Memorabilia


The sun was beginning to set just beyond the horizon causing the sky to darken into soft shades of twilight. Ginny sat there in the large picture window of her apartment and stared at the beautiful marvel. Suddenly, she heaved a discontented and somber sounding sigh. Something was tugging on her heart and it hurt. She then looked down at her hands which were desperately clutching a small figurine carved out of wood. It resembled a unicorn, her favourite magical creature. Just then, a single tear dripped down her cheek and she brought the figurine up to her lips and gently kissed it.

Ginny stood up and shivered as a chill seemed to pass right through her at that very moment. She walked over to the little fireplace located across the room and glanced back over to her window to make sure that no one was peeking inside. Ginny lived in a small one bedroom apartment in a predominantly muggle area. Like her father and her brother, Ron, Ginny had a great appreciation and admiration for muggles.

When she was sure that everything was clear, Ginny grabbed her wand and muttered a quick spell that caused the wood in the hearth to burst into flames. The red-head smiled and placed her wand back on top of the mantle. The fire was warm and felt wonderful against her skin. Suddenly, she took notice of the little wooden figurine in her left hand and she gently rubbed her thumb against its smoothness. Another small sigh escaped her lips and another tear dripped down her cheek.

Ginny looked back at her picture window and peered outside. The sky was dark now as thick black clouds seemed to be rolling in covering up the twinkling of the first stars and the last bit of light from the setting sun. A low rumbling echoed and reverberated, distant thunder. Just then, there was a small flash of lightning. Ginny pulled her sweater tighter around her body and closed the drapes of her window. She then walked over to a little bookcase, opened one of the drawers and picked up a stack of small books and pages.

Ginny carried everything over to the couch and sat down. Carefully, she placed the books and pages on the cushion just next to her and began leafing through everything with her right hand, for the wooden unicorn was still held fast by her left. Finally, her fingers found an old school photo. She lifted it up and looked at it carefully. In the center of the picture were herself and her brother Ron along with Harry, Hermione and Neville. The picture had been taken by one of her old school mates, Colin Creevey, early on during her sixth year. She smiled as she gazed upon herself and her friends… they were laughing and waving and having a wonderful time. Just then, she noticed something that had never caught her eye before with this particular picture. In the corner, a tall sleek boy with platinum blond hair stood there silently just watching the group of friends. His gray eyes seemed to linger on the red-haired girl standing at the center of the group. Ginny suddenly felt herself blush and her hand tightened around the little figurine pressed into her palm.

~Flashback Start~
Ginny was running along the black corridors of Hogwarts, gasping and glancing over her shoulder. Filch and Mrs. Norris were on her tail, chasing her down. If she got caught, she would surely get a detention and lose yet more house points for Gryffindor. It was her sixth year and though it was still only the first month of school, she had already managed to lose over 100 points for Gryffindor and had therefore earned the title of ‘house loser’. This sort of loss in house points had not been seen since her notorious brothers, Fred and George, graced Hogwarts with their presence. But, she rationalized to herself, most those incidents in which points were lost were unfair and unjust… after all, it was Snape and the Slytherin prefects that docked her the points… and for no reason other than that she was a Gryffindor and a Weasley.

Ginny could feel her lungs tighten and her breaths become course due to her running.

“I hear you,” came Filch’s voice.

“Oh no,” Ginny whispered to herself and she ran faster through the corridors. Just then, she turned a corner and bumped into something hard causing her to wobble and start to fall backwards. Suddenly, her wrists were grasped and she was pulled forwards thus causing her not to fall.

The girl looked up to see who she just bumped into. As soon as her dark brown eyes locked with stormy gray, she let out an exasperated moan.

“Well, well what do we have here? A little Weasel running around in her nightgown and bare feet in the middle of the night, hmmm.”

Ginny glanced over her shoulder before responding to the Slytherin prefect, “What of it, Malfoy?” she huffed.

He just stood there smirking in silence.

“Well, give me my punishment already, Filch is nearly here and I’ve got to get out of here, all right?” she was angry now.

“Afraid of getting caught by Filch, eh? I see now, the little Gryffindor House Loser wanted to spare her house from further embarrassment, but got caught by the more cunning of prefects.”

Ginny sneered, “Oh whatever, just take your points and leave me be.”

“Not so fast, I’ll make you a deal.”

She frowned and glanced over her shoulder once more. Mrs. Norris’s meows were getting louder by the second, which could only mean that Filch was very nearby.

“I’m listening,” she answered.

“I’ll spare you from further embarrassment to Gryffindor if you agree to meet me down in the Potions classroom at midnight every Thursday night.”

Ginny eyed Draco, “Why on earth would you want to meet with me after curfew?”

