Well this is the last chapter! I wrote this fic ages ago and only had to post it so it hasn't taken long! I hope you all enjoyed! I've been getting great reviews and I want to thank you all for your input! I hope I'll have something new to post soon, but knowing my drive it may be awhile!
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After a sleepless night Ginny was certain she didn’t want to go to classes. She was crabby, sad, hurt, bitchy and tired. When Hermione came to get her in the morning she faked illness, which wasn’t hard after crying all night.
What little sleep Ginny had gotten was plagued by dreams of a perfect world and a certain prat’s face. She was ready to explode. The last person she wanted to see was Draco and the only way she could do that was to stay in her dark room forever.
She didn’t blame him. She was furious with the rest of the world. She wanted to mangle and maim anyone who had the guts to walk through her bedroom door.
Hermione left, but she had woken up Ginny’s roommates, who were now bustling around the room. Their happiness made her more and more depressed until she was again weeping behind her bed hangings.
“Wait, shh, shh. Do you guys hear that? Gin? Gin, are you okay?” Ginny’s reaction was too late to stop Grace Jansen from coming over to her bed and pulling the hangings away.
“Oh Ginny! I thought you told Hermi’ that you weren’t feeling well. Did she even see you?”
“I’m NOT feeling well and why does matter if Hermi’ saw me or NOT?” Ginny was being nasty, but she really didn’t care since she was sickeningly sweet every other day. And anyways she wasn’t enjoying the pitying looks – and sympathetic silence – that her roommates were giving her. Lucky for them, she didn’t have the strength the punch each of their delicate noses.
“Well, we just wouldn’t think that Hermi’ would leave you looking like this,” chirped in Mary from behind Grace.
Ginny was going to make sure that while passing the quaffle to Mary next game it was going to ‘accidentally’ knock her unconscious.
“SOD OFF! Don’t you lot have anything better to do than bother the sickly?” Ginny pushed herself up from the pillow and walked across the room to where the garbage bin was located.
“I don’t think you’re sick,” this voice was from Monica Dawson who was sitting on her bed and seemed very sure about her words.
“Look at me. I’m a mess, I didn’t sleep all night and I can barely breathe,” Ginny spat, adding a fake sick voice and blowing her nose at the end for added effect. She was slowly losing her patience and if these nosey bimbos didn’t hurry up and leave soon, she was going to do something she should regret, but probably wouldn’t.
“Moni’s right! You’re not sick, but you are a mess. My guess is some bloke broke your heart last night.” Kate had finally joined the conversation, but her only response from Ginny was a deep growl from her throat. Kate continued anyway. “If you don’t stop being so hostile I’m going to think I’m even more right. So you better get dressed or go see Madam Pomfrey.” The look on Kate’s face was killing Ginny; all she wanted to do was rip it off.
“I’M NOT GOING TO SEE POMFREY!”
“Then I’m going to tell McGonagall that you’re skiving classes.”
Everyone else in the bedroom was tense, wondering what Ginny’s response would be. She could risk going to Pomfrey and claim she didn’t feel well and hadn’t slept because her muscles still hurt from the game, but it wasn’t worth it. The nurse would just heal her aches and send her to class with directions to go to bed early.
Ginny finally moved again and started to grumble under her breath while she looked for pieces of clothing to wear.
“Why the hell can’t people leave me alone? … I’m going to make sure she gets the quaffle in her face first… I may be going, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to look good… I’ll remember this the next time she breaks up with one of her lousy boyfriends! …”
Ginny complained, but no one seemed to hear her. After she had begun to get dressed everyone else had returned to their own business, chatting and bumbling about.
Despite the fact that Ginny wasn’t ready to be seen publicly – at least by her mother’s standards – she was the first to leave the room. She had thrown on the blouse from the night before which had been mussed and now wasn’t buttoned quite as high as it should have been. The only clean skirt she could find was from the year before and rose up a bit too high. Who cared? She hadn’t bothered with her cardigan, tie, or robes. They had all been left on the floor or hook. The beige stockings she’d pulled out were the only decent piece of clothing she wore, but they couldn’t really be seen beneath the black leather
knee-high muggle boots she had bought behind Mrs. Weasley’s back two years ago. The only attention that her hair got was a casual brush and then a run through with her fingers. Her only accessories were her necklace and her bag that contained her books, a letter from the day before and the rose that had accompanied it.
