And then it was all over. Several brave volunteers had moved You-Know-Who’s body into a small chamber off the Great Hall. Ginny wasn’t sure she trusted it being out of sight, but she certainly didn’t want to have to look at his less than human form anymore. And her mother, killing Bellatrix like that – that had truly been amazing. And Kreacher, rallying the house elves; it had all been nothing short of miraculous.
Except that she still hadn’t found Draco. She had glimpsed him once after Harry had asked her to leave the Room of Requirement, but he had been with Crabbe and Goyle, and something in their expressions didn’t seem right. She had stayed hidden.
Hours later, after the Death Eaters had retreated and after helping fight as much as she could, Ron told her and Tonks what happened in the Room of Requirement and she had searched through all the bodies she could find terrified that each dead person she stumbled upon would be him, and hoping that each injured one would be him as well. But she didn’t find him.
Ginny dropped down on the chair next to her mother, and laid her head on her shoulder. A dry sob escaped her throat once, then twice and then the real tears began to slip down her cheeks.
Her mother knew her too well.
“The person, your friend, is he…”
“I don’t know,” she said, her voice wavering. “I saw him once and then I haven’t seen him again.”
Molly looked around the Great Hall, as if she knew who she was looking for.
Ginny followed her gaze, searching the tables for any sign of that white blond hair.
“There’s quite a few people here,” Molly told her soothingly, stroking her head.
“I know,” she whispered, wondering if she should check the increasing row of bodies that were being brought in. I can’t see Fred again.
Suddenly, standing in the aisle between two tables, three white blond heads caught her eye. She jumped to her feet so quickly the chair fell backwards. Ginny nearly ran to where the Malfoy family was standing and skidded to a stop in front of them. The three of them stared at her, their expressions showing more fear than she felt. She knew she was dirty, her robes were torn and tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but she didn’t care. “Draco?”
Even in these circumstances, his parents made her nervous. His mum stood with her back perfectly rigid, her thin arms wrapped so tightly around Draco, Ginny was concerned for his ribs. His father stood behind them, a hand resting of each of their shoulders. His long hair was tangled and dirty, and most of it had fallen free of the leather band he held it back with.
“Ginny!” Draco said loudly, breaking free from his mother’s grasp and wrapping his arms tightly around her. He kissed her repeatedly before pulling back and looking at her. “I was, I thought, I’m just glad you’re here.” With one hand he reached up and wiped at her tears.
She closed her eyes and pressed herself against him.
“I’m sorry about your brother.”
She nodded into his chest, thinking that she was never going to let go of him again.
“It’s gonna be alright,” he whispered in her ear. “Things are going to be okay now.”
She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his parents or the crying and celebrating people around them.
“Believe me,” he said quietly. “I’ll make everything okay for you. I love you.”
Ginny wanted to believe him, so she did.
**~~**
Two Weeks After School Ended
“You cannot just leave,” Hermione told Ginny.
“I’m not just leaving,” Ginny reminded her calmly, using her wand to pack and shrink her bags. “Everyone knows. I explained it to them.”
“Your mum keeps trying not to cry.”
Ginny nodded, a small knot of guilt expanding in her stomach. “Yes, well… She cried when Bill got married too.” Her mum had been surprised when Ginny and Draco refused to be separated the night Harry killed Voldemort. Draco’s parents had tried to get him to go home with them, and her mum had tried to take her back to the Burrow, but they had both refused. Draco wouldn’t even let go of Ginny’s hand that night or the following day, not even as they slept.
“So you’re marrying Draco?” Hermione asked.
She paused for a moment, glancing around her room to see if there was anything else she wanted to pack. “One day I’m sure we will, if we last that long.”
“Isn’t Malfoy just some passing fancy you have, Gin? You’ll get tired of his arrogance and pretentiousness, won’t you? And you know what happened in the room of requirement, right?”
“She knows,” Ron interrupted his girlfriend. “And she’s made up her mind. They’ve been together a long time. And Ginny’s a smart girl. She can decide these things.”
Ginny smiled at her brother. He was the only person who had stuck up for her – not to say that he was a fan of Draco – but Ron had defended her choice, for reasons she still didn’t understand. “Thanks Ron. Keep telling Mum that. I don’t like it when she’s sad.”
“I think she’s just surprised by who it was,” Ron told her. “Actually just surprised that you’re leaving.”
“Why is she letting you? You’re not 17 yet,” Hermione added.
Ginny shrugged, although she knew exactly why. Her mum had told her that her father had been her one great love, the person she knew she had to be with.
“I can see how much you care for him,” her mum had said. “When I saw the two of you together that night at Hogwarts, I knew. I just knew. And I know I can’t stop it.”
“I’ll be 17 in a month,” Ginny reminded Hermione.
Hermione sighed loudly and sunk down in her chair, rubbing her temples. “Couldn’t you at least wait till the end of summer? Or finish school? You have one more year.”
“For what?” Ginny asked, latching her trunk. “What will change then?”
