Disclaimer: Canon characters do not belong to me.
Rhapsody
Chapter Thirteen - Song of Discord
The last weekend of April had been designated the final Hogsmeade weekend before exams, and the students were out in full force, taking advantage of the opportunity and the gorgeous spring weather. Ginny, Jordi and Elizabeth, as well as Jordi’s boyfriend Shane Fitzpatrick and his friends were making their way across the grounds.
Jordi and Fitz, as he was always called, led the way hand in hand, followed by Elizabeth between Carter Delacroix and Jacob Ridley - torn as to whom to flirt with more. Ginny and Luna Lovegood brought up the rear with Reggie Baker.
“So you’re going to sing at the Leaving Feast?” Reggie asked Ginny. She was about to answer him when Luna cut in, in that strange dreamy voice of hers.
“Charlie is coming,” she said, staring past them to where, surely enough, Charlie was walking back towards them from the front of the herd of students. Ginny rolled her eyes.
Charlie had acted malicious and ridiculous when he first found out that she and Draco were seeing each other, taunting her behind her back and openly, calling her various derogatory things until Jordi’s boyfriend stepped in. One well-placed hex was all it took. Now Charlie had been trying to win Ginny’s forgiveness again, but she was exceedingly reluctant to do so.
“Hey everyone,” he said quietly, nodding at them before intently seeking out Ginny. He walked quickly back toward her, but Fitz stepped in front of him.
“If you have something to say to Ginny, you can say it to all of us,” he said protectively.
“It’s okay, Fitz, I can handle myself,” Ginny said. She waved her friends up on ahead, with a brief smile to Jordi and Elizabeth to assure them that she would be okay. They only walked a few paces ahead, just in case, however.
She and Charlie walked in silence for a few moments, and Ginny started to feel incredibly impatient. She fiddled with the hem of her tee-shirt. Finally, Charlie spoke up.
“It’s awfully nice out,” he commented.
Ginny stopped them from walking. “I don’t want to talk about the weather with you, Charlie. Say what you want to say and be done with it so I can go have fun with my friends.”
“Ginny, I - I’m sorry. Really, for everything I’ve said and all the things I did, I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted, now if you’ll excuse me,” she said gruffly, starting to brush past him. He grabbed her by the wrist. “Let me go.”
“Ginny, please wait. Let me get you a butterbeer or something so we can talk about this.”
“What is there to say, Charlie? We broke up and then you went on a great bloody rampage to try and destroy my name! You trashed me to anyone and everyone, Charles! And now you expect me to just forgive you because you suddenly had a change of heart? Sorry Charlie, it just doesn’t work that way.”
Ginny shook him off and started to walk away again, to return to the group. Charlie sighed and watched her go, red hair flying in the wind as she caught up with her friends again.
They had reached the Three Broomsticks, and they had all sat down and ordered their drinks when Ginny finally came in. She sat down in a huff next to Fitz and Jordi.
“Did that stupid blighter not learn his lesson, Ginny?” Fitz asked, eyeing the door to see if Charlie had followed them.
“No, no, he’s just a child and I’ve taken care of it,” Ginny answered loftily. The group of friends shared a laugh, but Luna just sat there quietly.
“He’s there at the door,” she said. “He can hear us laughing at him.”
“Well, then he can hear that nobody cares for his presence,” Jacob said loudly.
“Come on, now we’re starting to sound like a bunch of Slytherins,” Elizabeth chastised.
“Oi, not all Slytherins are all that bad,” Ginny added coyly. Jordi poked her in the ribs as she blushed.
Ginny wished Draco was there. He did say he was going to meet her later, but she wanted him there now. She had been finding it increasingly hard to stay away from him for too long. She felt so comfortable and complete when she was with him. But studying for N.E.W.Ts and all the work he had to do around the castle had made it a bit difficult to spend as much time together as they wanted to.
The door to the pub opened and Ginny was disappointed to see it was Charlie, instead of Draco. Charlie walked up to their table and stood hesitantly before them. Fitz cleared his throat and started to say something mean, when Ginny interrupted him.
“What do you want?” she asked evenly.
“I want to make amends,” he answered, eyes downcast. Ginny could see a glint of light at the corner of his eyes; he was crying.