Ginny spotted her reflection on the way out of the common room, and surprisingly, she liked her appearance. She looked how she felt. Different. She looked like how Ginny should look, natural.
Her hair was especially impressive. It was the first time she had left it down since she had started to grow it out at the beginning of the year. It had once been cut to her shoulders, but now that she’d decided to grow it out, it reached to the middle of her back. Her hair had always grown quickly. The curl that Ginny normally fought by braiding her red locks everyday now gave her hair character. This was probably the first time Ginny had looked her age since she was eleven.
Running her hand through her hair, she remembered something Draco had said the night before. He had commented on the color of her locks. He had said she made the Weasley hair a ‘blessing’. Her color had grown over the years from the carroty color of her brother’s hair to a rich red auburn of its very own. She was glad that Draco liked it.
Shaking the thoughts off before she started to cry again, Ginny pushed her hair out of her eyes and left the common room.
In her wake she left the few students that had been up early in complete silence. The appearance and disappearance of Ron’s little sister had stunned them.
That couldn’t be Ginny Weasley, could it?
************
After all her complaining that morning it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d stayed in her room. Draco was in hiding. He hadn’t come to breakfast or lunch and she hadn’t seen him in the halls or coming out of any of his classes. Actually it had shocked her how well she knew his schedule.
Ginny had spent most of her day getting more and more annoyed. He was avoiding her and that pissed her off. It didn’t really make much sense since she had wanted to do exactly the same thing, but still that was what she was feeling.
That wasn’t the only thing that was getting on her nerves. Every guy in the entire school seemed to be noticing her FINALLY and it was driving Ginny bonkers. They wouldn’t stop smiling, chatting her up and basically flirting with her non-stop. To make matters worse, Ron, upon seeing her appearance at breakfast, had been tailing her all day dragging along a very disgruntled Hermione and Harry.
The combination of Draco, Ron and every other male in the student body had finally brought Ginny to her boiling point. At the moment she was heading to the great hall for supper with her ‘entourage’ in tow.
In one ear she could hear Ron bickering away about her boots, while in the other, Neville, Colin, Dean, and a few others were all vying for her attention. Behind her Ginny could also hear the faint complaints of Harry and Hermione, who by now were ready to kill Ron.
Ginny was getting a massive headache. She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs. She felt like yelling, and if she had her way, all of this emotion would be directed at a particular blond boy.
At that moment, Ginny came around the corner of the dinning room door. An icy grin had blossomed on her pink lips. She had spotted her target and she was going to hit it.
Draco had dared to come to supper, which was going to be a fatal mistake if Ginny had anything to do with it, but first she had to lose a few spectators.
Abruptly Ginny turned on her heel and faced the crowd following her. She knew that she should be nice and ask them gently and politely to give her some peace, but frankly, she didn’t feel like it.
“SOD OFF!! Get it? LEAVE ME ALONE!! GO AWAY!! Can’t a girl GET SOME SPACE?”
The look on Ron’s face would have been priceless if her mind wasn’t concentrating on other things. His newly reddened cheeks were now darker than his hair. His eyes betrayed him, though, showing Ginny his worry. “Yeah, sure Gin, we’ll go, let you have a quiet meal.” Ron rounded up the others and they went to sit down. Ginny felt sorry about yelling at the crowd, but she would apologize to them later.
Right now she had bigger things to yell at. Looking up, she caught Draco’s eye, but he looked away almost as quickly. He had been one of the few who had noticed Ginny’s outburst. Well, there was no point giving up now.
Again she turned and quickly walked over to where Draco was sitting surrounded by fellow Slytherins. Something inside Ginny mentioned to the rational side of her brain that this was insane, but the rational side just wasn’t listening. Oh well. Ginny had to move fast or she’d lose her opportunity.