It was the first time Ginny had seen Hermione at a loss for words.
“Things aren’t the same as they used to be,” Ginny gently reminded her. “And as much as we might want them to be, they’ll never be the same again.”
Ron’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I thought that too. I thought, great, Harry defeated You-Know-Who, now we can go back to being normal and living our lives, but it won’t be the way it was.”
“Exactly,” Ginny added. “And that’s a good thing, right? Now you and Ron can quit pretending not to fancy each other.”
Ron laughed as Hermione’s cheeks flushed. “I’m not going to lie and tell you that I think Malfoy is fantastic. I’d give him another punch in the face any day of the week, but Neville told me about what he did for you during the school year.”
“What did he do?” Harry asked quietly, entering her already crowded room.
Ginny glanced at her brother. It was easier to let Ron explain these things to Harry right now. Harry had made it clear he expected the two of them to pick up where they’d left off, and telling him it was not going to happen wasn’t something Ginny had enjoyed.
“Draco talked Snape into only giving her detention with Hagrid for breaking into Dumbledore’s office and trying to steal the sword,” Ron told his friend. “And refused to do any curses on her in Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“We just called it Dark Arts,” Ginny interjected.
Harry nodded and the room was silent for a moment. Then he smiled at her. “I think one thing I learned is that we’ve all got to do what makes us happy.”
“Thanks,” she whispered back. “That’s what I’m doing.”
“Go somewhere and find some sunshine and happiness, in whatever weird forms it comes in.”
Ginny glanced around her childhood room. She had only packed a few pieces of clothes and some mementos, things she didn’t want to leave behind. Her eyes reached her brother. He was staring at her as if trying to convey the fact that he was telling her something very, very important. She stepped forward and hugged him. “Thanks again Ron. Promise you’ll come and visit? You can get along with Draco for a week, right?”
Ron’s body stiffened slightly.
“He showed me some pictures last week, it’s so beautiful. I can’t wait to get there.”
“I saw those pictures,” Hermione finally spoke up. “It does look amazing.”
Ginny quickly turned her head to look at her friend. “So… you’re not mad at me?”
Hermione sighed loudly. “I wasn’t so much mad as surprised. I didn’t even know you and Malfoy were seeing each other! Do you know how shocking it was to walk into the Great Hall and find the two of you wrapped around each other like your lives depended on it?”
“It wasn’t like I could owl you the news,” Ginny grinned. “You lot were off running around trying to save the world.”
“Just promise you’ll come and visit,” Hermione pleaded.
“And if he ever doesn’t treat you like a princess, let me know,” Ron added.
“If you promise to visit me,” she bargained.
“I dunno about that,” Harry said finally.
“You can go on a safari. How cool would that be?”
Harry finally smiled at her. “Pretty cool, I guess.”
A sharp knock at her bedroom door interrupted them. Ron reached over to open it and Ginny smiled widely at her pale boyfriend.
“Are you packed?” Draco asked, framed in her doorway. “Your mum is… well, she told me that if my actions were as beautiful as my words, she’ll be alright.” He eyebrows were drawn together in confusion.
Ginny grinned and slipped her hand into her pocket, feeling the parchment she still carried with her – her letter from Draco.
“I’m packed.” She motioned to her trunk.
Draco stepped forward with his wand to shrink it for her. “It’s a perfect day to travel,” he told her. “The sun is shining. Just like you wanted.”
“Really?” Ginny stepped towards her window and pressed her nose against the glass. Sure enough, for the first time in over a year, the unnatural fog that the dementors and the dark magic had left behind had lifted. All Ginny could see was a bright blue sky and the sun, shining brilliantly against the land. “It must be a sign,” she laughed. “I’m ready.”
Draco pocketed her trunk, picked up her hand and kissed her cheek. “Me too.”
Except that she still hadn’t found Draco. She had glimpsed him once after Harry had asked her to leave the Room of Requirement, but he had been with Crabbe and Goyle, and something in their expressions didn’t seem right. She had stayed hidden.
Hours later, after the Death Eaters had retreated and after helping fight as much as she could, Ron told her and Tonks what happened in the Room of Requirement and she had searched through all the bodies she could find terrified that each dead person she stumbled upon would be him, and hoping that each injured one would be him as well. But she didn’t find him.
Ginny dropped down on the chair next to her mother, and laid her head on her shoulder. A dry sob escaped her throat once, then twice and then the real tears began to slip down her cheeks.
Her mother knew her too well.
“The person, your friend, is he…”
“I don’t know,” she said, her voice wavering. “I saw him once and then I haven’t seen him again.”
Molly looked around the Great Hall, as if she knew who she was looking for.
Ginny followed her gaze, searching the tables for any sign of that white blond hair.
“There’s quite a few people here,” Molly told her soothingly, stroking her head.
“I know,” she whispered, wondering if she should check the increasing row of bodies that were being brought in. I can’t see Fred again.