“This is no time for you to be questioning me Weasley. Filch is almost here, so what’s your answer.”

“I know you’re out there,” Filch’s voice resounded. He had to have been only just around the corner.

“Oh bloody hell, all right. I’ll meet you.”

“Good,” he smirked. “See you tomorrow night then, don’t be late.” At that moment, he shoved the girl aside and she ran away down the dark corridor.

Once concealed by the shadows of the halls, she stopped.

“Ah, Mr. Filch. I believe there is a student out of bed and that I saw him running that way.” He pointed in a direction opposite to the way Ginny was heading. “He was too fast for me to catch him, but with your knowledge of the school and its passageways, he shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

“Right you are,” Filch answered. An arrogant tone resounded in his voice.

Ginny smiled and ran back to Gryffindor Tower.

~Flashback End~

The thunder boomed and the lightning flashed and just then the rain began to pour down in torrents. A chill ran up and down Ginny’s spine so she decided to change into her warm nightclothes. She went into her little bedroom, set down the little unicorn and picked out her favourite pair of black sweatpants and a baggy white t-shirt to wear. She then rummaged through her closet and pulled out an emerald green quidditch jersey which she immediately held up to her face. She breathed in deeply allowing the scent of the clothes to fill her nostrils causing her to sigh contentedly. At that, she threw on the jersey over top her white t-shirt and picked up the little figurine once again.

Ginny lit some apple and cinnamon scented candles and tended the little fire in her fireplace to make sure that it would stay burning and keep her warm. She then turned off the other lights and resumed sitting on the couch and leafing through the old photos and notes. She gasped when she found an old yellowed piece of parchment.

On it read:

G,

I need to see you before Thursday.
Please, don’t make me wait that long.
That’s torture, you know.
Meet me tonight at the Potions classroom.
Answer yes by nodding once,
answer no by nodding twice.

DM

The red-head choked back tears and desperately clutched the little unicorn to her breast.

~Flashback Start~

Ginny sat down in the library and opened her bag to get ready to work on some homework. At that moment, a streak of blond walked passed her, surrounded by two burly Slytherin guards… namely, Crabbe and Goyle. Draco glanced down at Ginny as they walked by and smirked, but her only response was a frown which caused him to immediately look away. Suddenly, his expression turned to one of great sadness and despair. More than anything, Ginny wanted to run up to him and throw her arms around his neck and press little kisses against his face and lips.

But those thoughts seemed to be all for nothing. The two had been secretly meeting for months now as a result of the deal they struck that one dark night when she was trying to get away from Filch after curfew. Things were awkward at first, but eventually the two had started talking and slowly getting to know each other. Ginny found it strange when she learned that they were not as different from each other as she had originally thought. In a way, it was nice. After a time, their friendship seemed to grow into something more. Slowly, the two were beginning to like one another and Ginny was becoming certain that she was falling for the forbidden Slytherin boy. Despite it all, Draco insisted that they keep their meetings a secret and was even more adamant about it once things developed further between them. Ginny agreed to an extent as she knew her brother and friends would give her a hard time for choosing to associate with a Malfoy let alone date one.

Ginny turned back to her bag and pulled out some books and parchment. On top of her books was a piece of parchment with writing all over it. And the writing was not her own. She eyed the paper carefully before reading the words.

G,

I need to see you before Thursday.
Please, don’t make me wait that long.
That’s torture, you know.
Meet me tonight at the Potions classroom.
Answer yes by nodding once,
answer no by nodding twice.

DM

Ginny’s heart began racing and she immediately looked up only to lock eyes with Draco’s. At that, she nodded once.

~Flashback End~

Again, the lightning cracked causing Ginny to jump. She leafed through more of the stack and came upon a funny-looking photo that caused her to laugh right out loud. In the picture she saw two pairs of eyes… one gray, one brown. The image was totally lopsided and it was obvious that the two in the picture were bickering back and forth playfully.

~Flashback Start~

Ginny met Draco down in the Potions classroom. At this point, it turned into an ‘every night’ rendezvous. The two had given up meeting just on Thursdays weeks ago as it was proving harder and harder for them to stay apart from each other. Regardless of their evident feelings for one another, they continued keeping things as secret as possible.

“I missed you,” Draco replied matter-of-factly as he wrapped his arms around Ginny’s waist and gently pressed his lips against hers.

Ginny just smiled, “I missed you too,” she answered. Just then, she noticed a strange sort of grin plastered all over his face. “What’s so funny?”

Draco never answered her, instead he escorted her into the back of the room where he had laid out a blanket and set up a little picnic of sorts. Ginny could not help but smile.

“For you, my lady Ginevra.”

“Why thank you,” she giggled.