Draco was in the middle of a conversation with certain Slytherin boys that Ginny knew were already aware of most of her involvement with Draco Malfoy. Close to them sat a crowd of Slytherin girls that included Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode.
Emotion was rising from the pit of her stomach. If Ginny hadn’t been so riled she probably would have thrown up. Malfoy thought he could spend the day avoiding her and survive. He had another think coming and it was coming fast. Bastard! She may as well make it a good show too!
Ginny had finally crossed the distance between them and was now standing behind Draco who was still talking with his friends however knowing him he was aware that she there.
The conversation around them abruptly stopped as Draco’s friends and the Slytherin girls noticed Ginny’s fuming presence hovering over Draco. Draco still wouldn’t turn around.
Leaning over only slightly since Draco’s frame was so tall; Ginny draped herself over his shoulders and whispered so softly that they were the only ones to hear,
“Have you been avoiding me?” Ginny’s heated breath touched the skin of Draco’s neck as the words were released and by now they had the entire hall’s attention.
“No.”
His voice was icy and his volume at a normal level so that everyone heard his reply. Somehow he only managed to make her more upset.
Unweaving her hands from where they had been playing with his blond hair behind his ear she stood up straight again. Her small hands then delivered a hefty blow to his shoulder blades that sent him toward his dinner.
Simultaneously she viciously spat still slightly hushed, “Liar!”
Well that gotten a reaction! Draco quickly rose, jumping the bench and turning around, but he stopped there. Again he had caught Ginny’s eyes, but this time he was close enough to read the message they were sending him.
The pain he saw killed him. He had caused that pain. If he had a choice, he would have kissed the tears away that were forming in Ginny’s eyes, but he was unable to carry out the actions his heart wanted to take.
His only response was weak and held little malice,
“Malfoy’s aren’t liars, Weaselette.”
“Ha! Keep telling yourself that, ferret!” Ginny was slowly losing the strength that had buoyed her the entire day.
She was now threatened with reducing back into the heaping mess she had been all through the night.
“What?”
“You heard me, you bloody git! Stop fooling yourself. NO ONE GIVES A DAMN IF THE MALFOYS ARE VIRTUEOUS OR NOT! We all know the truth.” Every gossip in the school was enjoying this though they wouldn’t have anyone to tell since all the students were present.
“You shouldn’t have been wandering the halls at night. It’s your own fault this happened.” Draco’s voice had turned icy, but he hadn’t yelled once, which upset Ginny even more.
“IT’S NOT MY FAULT! You can’t put this on me!” slowly Ginny’s voice was losing momentum as tears and realization came over her. She continued softly so the students now had to crane so they could hear. “And I can’t put it on you. No one’s to blame, but then why…why does it hurt so much, Draco?”
Ginny had finally lost all her energy, lost all her will to fight for that day, but it was fine by her if she could now just sink into his arms. A small gasp let itself out as Ginny allowed her body to do what her heart most wanted.
Draco grasped her with no hint of pulling away. He ran his fingers through her hair and whispered the words into her ear that she most needed to hear and he most needed to say. “It hurts, Rosebud, only because I love you.” Though he had whispered as quietly as possible, the next day everyone could repeat those words from heart.
Slowly he pulled away slightly to the shock of their audience. What he did next no one knew the meaning to except Ginny and maybe a few close ‘friends’ of Draco’s.
Malfoy reached down to something hanging around Ginny’s neck and took in his hand. Again he only whispered, trying to be discreet, “Verità Libera. Now you are free to make your own choice, Rosebud. I will fight with you and I will fight for you if that is what you want.”
Why no one had jumped up and stopped the two sooner was beyond important for Ginny. She knew what she wanted and he was standing right in front of her. The journey wouldn’t be easy and in reality they would spend years fighting those who wished them separated, but neither of the two would ever question the decision they had made standing before their peers.
Ginny spoke slowly and with purpose, “I love you, Draco Malfoy and I will fight with you and for you.”
At that, a quiet applause was heard from the most unlikely of places. Each teacher sitting at the head table was putting their hands together for the young couple, even Professor Snape. They all wore a sad look and the only explanation for their actions were Dumbledore’s soft words, “At last someone has made the hard choice. To love instead of to hate.”