Ginny scooted out of her seat, and, with a quick backward glance to shush the table, she took Charlie by the hand and led him back outside. They walked in silence until they reached the Shrieking Shack where they could be afforded some privacy. She sat down next to him on the little bench and said, “Talk.”
He remained silent for a few moments while she just stared at him. “I don’t have all day, Charlie, so please talk.”
Charlie spoke quietly, but very resolutely. “You have to understand how I felt, Ginny. I felt like you bloody ripped my heart out of my arse. All those years, it all just burned under the surface and when you kissed me, I knew that my waiting had finally paid off. And then to find out that it was all just a misunderstanding…that you stayed with me out of pity, and all the while you wanted someone else…you can’t even know what that feels like.”
“I didn’t stay with you out of pity. I was confused.”
“Yeah, and it broke my heart when you just chucked me like that. I was so worried about you, and all you could say was that it was over. I was sad, I was confused, but mostly I was angry. I hated you for leaving me, and I hate Malfoy for having you, for being the one to make you happy. So, I got a little carried away.”
Ginny stood up, an incredulous look on her face. “A little carried away? You called me a trollop in front of all the 7th years! You wrote my name on the boys’ bathroom wall - and yes I did find out about that. I’m only grateful that not everyone took your side. You could have destroyed me, Charlie, you know that? I got a Howler from my mother about you. Well I am not going to forgive you…your apology is accepted, but I don’t think that I can possibly forgive you.”
“It’s you who should be begging my forgiveness! You are the one that cheated on me!” Charlie yelled, standing up.
“I never cheated on you, Charlie! I may have thought about it, but I never cheated.”
“You kissed Malfoy, Gin, that is the very definition of cheating.”
Ginny fell silent at that. She couldn’t argue because she had kissed Draco while she was seeing Charlie. But somehow she had convinced herself that that was different.
“You’ve never thought about it that way, have you?” he asked, somewhat snidely.
“As a matter of fact, I haven’t. And I don’t intend to now. I’m going.” She turned around to head back to the pub.
“No, Ginny, wait, don’t run off again. This - this isn’t how I wanted things to happen. I want to make this right.”
“Then make it right!”
“I’m trying. Ginny, we were friends for so long, best friends even. Please don’t throw all that away just because I made an unbelievably stupid mistake.”
Ginny considered him carefully, looking deeply into his eyes. There was no doubt that he was sincere; she had always been able to read him like a book. She closed her eyes for a second, and then took a deep breath, cleansing breath.
“Let me make it clear that I am not forgiving you, nor should you forgive me. But if…and this is a big if…if you think that we can put aside what happened, perhaps we can attempt to be friends again.”
“I would really like that, Ginny,” he said, softly. He reached out to touch her hand, but she stepped away.
“I still do not want you to touch me,” she said. He looked disappointed for a second, but he nodded his assent. Ginny gave him a small half-smile. “Let’s go back, okay? I didn’t get to have a butterbeer yet.”
Charlie grinned and motioned for her to lead the way. They walked back into the pub together and sat down with the group again. After a little awkwardness mostly between Fitz and Charlie, they began to settle back into their familiar routine, discussing the upcoming N.E.W.Ts, Quidditch, anything and everything until they began to feel normal again.
----
The group separated around lunchtime. Jordi and Fitz went off alone, Carter, Jacob, Charlie and Reggie went off to Zonko’s, and Elizabeth and Luna decided to get some sweets from Honeydukes. Ginny slipped away to meet up with Draco.
She finally spotted him walking into a small antique bookshop, one that most students tended to overlook. She smiled to herself and hurried to catch up with him.
Draco was browsing the shelves when she walked in. He ran his long fingers along the aged bindings lovingly, not seeking anything out in particular. One finally caught his eye and he took it down from the shelf. It was a leather-bound copy of Shakespeare‘s Sonnets. He opened its pages to inhale the musky scent of antiquity, when Ginny slipped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his back. He smiled to himself, carefully set the book back on the shelf, and then turned around in her embrace to hug her back.
“Hello,” he said, before bending down to kiss her. She returned the kiss gratefully, but broke away, not wanting to make a scene in the shop. Draco chuckled as she glanced around to make sure no one was watching.