Draco helped Ginny sit down and pulled out all sorts of good foods from his basket. He brought wine, cheese, bread and of course chocolates and strawberries for dessert. After the two had finished their romantic picnic, Draco handed Ginny a little green box with a silver bow on it.

“This is for you, I made it myself.”

“Oh,” she gasped as she opened the little present. Inside she found a small figurine carved out of wood. It was a little unicorn. “You made this?”

“Yeh,” he replied sheepishly. “And I did it the muggle way. I actually carved it without using any magic whatsoever.”

Ginny grinned and lunged for him, “I love it!” she shouted.

“Shhh, you don’t want Filch finding us now do you?” he laughed. “I’m glad you like it. Now, for the finishing touch. I want to remember this moment forever.”

At that moment, Draco pulled out a camera and smirked.

“You want to take a picture?”

“Yes. You have all sorts of pictures of your friends and your family. So, it’s high time that you had a picture of us.”

“Well, how are we going to do that? We can’t have anyone take our picture for us, so…”

“Who says we need a third person to take the picture?” Draco responded cutting her off. At that, he placed his head next to Ginny’s and held the camera out in front of them.

“You’ve got to be kidding! You won’t get a good picture that way!”

“Hush, be still now!”

Suddenly, he clicked the button and the light flashed.

~Flashback End~

Ginny picked up the funny picture of herself and Draco and placed it in a little frame and set it on top of the mantle so that she could gaze up at it whenever she wanted. She smiled as the tears welled up in her eyes and slowly spilled down her pale cheeks. After gazing at the picture for several moments, she carefully placed the little wooden unicorn next to it and smiled. Her heart was aching as she remembered those wonderful days from her past.

Finally, she walked back to the couch and snuggled into the corner with a little pillow and wrapped a blanket around the lower half of her body. She stared at the fire and then looked back up at the picture and the unicorn. The girl heaved a sigh and started looking through the stack of pages and photos once again. When she came upon a small black leather-bound book with pieces of parchment clipped inside, she stopped. At that, she set aside the book and picked up the stack and neatly placed it on the coffee table. She curled back up in her blanket and picked up the book and opened it. Her eyes immediately fixed upon the letters bound in the book and the memories that flooded her mind at that moment were overwhelming.

~Flashback Start~

“You know, I’m not happy about this. Too many of you are leaving.”

“I know you aren’t happy with my choice, but this is something I’ve got to do. For us.”

“I don’t see how risking your life is going to help us, you know. I see it as keeping us apart… and what if…”

Immediately, Draco placed his index finger against her lips, “Shhh, you know that this is important. And you know exactly how this will help us.”

Tears fell freely down her cheeks, “I know, I guess I’m just being selfish.”

“It’s all right to be selfish. That’s part of being human.” He paused for a moment, “And I’m rather flattered that you want to keep me all to yourself. Though I suppose I can’t blame you.” Ginny playfully punched his arm at his snide comment. Suddenly, his face turned serious, “But this I promise you, I’ll be back. And when I am, the first person I’m going to look for is you.”

Ginny blushed and Draco gently brushed her tears away with his thumbs, “You promise?”

“That’s most definitely a promise… even if you decide you don’t want to wait for me anymore.”

“That’ll never happen,” she replied quickly. Her voice sounded shaky at the thought of him thinking that she would not wait for him no matter how long he was away.

“I know, I trust you, Ginny. And I’ll write you everyday and I promise not to start too much trouble with your brother or Potter or any of the other Gryffindors who’ve enlisted.” Draco laughed.

“You better not,” she paused. “Please make sure that they don’t do anything too reckless. Keep them safe.”

“I promise.”

At that, Draco leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She heaved a contented sigh and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. He immediately responded by snaking his arms around her waist and holding her tight.

“I’ll do whatever I can to see that the prophecy happens in our favour. Potter will win.”

She hugged him then, “Thank you.”

“Like I said, this is for us… what kind of future would we have for our family if ‘you-know-who’ came into full power? I could never forgive myself if I didn’t do what I could or use my influences to help the right side.”

Ginny’s eyes widened suddenly, “Your influences?”

Draco sighed, “Yes, you know what kind of family I come from. I’ve never tried to hide it from you and you’ve always accepted that aspect of my life and background.” He broke away from her and turned so that his back was facing her, “Snape will be with me during the vital times… he’ll be a good teacher.”

“Wait a minute,” she placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him around. “You are going to be a double-agent?”

“Shhh… not so loud, you never know who might be listening. But yes, it’s the only way to secure Potter’s win over the dark lord… and you know it.”

“But that’ll be dangerous! You’ll have to go into enemy territory…”

Draco gathered her into his arms, “Yes I will. But don’t worry, I’ll be fine and Snape will be with me.”