THE END
********
After a sleepless night Ginny was certain she didn’t want to go to classes. She was crabby, sad, hurt, bitchy and tired. When Hermione came to get her in the morning she faked illness, which wasn’t hard after crying all night.
What little sleep Ginny had gotten was plagued by dreams of a perfect world and a certain prat’s face. She was ready to explode. The last person she wanted to see was Draco and the only way she could do that was to stay in her dark room forever.
She didn’t blame him. She was furious with the rest of the world. She wanted to mangle and maim anyone who had the guts to walk through her bedroom door.
Hermione left, but she had woken up Ginny’s roommates, who were now bustling around the room. Their happiness made her more and more depressed until she was again weeping behind her bed hangings.
“Wait, shh, shh. Do you guys hear that? Gin? Gin, are you okay?” Ginny’s reaction was too late to stop Grace Jansen from coming over to her bed and pulling the hangings away.
“Oh Ginny! I thought you told Hermi’ that you weren’t feeling well. Did she even see you?”
“I’m NOT feeling well and why does matter if Hermi’ saw me or NOT?” Ginny was being nasty, but she really didn’t care since she was sickeningly sweet every other day. And anyways she wasn’t enjoying the pitying looks – and sympathetic silence – that her roommates were giving her. Lucky for them, she didn’t have the strength the punch each of their delicate noses.
“Well, we just wouldn’t think that Hermi’ would leave you looking like this,” chirped in Mary from behind Grace.
Ginny was going to make sure that while passing the quaffle to Mary next game it was going to ‘accidentally’ knock her unconscious.
“SOD OFF! Don’t you lot have anything better to do than bother the sickly?” Ginny pushed herself up from the pillow and walked across the room to where the garbage bin was located.
“I don’t think you’re sick,” this voice was from Monica Dawson who was sitting on her bed and seemed very sure about her words.
“Look at me. I’m a mess, I didn’t sleep all night and I can barely breathe,” Ginny spat, adding a fake sick voice and blowing her nose at the end for added effect. She was slowly losing her patience and if these nosey bimbos didn’t hurry up and leave soon, she was going to do something she should regret, but probably wouldn’t.
“Moni’s right! You’re not sick, but you are a mess. My guess is some bloke broke your heart last night.” Kate had finally joined the conversation, but her only response from Ginny was a deep growl from her throat. Kate continued anyway. “If you don’t stop being so hostile I’m going to think I’m even more right. So you better get dressed or go see Madam Pomfrey.” The look on Kate’s face was killing Ginny; all she wanted to do was rip it off.
“I’M NOT GOING TO SEE POMFREY!”
“Then I’m going to tell McGonagall that you’re skiving classes.”
Everyone else in the bedroom was tense, wondering what Ginny’s response would be. She could risk going to Pomfrey and claim she didn’t feel well and hadn’t slept because her muscles still hurt from the game, but it wasn’t worth it. The nurse would just heal her aches and send her to class with directions to go to bed early.
Ginny finally moved again and started to grumble under her breath while she looked for pieces of clothing to wear.
“Why the hell can’t people leave me alone? … I’m going to make sure she gets the quaffle in her face first… I may be going, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to look good… I’ll remember this the next time she breaks up with one of her lousy boyfriends! …”
Ginny complained, but no one seemed to hear her. After she had begun to get dressed everyone else had returned to their own business, chatting and bumbling about.
Despite the fact that Ginny wasn’t ready to be seen publicly – at least by her mother’s standards – she was the first to leave the room. She had thrown on the blouse from the night before which had been mussed and now wasn’t buttoned quite as high as it should have been. The only clean skirt she could find was from the year before and rose up a bit too high. Who cared? She hadn’t bothered with her cardigan, tie, or robes. They had all been left on the floor or hook. The beige stockings she’d pulled out were the only decent piece of clothing she wore, but they couldn’t really be seen beneath the black leather
knee-high muggle boots she had bought behind Mrs. Weasley’s back two years ago. The only attention that her hair got was a casual brush and then a run through with her fingers. Her only accessories were her necklace and her bag that contained her books, a letter from the day before and the rose that had accompanied it.