“Not too many people come here, so there shouldn’t be any prying eyes,” he said, before pulling her into a breath-taking kiss again. Ginny moved so that she could press him up against the bookcase and stood up on tiptoe to reach better. He laughed at her display of assertiveness and said, “You’ll disturb the books.”
She giggled and let go of him. “What were you looking at when I came in?”
Draco took Sonnets down from the shelf again and handed it to her. She glanced it over and said, “You continue to surprise me, Draco. There’s so much that I don’t know about you.”
“We’ll just have to get to know each other a little better then,” he said, raising an eyebrow cheekily. She playfully swatted at him for his insinuation, but she knew that he was only joking.
“Tonight is the big house party for all the seventh years before we buckle down for the N.E.W.Ts, but I can slip out and meet you in the Room of Requirement,” she said, before shyly adding, “if you want, of course.”
Draco lifted her up and she instinctively put her legs around his waist. “I want, of course,” he said before kissing her again. “I have something I want to play for you, something I’ve been working on for quite a while.”
“I’d love to hear it,” she said, as he set her down again. They walked hand in hand up to the counter, Draco carrying the large book. He bought it, and then he and Ginny left the bookshop and started walking back toward Hogwarts. They passed Ginny’s friends who waved, or whistled in Jacob’s case, and Draco felt a surge of happiness inside him. But it was swiftly crushed out when he saw Charlie smile and wave at Ginny who waved back.
“What’s all that about?” he asked, keeping his tone even. Ginny, however, noticed the change in his demeanor.
“Earlier today we sort of made up. I didn’t forgive him or anything, but I realized it wasn’t worth throwing away a long friendship just for something stupid that has been resolved.”
“Resolved? Are you mad? Don’t you remember what that stupid wanker did to you?”
“Of course I remember,” Ginny said, stopping. “I didn’t forgive him, and it’s not like we are going to ever be close like we once were, but we’ve all worked so hard for peace. I pride myself on it. I can’t just turn my back on it, even if he treated me so hatefully.”
Ginny could tell that Draco was very upset with her, but surely he would see that it was he, Draco, that she cared for. She squeezed his hand. “You make me happier than anyone I’ve ever known. Nothing is going to change that,” she whispered.
“I know,” he said, disengaging his hand from hers and slipping his arm around her waist. “I just…well, I want you to be careful, okay?”
“Mr. Malfoy, how gallant you are to take such an interest in the likes of me,” she teased, snaking her arm around him to pull him closer.
He rolled his eyes but pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
----
The party began soon after dinner had finished. The staff always turned a blind eye to it, as it was tradition for the students to blow off a little steam before having to settle down. As the dinner plates emptied, the Headmaster had stood up, dismissed the younger students and staff, and winked at the remaining seventh years before leaving himself.
Ginny spent about an hour and a half dancing and laughing with friends. She had even gotten up to sing for them with a charm making the piano play for her. After her performance, she quickly slipped out of the Great Hall and headed down to the Room of Requirement.
It was dark when she stepped inside the room; Draco had not arrived yet, so she sat down on the piano bench to wait for him. A thousand candles suddenly alit in the room causing Ginny to fall off the bench with a squeal of surprise. She cursed her clumsiness and started to stand up, when a hand reached out to pull her up.
Ginny pushed the hair out of her eyes, preparing to snog Draco senseless for the romanticism he had never shown before, but she stopped and pulled away.
Charlie gestured to the candles in the room. “You like? I did it all for you, Gin.”
“Charlie, what are you doing in here? Why aren’t you still at the party?” she asked, angrily, straightening her robes.
“I mean, I did it for you and Draco, of course.”
This is too weird, she thought. Charlie sat down on the couch that was in the middle of the room. “Ginny, come here a second.”
“No, I think I’ll stay right here, thanks,” she said, becoming very uneasy with Charlie’s continued unsettling behavior. Charlie sighed and got up again.
“Ginny, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you.” But, no sooner had those words escaped his lips then he had closed the distance between them, taken her hand and softly kissed her.
Ginny struggled to break away from him, but the kiss was so soft and gentle that she found herself becoming disarmed by its deceptiveness.