“I’m sorry if that gives me little comfort.”

“I know, I know. And I’m sorry to put you through all of this, but I wanted you to know. Just in case rumours started buzzing about me being a traitor or something. It’s bound to happen. I’m not high up on the trustworthy list for most of those who’ve joined the wizarding army.”

“I’ll always trust you, Draco…”

~Flashback End~

Ginny stared at the last letter in the book. She had received it about 6 months ago and Draco had been gone for nearly two years now. At that, she closed the leather-bound book and sobbed until she had no more tears to cry. She remembered his last words to her before leaving to go to war and the promises they made to one another. And her thoughts suddenly dwelled on the fact that she had and still was defending him to everyone she knew. Deep in her heart, she knew that he was not a traitor… he had promised her. Plus, she trusted him with all her heart.

Just then, the thunder rumbled and the lightning flashed. The last remaining lamp she had on flickered and went out. Luckily, there was some light from the fireplace and candles she had lit. But the light was not nearly enough for her to see properly.

“Damn muggle electricity,” she mumbled.

Just then, she heard a noise outside the door of her apartment. Immediately, she grabbed her wand off the mantle with her right hand and for some reason she grabbed the little wooden unicorn with her left.

“Lumos,” she whispered causing the tip of her wand to light up.

There was yet another noise outside her door and she jumped back with fright. Just then, she heard what she thought was a man’s voice.

“Oh no,” she thought. So, she readied her wand for a fight with whatever or whoever was trying to break into her apartment.

Suddenly, there was a faint glow around the edges of the door and it flew open. Ginny fell backwards from the force of magic that had just opened her locked door. Again the lightning flashed and she caught a glimpse of a silhouette standing in the doorway. It appeared to be a rather tall man shrouded in a dark hooded cloak.

Instantly, thoughts of Harry’s parents entered her mind.

“This can’t be Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters? The front lines are miles and miles away… the war hasn’t even come close to this area yet.”

The dark figure stepped inside and made his way towards Ginny. She was still on the floor, her heart racing with fear, but she clutched her wand and her unicorn tightly in both of her hands.

The lightning flashed and the thunder crashed again allowing Ginny yet another glimpse of this shadowy figure. He made his way closer to her, leaving a trail of wet puddles behind himself.

“Not another step!” she bellowed as she extended her hand which held fast onto her wand.

There was a chuckling sound coming from beneath the hood causing Ginny to arch an eyebrow. Just then, the figure pushed back his hood.

Ginny just stood there in awe. His face was pale and there were dark circles around his lovely gray eyes. His skin was rough and there were several long scars extending from the top left side of his forehead down to the lower left side of his chin. His blond hair was messy and dripping wet. He looked beautiful.

“Draco?” Ginny asked, yet she knew the answer.

She ran over to him, unicorn in hand, and leapt into his arms. He hugged her close, “I’ve missed you,” he whispered into her ear. Just then, his eyes caught sight of the little unicorn she held in her left hand. “Still have that, do you?”

Ginny just nodded and blushed.

Draco smirked and leaned down so that he could taste the lips of the one woman he had been yearning to see with all of his heart. Ginny welcomed the kiss and parted her lips allowing him to freely explore her mouth. He did so willingly.

Several kisses later, he pulled away from her, “The war’s over, Ginny… Potter won. He’s all right and so are your brothers… you should be proud. ‘You-know-…’ Voldemort,” he corrected himself. “Is dead.”

Ginny smiled, “Thanks to you! Harry was able to kill him thanks to you wasn’t he?”

Draco’s cheeks tinged a pale shade of pink, “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that it’s over.”

Ginny just smiled.

“Oh and before I forget, I have a present for you.”

“Really? What on earth could you have gotten me?”

Draco handed her a small green box with a silver bow, “I got you this myself… with my own hard earned money.” He grinned sheepishly.

“Your own hard-earned money?” she laughed. “So, you’ve learned not to depend on your family’s money?”

“My family’s money is tainted.”

“I’m sorry, I…”

Draco just smiled, “Just open it, Gin.”

The girl opened the box and gasped when she peered inside. She looked up into Draco’s sparkling gray eyes. “Is this what I think it is?”

At that, he got down on one knee and took a hold of her hand holding the unicorn. He gently took the unicorn into his own and reached into the box. He held up the silvery ring with a small diamond solitaire sitting at the center of the band. “So, Ginevra Molly Weasley… will you marry me?”

Tears streamed down her cheeks and a small sob escaped her lips, “Yes!” she exclaimed.

Draco placed the ring on her finger and kissed her palm and then her wrist, “I love you, Ginny… always have, always will.”

“I know.”

At that, he stood up, so she led him to her bedroom where they kissed, hugged and made love until the sun rose in the morning.