Ginny spotted her reflection on the way out of the common room, and surprisingly, she liked her appearance. She looked how she felt. Different. She looked like how Ginny should look, natural.
Her hair was especially impressive. It was the first time she had left it down since she had started to grow it out at the beginning of the year. It had once been cut to her shoulders, but now that she’d decided to grow it out, it reached to the middle of her back. Her hair had always grown quickly. The curl that Ginny normally fought by braiding her red locks everyday now gave her hair character. This was probably the first time Ginny had looked her age since she was eleven.
Running her hand through her hair, she remembered something Draco had said the night before. He had commented on the color of her locks. He had said she made the Weasley hair a ‘blessing’. Her color had grown over the years from the carroty color of her brother’s hair to a rich red auburn of its very own. She was glad that Draco liked it.
Shaking the thoughts off before she started to cry again, Ginny pushed her hair out of her eyes and left the common room.
In her wake she left the few students that had been up early in complete silence. The appearance and disappearance of Ron’s little sister had stunned them.
That couldn’t be Ginny Weasley, could it?
************
After all her complaining that morning it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d stayed in her room. Draco was in hiding. He hadn’t come to breakfast or lunch and she hadn’t seen him in the halls or coming out of any of his classes. Actually it had shocked her how well she knew his schedule.
Ginny had spent most of her day getting more and more annoyed. He was avoiding her and that pissed her off. It didn’t really make much sense since she had wanted to do exactly the same thing, but still that was what she was feeling.
That wasn’t the only thing that was getting on her nerves. Every guy in the entire school seemed to be noticing her FINALLY and it was driving Ginny bonkers. They wouldn’t stop smiling, chatting her up and basically flirting with her non-stop. To make matters worse, Ron, upon seeing her appearance at breakfast, had been tailing her all day dragging along a very disgruntled Hermione and Harry.
The combination of Draco, Ron and every other male in the student body had finally brought Ginny to her boiling point. At the moment she was heading to the great hall for supper with her ‘entourage’ in tow.
In one ear she could hear Ron bickering away about her boots, while in the other, Neville, Colin, Dean, and a few others were all vying for her attention. Behind her Ginny could also hear the faint complaints of Harry and Hermione, who by now were ready to kill Ron.
Ginny was getting a massive headache. She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs. She felt like yelling, and if she had her way, all of this emotion would be directed at a particular blond boy.
At that moment, Ginny came around the corner of the dinning room door. An icy grin had blossomed on her pink lips. She had spotted her target and she was going to hit it.
Draco had dared to come to supper, which was going to be a fatal mistake if Ginny had anything to do with it, but first she had to lose a few spectators.
Abruptly Ginny turned on her heel and faced the crowd following her. She knew that she should be nice and ask them gently and politely to give her some peace, but frankly, she didn’t feel like it.
“SOD OFF!! Get it? LEAVE ME ALONE!! GO AWAY!! Can’t a girl GET SOME SPACE?”
The look on Ron’s face would have been priceless if her mind wasn’t concentrating on other things. His newly reddened cheeks were now darker than his hair. His eyes betrayed him, though, showing Ginny his worry. “Yeah, sure Gin, we’ll go, let you have a quiet meal.” Ron rounded up the others and they went to sit down. Ginny felt sorry about yelling at the crowd, but she would apologize to them later.
Right now she had bigger things to yell at. Looking up, she caught Draco’s eye, but he looked away almost as quickly. He had been one of the few who had noticed Ginny’s outburst. Well, there was no point giving up now.
Again she turned and quickly walked over to where Draco was sitting surrounded by fellow Slytherins. Something inside Ginny mentioned to the rational side of her brain that this was insane, but the rational side just wasn’t listening. Oh well. Ginny had to move fast or she’d lose her opportunity.
Draco was in the middle of a conversation with certain Slytherin boys that Ginny knew were already aware of most of her involvement with Draco Malfoy. Close to them sat a crowd of Slytherin girls that included Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode.