“Well, isn’t this cozy,” came the deathly cold voice from the doorway.
The last weekend of April had been designated the final Hogsmeade weekend before exams, and the students were out in full force, taking advantage of the opportunity and the gorgeous spring weather. Ginny, Jordi and Elizabeth, as well as Jordi’s boyfriend Shane Fitzpatrick and his friends were making their way across the grounds.
Jordi and Fitz, as he was always called, led the way hand in hand, followed by Elizabeth between Carter Delacroix and Jacob Ridley - torn as to whom to flirt with more. Ginny and Luna Lovegood brought up the rear with Reggie Baker.
“So you’re going to sing at the Leaving Feast?” Reggie asked Ginny. She was about to answer him when Luna cut in, in that strange dreamy voice of hers.
“Charlie is coming,” she said, staring past them to where, surely enough, Charlie was walking back towards them from the front of the herd of students. Ginny rolled her eyes.
Charlie had acted malicious and ridiculous when he first found out that she and Draco were seeing each other, taunting her behind her back and openly, calling her various derogatory things until Jordi’s boyfriend stepped in. One well-placed hex was all it took. Now Charlie had been trying to win Ginny’s forgiveness again, but she was exceedingly reluctant to do so.
“Hey everyone,” he said quietly, nodding at them before intently seeking out Ginny. He walked quickly back toward her, but Fitz stepped in front of him.
“If you have something to say to Ginny, you can say it to all of us,” he said protectively.
“It’s okay, Fitz, I can handle myself,” Ginny said. She waved her friends up on ahead, with a brief smile to Jordi and Elizabeth to assure them that she would be okay. They only walked a few paces ahead, just in case, however.
She and Charlie walked in silence for a few moments, and Ginny started to feel incredibly impatient. She fiddled with the hem of her tee-shirt. Finally, Charlie spoke up.
“It’s awfully nice out,” he commented.
Ginny stopped them from walking. “I don’t want to talk about the weather with you, Charlie. Say what you want to say and be done with it so I can go have fun with my friends.”
“Ginny, I - I’m sorry. Really, for everything I’ve said and all the things I did, I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted, now if you’ll excuse me,” she said gruffly, starting to brush past him. He grabbed her by the wrist. “Let me go.”
“Ginny, please wait. Let me get you a butterbeer or something so we can talk about this.”
“What is there to say, Charlie? We broke up and then you went on a great bloody rampage to try and destroy my name! You trashed me to anyone and everyone, Charles! And now you expect me to just forgive you because you suddenly had a change of heart? Sorry Charlie, it just doesn’t work that way.”
Ginny shook him off and started to walk away again, to return to the group. Charlie sighed and watched her go, red hair flying in the wind as she caught up with her friends again.
They had reached the Three Broomsticks, and they had all sat down and ordered their drinks when Ginny finally came in. She sat down in a huff next to Fitz and Jordi.
“Did that stupid blighter not learn his lesson, Ginny?” Fitz asked, eyeing the door to see if Charlie had followed them.
“No, no, he’s just a child and I’ve taken care of it,” Ginny answered loftily. The group of friends shared a laugh, but Luna just sat there quietly.
“He’s there at the door,” she said. “He can hear us laughing at him.”
“Well, then he can hear that nobody cares for his presence,” Jacob said loudly.
“Come on, now we’re starting to sound like a bunch of Slytherins,” Elizabeth chastised.
“Oi, not all Slytherins are all that bad,” Ginny added coyly. Jordi poked her in the ribs as she blushed.
Ginny wished Draco was there. He did say he was going to meet her later, but she wanted him there now. She had been finding it increasingly hard to stay away from him for too long. She felt so comfortable and complete when she was with him. But studying for N.E.W.Ts and all the work he had to do around the castle had made it a bit difficult to spend as much time together as they wanted to.
The door to the pub opened and Ginny was disappointed to see it was Charlie, instead of Draco. Charlie walked up to their table and stood hesitantly before them. Fitz cleared his throat and started to say something mean, when Ginny interrupted him.
“What do you want?” she asked evenly.
“I want to make amends,” he answered, eyes downcast. Ginny could see a glint of light at the corner of his eyes; he was crying.
