn’t afraid, not really. It would be easy. She couldn’t swim, and that water must have been at least twenty feet deep. It would only take a second. She could close her eyes and leap from the edge of the dock. She’d fall beneath the gently rippling waves caused by the chilling wind and she wouldn’t ever come back. At least, she wouldn’t come back until it didn’t matter.

And of course, he would find her. With any luck, he’d find her only a few minutes too late. He was a hero, after all, and he’d devoted his life to maintaining that persona. But she knew if she jumped, he would come back and save her in the nick of time. He’d jump in after her and use his own body heat to bring her from the inevitable state of hypothermia. She’d start breathing again, and he would hold her and cry as he apologized for all of the terrible things he said to her for the past six years that he would assume had inevitably led her to this point.

Which was why she had to do it now.

His silhouette was visible through the window. She couldn’t make out a lot of his features, with the exception of his messy black hair. He was taking a drink from his goblet – Firewhisky, more than likely – and pacing back and forth. Any minute now, he was sure to take a glance out the window and see where she was – what she was doing. She had to jump before he got the chance to save her.

Screwing her eyes shut, she took another step toward the end of the dock. Her breathing was uneven and unsteady. The crying didn’t help. She could feel her toes hanging off the edge. This was it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

It wasn’t Harry, that was for sure, but it was a distinctly male voice. She would have known that voice anywhere, but it just didn’t make sense why it was here now.

“Go away, Malfoy,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “I’m doing this and you’re not going to stop me.”

“Fine, Weasley,” he responded coolly, but she knew better than to know that he didn’t care. “Jump off the dock.”

She let out an irritated sigh, slowly turning to face him. “You know, I don’t really want you watching me.”

He was leaning against a nearby tree, arms crossed casually over his chest. That damned smirk was on his face. It was always on his face. “I’ve got to watch,” he said, shrugging, “or else I won’t know when to jump in after you.”

Ginny snorted. “My hero.”

“Hardly.” Draco pushed away from the tree, slowly taking steps in her direction. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that she wouldn’t jump, but he certainly was not going to let her drown. But the prospect of jumping into the water, which had a temperature barely above freezing, was not appealing. If he took too sudden of moves, he would not put it past the little spitfire to dive in. When he had closed within half the distance, he asked, “What’s this about then?”

She turned so suddenly that she almost did fall in. “What’s this about, Draco? Are you really asking me that question?”

“You know, I really did think I was speaking English, but –“

“Damn you!” Ginny took another step away from the edge. “I came out here to be alone; why can’t you just go?”

“If you think I’m going to let you drown yourself in the bloody lake, you’re even more insane than I thought.” There was nothing snide about his remark, nothing insincere. “Ginny, walk to me. Please.”

“No,” she said. She turned back toward the lake. “If you loved me, you would just let me go.”

“I’m not kidding when I said I’ll jump in after you, Gin,” he said, his voice containing the slightest trace of urgency. Most people would not have noticed the brief inflection, but he knew she would. She knew him better than anyone. “I’m not going to let you die.”

Ginny choked back more tears. “What difference does it make?” she cried, facing him once more. “I’ve never meant enough to you, have I? You care about me enough to take me out for a drink, and you care enough to shag me and whisper sweet little nothings in my ear when we watch the sun set, but not enough to save me from my relationship with him!”

“You know that I want to.”

“I’ve heard that before,” she said coldly. “You want to, but you just can’t leave her. You can’t give up the life you’ve made, and you can’t break her heart when she’s been nothing but good, and all that rot, but you can ask me to! It’s okay for Ginny to ruin her marriage!” Her voice cracked and she stumbled slightly, her bare feet weak against the wooden dock. “You know, every time I think about what I’ve done to myself, I want to die. I just want to get it over with.”

“Never going to happen.”

She laughed out loud humorlessly. Her normally warm, pleasant laugh was cold and hollow. The woman who had always been a spitfire had been destroyed. The Ginny Weasley who had once been was gone. Ginny glared at Draco. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to show a bloody emotion every now and then, you know? To pretend that what’s happening to me has affected you, even in the slightest bit.”

“What would you like me to do?” he asked, his voice leaning a bit toward sarcasm. “Do you want me to jump up and down, shouting, ‘No, Ginny, you can’t do this to me!’” He chuckled softly to himself. “That will never happen, and you know it.” He lifted a finger to his chin, looking pensive. “I suppose I could rush up to you and sweep you off your feet, kiss you all over, and promise you everything will be alright. But, you know better than that, as well.”

“I’m glad you’re so amused, Draco,” she said, taking a few more steps from him. “It makes me so happy to know that my situation is so damn funny.”

He eyed her carefully. “I work in more mysterious ways than that, Gin.”

“Why do you always have to be so cryptic?”

“Why do you always have to be so obvious?” he countered, taking another step. “Why do you always have to look at things in terms of black and white? So Potter found out about our affair, and that’s admittedly unfortunate, but you don’t have to kill yourself over it.”

She sniffled. “What am I supposed to do then?”

“Quit being so rash, for one,” he answered without missing a beat. He stepped closer to her still. He was almost to the start of the wooden dock. “Deciding who you actually want might be another option.” Draco sighed deeply. “As much as I hate to say this, at some point you are going to have to choose between us.”

“No, I don’t!” she yelled, suddenly taking several steps backward. “I’m going to jump, aren’t I? I’m not going to make any more blasted decisions.”

Draco was tired of the game of inches that they had been playing. He took four large strides and was now within arm’s length of the seething redhead. “Listen to me carefully,” he said softly. “If you jump in that lake, I’m jumping after you. I won’t let you drown, and I certainly won’t let you do anything stupid because of me.”

“It’s always about you, isn’t it!” she screamed. “Maybe this time it’s about me! Will you just sod off and let me end this!”

“Never,” Draco responded, his voice so soft that Ginny barely heard. “I promised you a long time ago that I’d never let anything happen to you, Ginny, and I’m going to hold onto it.” He took several paces backward, away from Ginny and away from the dock. “Walk to me, Gin. Walk to me, and I promise you we can work this out. You, me, and Potter, if you want. We’ll talk about this.”

She shook her head. “No. No, I don’t want to talk about anything anymore.”

“Ginny, this isn’t a bloody game!” For the first time, he raised his voice. Before she could protest, he rushed onto the dock and grabbed her by the waist. She was pulled flush against him before he ran back the grassy knoll away from the lake. He pinned her against the ground. “Is this what you wanted, Ginny? Is this the kind of emotion you were asking for?”

She cried, but nodded. “I want you to want me bad enough, Draco,” she said through her tears. “I want you to care enough to fight for me! I don’t want to be your second best anymore.”

Draco relaxed his grip and pulled her into his arms, gently rocking her back and forth. “I won’t give you up, Ginny. I’ll never give you up.”

There were many words unspoken, many important things left unsaid. He didn’t lie and say everything would be easy; he knew nothing would ever end up being so simple. But in that moment, nothing else mattered.