Emotion was rising from the pit of her stomach. If Ginny hadn’t been so riled she probably would have thrown up. Malfoy thought he could spend the day avoiding her and survive. He had another think coming and it was coming fast. Bastard! She may as well make it a good show too!
Ginny had finally crossed the distance between them and was now standing behind Draco who was still talking with his friends however knowing him he was aware that she there.
The conversation around them abruptly stopped as Draco’s friends and the Slytherin girls noticed Ginny’s fuming presence hovering over Draco. Draco still wouldn’t turn around.
Leaning over only slightly since Draco’s frame was so tall; Ginny draped herself over his shoulders and whispered so softly that they were the only ones to hear,
“Have you been avoiding me?” Ginny’s heated breath touched the skin of Draco’s neck as the words were released and by now they had the entire hall’s attention.
“No.”
His voice was icy and his volume at a normal level so that everyone heard his reply. Somehow he only managed to make her more upset.
Unweaving her hands from where they had been playing with his blond hair behind his ear she stood up straight again. Her small hands then delivered a hefty blow to his shoulder blades that sent him toward his dinner.
Simultaneously she viciously spat still slightly hushed, “Liar!”
Well that gotten a reaction! Draco quickly rose, jumping the bench and turning around, but he stopped there. Again he had caught Ginny’s eyes, but this time he was close enough to read the message they were sending him.
The pain he saw killed him. He had caused that pain. If he had a choice, he would have kissed the tears away that were forming in Ginny’s eyes, but he was unable to carry out the actions his heart wanted to take.
His only response was weak and held little malice,
“Malfoy’s aren’t liars, Weaselette.”
“Ha! Keep telling yourself that, ferret!” Ginny was slowly losing the strength that had buoyed her the entire day.
She was now threatened with reducing back into the heaping mess she had been all through the night.
“What?”
“You heard me, you bloody git! Stop fooling yourself. NO ONE GIVES A DAMN IF THE MALFOYS ARE VIRTUEOUS OR NOT! We all know the truth.” Every gossip in the school was enjoying this though they wouldn’t have anyone to tell since all the students were present.
“You shouldn’t have been wandering the halls at night. It’s your own fault this happened.” Draco’s voice had turned icy, but he hadn’t yelled once, which upset Ginny even more.
“IT’S NOT MY FAULT! You can’t put this on me!” slowly Ginny’s voice was losing momentum as tears and realization came over her. She continued softly so the students now had to crane so they could hear. “And I can’t put it on you. No one’s to blame, but then why…why does it hurt so much, Draco?”
Ginny had finally lost all her energy, lost all her will to fight for that day, but it was fine by her if she could now just sink into his arms. A small gasp let itself out as Ginny allowed her body to do what her heart most wanted.
Draco grasped her with no hint of pulling away. He ran his fingers through her hair and whispered the words into her ear that she most needed to hear and he most needed to say. “It hurts, Rosebud, only because I love you.” Though he had whispered as quietly as possible, the next day everyone could repeat those words from heart.
Slowly he pulled away slightly to the shock of their audience. What he did next no one knew the meaning to except Ginny and maybe a few close ‘friends’ of Draco’s.
Malfoy reached down to something hanging around Ginny’s neck and took in his hand. Again he only whispered, trying to be discreet, “Verità Libera. Now you are free to make your own choice, Rosebud. I will fight with you and I will fight for you if that is what you want.”
Why no one had jumped up and stopped the two sooner was beyond important for Ginny. She knew what she wanted and he was standing right in front of her. The journey wouldn’t be easy and in reality they would spend years fighting those who wished them separated, but neither of the two would ever question the decision they had made standing before their peers.
Ginny spoke slowly and with purpose, “I love you, Draco Malfoy and I will fight with you and for you.”
At that, a quiet applause was heard from the most unlikely of places. Each teacher sitting at the head table was putting their hands together for the young couple, even Professor Snape. They all wore a sad look and the only explanation for their actions were Dumbledore’s soft words, “At last someone has made the hard choice. To love instead of to hate.”
THE END
The End.
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