Ginny scooted out of her seat, and, with a quick backward glance to shush the table, she took Charlie by the hand and led him back outside. They walked in silence until they reached the Shrieking Shack where they could be afforded some privacy. She sat down next to him on the little bench and said, “Talk.”
He remained silent for a few moments while she just stared at him. “I don’t have all day, Charlie, so please talk.”
Charlie spoke quietly, but very resolutely. “You have to understand how I felt, Ginny. I felt like you bloody ripped my heart out of my arse. All those years, it all just burned under the surface and when you kissed me, I knew that my waiting had finally paid off. And then to find out that it was all just a misunderstanding…that you stayed with me out of pity, and all the while you wanted someone else…you can’t even know what that feels like.”
“I didn’t stay with you out of pity. I was confused.”
“Yeah, and it broke my heart when you just chucked me like that. I was so worried about you, and all you could say was that it was over. I was sad, I was confused, but mostly I was angry. I hated you for leaving me, and I hate Malfoy for having you, for being the one to make you happy. So, I got a little carried away.”
Ginny stood up, an incredulous look on her face. “A little carried away? You called me a trollop in front of all the 7th years! You wrote my name on the boys’ bathroom wall - and yes I did find out about that. I’m only grateful that not everyone took your side. You could have destroyed me, Charlie, you know that? I got a Howler from my mother about you. Well I am not going to forgive you…your apology is accepted, but I don’t think that I can possibly forgive you.”
“It’s you who should be begging my forgiveness! You are the one that cheated on me!” Charlie yelled, standing up.
“I never cheated on you, Charlie! I may have thought about it, but I never cheated.”
“You kissed Malfoy, Gin, that is the very definition of cheating.”
Ginny fell silent at that. She couldn’t argue because she had kissed Draco while she was seeing Charlie. But somehow she had convinced herself that that was different.
“You’ve never thought about it that way, have you?” he asked, somewhat snidely.
“As a matter of fact, I haven’t. And I don’t intend to now. I’m going.” She turned around to head back to the pub.
“No, Ginny, wait, don’t run off again. This - this isn’t how I wanted things to happen. I want to make this right.”
“Then make it right!”
“I’m trying. Ginny, we were friends for so long, best friends even. Please don’t throw all that away just because I made an unbelievably stupid mistake.”
Ginny considered him carefully, looking deeply into his eyes. There was no doubt that he was sincere; she had always been able to read him like a book. She closed her eyes for a second, and then took a deep breath, cleansing breath.
“Let me make it clear that I am not forgiving you, nor should you forgive me. But if…and this is a big if…if you think that we can put aside what happened, perhaps we can attempt to be friends again.”
“I would really like that, Ginny,” he said, softly. He reached out to touch her hand, but she stepped away.
“I still do not want you to touch me,” she said. He looked disappointed for a second, but he nodded his assent. Ginny gave him a small half-smile. “Let’s go back, okay? I didn’t get to have a butterbeer yet.”
Charlie grinned and motioned for her to lead the way. They walked back into the pub together and sat down with the group again. After a little awkwardness mostly between Fitz and Charlie, they began to settle back into their familiar routine, discussing the upcoming N.E.W.Ts, Quidditch, anything and everything until they began to feel normal again.
----
The group separated around lunchtime. Jordi and Fitz went off alone, Carter, Jacob, Charlie and Reggie went off to Zonko’s, and Elizabeth and Luna decided to get some sweets from Honeydukes. Ginny slipped away to meet up with Draco.
She finally spotted him walking into a small antique bookshop, one that most students tended to overlook. She smiled to herself and hurried to catch up with him.
Draco was browsing the shelves when she walked in. He ran his long fingers along the aged bindings lovingly, not seeking anything out in particular. One finally caught his eye and he took it down from the shelf. It was a leather-bound copy of Shakespeare‘s Sonnets. He opened its pages to inhale the musky scent of antiquity, when Ginny slipped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his back. He smiled to himself, carefully set the book back on the shelf, and then turned around in her embrace to hug her back.
“Hello,” he said, before bending down to kiss her. She returned the kiss gratefully, but broke away, not wanting to make a scene in the shop. Draco chuckled as she glanced around to make sure no one was watching.
