Chapter 18- Wandering Child
The Christmas holidays came and went, and Ginny wandered around Hogwarts in a daze. She rarely smiled anymore, and people whispered about her sudden depression. It was on a particularly bad day that Ginny walked into practice, cheeks red and blotchy.
Patrick saw her, hesitated, then continued with what he was starting to say. “Draco, Ginny, let’s go! We’re running ‘Wandering Child.’”
The pair hurried to their places on the stage as the quiet music began. Draco, pushing his mask into place, hid behind a tombstone where he could be seen by the audience but was invisible to Ginny. Ginny dropped to the ground in front of her father’s grave. As she coaxed tears into her eyes, Draco began his part.
“Wandering child so lost, so helpless
Yearning for my guidance”
Ginny’s head came up as she stared in wonder at her ‘father’s’ grave, which was slowly becoming illuminated.
“Angel of father, friend or Phantom?
Who is it there staring?
Have you forgotten your angel
Angel, oh speak, what endless longings
Echo in this whisper?
Too long you’ve wandered in winter
Far from my fathering gaze”
Blaise snorted audibly from off-stage. “Fathering. Yeah, right. That’s what he’d like us to think.” Ginny fought back laughter as she continued.
“Wildly my mind beats against you,
You resist,
Yet the soul obeys
Yet your soul obeys
Angel of music, I denied you
Angel of music, you denied me
Turning from true beauty
Angel of music, my protector
Angel of music, do not shun me
Come to me, strange angel
I am your angel of music
Come to me, angel of music”
Blaise jogged up to Ginny in the hallway and tossed an arm around her shoulders.
“Hello, Love! Why the long face?”
Ginny just looked at him with eyes now accustomed to being red and swollen. “What do you want, Blaise?”
“I want to walk with you,” he replied easily, trademark grin still in place. “Isn’t it enough that I just want to spend time with you?”
“Go away.”
“Aww, Gin, you got me right here,” Blaise gasped, clutching his heart in fake anguish.
“Blaise.” She waited until he looked at her again. “I’m serious. I’m not in the mood to talk.”
Blaise’s smile faded, and he grasped her shoulders, pulling her around to face him. “Ginny, you’ve got to shake this off. You haven’t been yourself since the holidays. Don’t you think you’ve spent enough time blaming yourself for what happened?”
The red head pulled away and kept walking. “Go away. I just want to be alone.”
Blaise started to reach for her, but reconsidered and pulled back. His mind worked furiously as he watched her pace away from him. As she rounded the corner and left his vision, Blaise nodded to himself and drew his wand. As he turned and walked the opposite way of Ginny, he pressed the tip to the sapphire in his ring.
Tears dripped down Ginny’s cheeks and fell into the lake, her cheeks burning as she sat. Her fingertips scraped across the ice, sending chills through her whole body. She sniffled and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to guard against both the cold and the loneliness. Shivers wracked her small frame, and she soon found she was sobbing.
Footsteps behind her made the frozen grass crackle, but Ginny didn’t turn. The person stopped, and spoke after a moment.
“Hi.”
Ginny tilted her head back to see Draco, not bothering to dry her face.
“Go away.”
Instead of moving away, the Slytherin folded himself onto the grass beside her, and wrapped a heavy cloak around her shoulders. Without looking down, Ginny knew it was dark green, and emblazoned with the Slytherin serpent.
“I thought you might be cold.”
Ginny shivered and pulled the cloak tighter around her. “I am, but I don’t think it’s on the outside.”
Silence reigned for a few minutes before Draco, oddly enough, laughed quietly. Emotionless as she was, Ginny’s curiosity got the best of her.
“What’s funny?”
Draco shrugged, seeming slightly surprised that he’d laughed. “Nothing really. Just experiencing major Déjà vu.”
Ginny smiled very slightly, her first real smile in over a week. They were both quiet for a few more minutes, and Ginny found herself casting around for something to say. She glanced at Draco and felt her eyebrows rise.
“You’re wearing it,” she said in surprise, running her fingers over the gray silk of the cloak he wore... the one she’d given him for Christmas.
Instead of looking uncomfortable as she expected, Draco simply shrugged. “It’s a good cloak.”
Ginny just looked at him, her green eyes peering into his soul. After a moment, her eyebrows knitted together in puzzlement.
“Something’s different about you. You’re being... well, more than civil. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were being nice.”
Draco looked right back, his grey eyes intense with something Ginny couldn’t quite figure out. “I guess I just decided you aren’t all that bad.”
They sat like that for a long time, eyes pouring into each other’s. After a few minutes- during which they had moved much closer without seeming to notice- Ginny’s eyes dropped to Draco’s lips for a split second.
That was all the invitation he needed. Without preamble, Draco moved forward and pressed his lips against hers. His arms slipped slowly around her and pulled her as close as the awkward angle of the ground would allow. He smiled against her mouth as he felt Ginny’s arms wrap around his neck.
A few minutes later, or maybe a few hours, Ginny pulled back, gasping for breath. She kept one hand lightly against Draco’s chest, forcing the distance to remain when he would’ve ducked back in. When she could breathe again, Ginny raised her eyes to the clear gray ones just inches from her own.
“This isn’t going to happen again.”
Draco’s brows creased his forehead as they lifted. “Oh?”
“I-” Ginny sucked in a breath and let it back out again before continuing. “I… refuse to be nothing more than a… physical benefit. Either this stops, or we’re going to form an actual relationship here.”
“What’s wrong with it how it is now?”
“It’s worthless, Draco!” Ginny was beginning to lose patience with the maddening calm in his eyes. “It doesn’t mean anything, and I refuse to be a part of it! I wasn’t raised to be just ‘friends with benefits,’ and I don’t intend to start now.”
Draco’s head lifted slightly, obviously considering her. After a few long, slightly awkward moments, he seemed to reach his decision. “Alright. Which do we do?”