“Not too many people come here, so there shouldn’t be any prying eyes,” he said, before pulling her into a breath-taking kiss again. Ginny moved so that she could press him up against the bookcase and stood up on tiptoe to reach better. He laughed at her display of assertiveness and said, “You’ll disturb the books.”
She giggled and let go of him. “What were you looking at when I came in?”
Draco took Sonnets down from the shelf again and handed it to her. She glanced it over and said, “You continue to surprise me, Draco. There’s so much that I don’t know about you.”
“We’ll just have to get to know each other a little better then,” he said, raising an eyebrow cheekily. She playfully swatted at him for his insinuation, but she knew that he was only joking.
“Tonight is the big house party for all the seventh years before we buckle down for the N.E.W.Ts, but I can slip out and meet you in the Room of Requirement,” she said, before shyly adding, “if you want, of course.”
Draco lifted her up and she instinctively put her legs around his waist. “I want, of course,” he said before kissing her again. “I have something I want to play for you, something I’ve been working on for quite a while.”
“I’d love to hear it,” she said, as he set her down again. They walked hand in hand up to the counter, Draco carrying the large book. He bought it, and then he and Ginny left the bookshop and started walking back toward Hogwarts. They passed Ginny’s friends who waved, or whistled in Jacob’s case, and Draco felt a surge of happiness inside him. But it was swiftly crushed out when he saw Charlie smile and wave at Ginny who waved back.
“What’s all that about?” he asked, keeping his tone even. Ginny, however, noticed the change in his demeanor.
“Earlier today we sort of made up. I didn’t forgive him or anything, but I realized it wasn’t worth throwing away a long friendship just for something stupid that has been resolved.”
“Resolved? Are you mad? Don’t you remember what that stupid wanker did to you?”
“Of course I remember,” Ginny said, stopping. “I didn’t forgive him, and it’s not like we are going to ever be close like we once were, but we’ve all worked so hard for peace. I pride myself on it. I can’t just turn my back on it, even if he treated me so hatefully.”
Ginny could tell that Draco was very upset with her, but surely he would see that it was he, Draco, that she cared for. She squeezed his hand. “You make me happier than anyone I’ve ever known. Nothing is going to change that,” she whispered.
“I know,” he said, disengaging his hand from hers and slipping his arm around her waist. “I just…well, I want you to be careful, okay?”
“Mr. Malfoy, how gallant you are to take such an interest in the likes of me,” she teased, snaking her arm around him to pull him closer.
He rolled his eyes but pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
----
The party began soon after dinner had finished. The staff always turned a blind eye to it, as it was tradition for the students to blow off a little steam before having to settle down. As the dinner plates emptied, the Headmaster had stood up, dismissed the younger students and staff, and winked at the remaining seventh years before leaving himself.
Ginny spent about an hour and a half dancing and laughing with friends. She had even gotten up to sing for them with a charm making the piano play for her. After her performance, she quickly slipped out of the Great Hall and headed down to the Room of Requirement.
It was dark when she stepped inside the room; Draco had not arrived yet, so she sat down on the piano bench to wait for him. A thousand candles suddenly alit in the room causing Ginny to fall off the bench with a squeal of surprise. She cursed her clumsiness and started to stand up, when a hand reached out to pull her up.
Ginny pushed the hair out of her eyes, preparing to snog Draco senseless for the romanticism he had never shown before, but she stopped and pulled away.
Charlie gestured to the candles in the room. “You like? I did it all for you, Gin.”
“Charlie, what are you doing in here? Why aren’t you still at the party?” she asked, angrily, straightening her robes.
“I mean, I did it for you and Draco, of course.”
This is too weird, she thought. Charlie sat down on the couch that was in the middle of the room. “Ginny, come here a second.”
“No, I think I’ll stay right here, thanks,” she said, becoming very uneasy with Charlie’s continued unsettling behavior. Charlie sighed and got up again.
“Ginny, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you.” But, no sooner had those words escaped his lips then he had closed the distance between them, taken her hand and softly kissed her.
Ginny struggled to break away from him, but the kiss was so soft and gentle that she found herself becoming disarmed by its deceptiveness.
“Well, isn’t this cozy,” came the deathly cold voice from the doorway.
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