Suddenly, standing in the aisle between two tables, three white blond heads caught her eye. She jumped to her feet so quickly the chair fell backwards. Ginny nearly ran to where the Malfoy family was standing and skidded to a stop in front of them. The three of them stared at her, their expressions showing more fear than she felt. She knew she was dirty, her robes were torn and tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but she didn’t care. “Draco?”
Even in these circumstances, his parents made her nervous. His mum stood with her back perfectly rigid, her thin arms wrapped so tightly around Draco, Ginny was concerned for his ribs. His father stood behind them, a hand resting of each of their shoulders. His long hair was tangled and dirty, and most of it had fallen free of the leather band he held it back with.
“Ginny!” Draco said loudly, breaking free from his mother’s grasp and wrapping his arms tightly around her. He kissed her repeatedly before pulling back and looking at her. “I was, I thought, I’m just glad you’re here.” With one hand he reached up and wiped at her tears.
She closed her eyes and pressed herself against him.
“I’m sorry about your brother.”
She nodded into his chest, thinking that she was never going to let go of him again.
“It’s gonna be alright,” he whispered in her ear. “Things are going to be okay now.”
She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his parents or the crying and celebrating people around them.
“Believe me,” he said quietly. “I’ll make everything okay for you. I love you.”
Ginny wanted to believe him, so she did.
**~~**
Two Weeks After School Ended
“You cannot just leave,” Hermione told Ginny.
“I’m not just leaving,” Ginny reminded her calmly, using her wand to pack and shrink her bags. “Everyone knows. I explained it to them.”
“Your mum keeps trying not to cry.”
Ginny nodded, a small knot of guilt expanding in her stomach. “Yes, well… She cried when Bill got married too.” Her mum had been surprised when Ginny and Draco refused to be separated the night Harry killed Voldemort. Draco’s parents had tried to get him to go home with them, and her mum had tried to take her back to the Burrow, but they had both refused. Draco wouldn’t even let go of Ginny’s hand that night or the following day, not even as they slept.
“So you’re marrying Draco?” Hermione asked.
She paused for a moment, glancing around her room to see if there was anything else she wanted to pack. “One day I’m sure we will, if we last that long.”
“Isn’t Malfoy just some passing fancy you have, Gin? You’ll get tired of his arrogance and pretentiousness, won’t you? And you know what happened in the room of requirement, right?”
“She knows,” Ron interrupted his girlfriend. “And she’s made up her mind. They’ve been together a long time. And Ginny’s a smart girl. She can decide these things.”
Ginny smiled at her brother. He was the only person who had stuck up for her – not to say that he was a fan of Draco – but Ron had defended her choice, for reasons she still didn’t understand. “Thanks Ron. Keep telling Mum that. I don’t like it when she’s sad.”
“I think she’s just surprised by who it was,” Ron told her. “Actually just surprised that you’re leaving.”
“Why is she letting you? You’re not 17 yet,” Hermione added.
Ginny shrugged, although she knew exactly why. Her mum had told her that her father had been her one great love, the person she knew she had to be with.
“I can see how much you care for him,” her mum had said. “When I saw the two of you together that night at Hogwarts, I knew. I just knew. And I know I can’t stop it.”
“I’ll be 17 in a month,” Ginny reminded Hermione.
Hermione sighed loudly and sunk down in her chair, rubbing her temples. “Couldn’t you at least wait till the end of summer? Or finish school? You have one more year.”
“For what?” Ginny asked, latching her trunk. “What will change then?”
It was the first time Ginny had seen Hermione at a loss for words.
“Things aren’t the same as they used to be,” Ginny gently reminded her. “And as much as we might want them to be, they’ll never be the same again.”
Ron’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I thought that too. I thought, great, Harry defeated You-Know-Who, now we can go back to being normal and living our lives, but it won’t be the way it was.”
“Exactly,” Ginny added. “And that’s a good thing, right? Now you and Ron can quit pretending not to fancy each other.”
Ron laughed as Hermione’s cheeks flushed. “I’m not going to lie and tell you that I think Malfoy is fantastic. I’d give him another punch in the face any day of the week, but Neville told me about what he did for you during the school year.”
“What did he do?” Harry asked quietly, entering her already crowded room.
Ginny glanced at her brother. It was easier to let Ron explain these things to Harry right now. Harry had made it clear he expected the two of them to pick up where they’d left off, and telling him it was not going to happen wasn’t something Ginny had enjoyed.
“Draco talked Snape into only giving her detention with Hagrid for breaking into Dumbledore’s office and trying to steal the sword,” Ron told his friend. “And refused to do any curses on her in Defense Against the Dark Arts.”
“We just called it Dark Arts,” Ginny interjected.
Harry nodded and the room was silent for a moment. Then he smiled at her. “I think one thing I learned is that we’ve all got to do what makes us happy.”
“Thanks,” she whispered back. “That’s what I’m doing.”
“Go somewhere and find some sunshine and happiness, in whatever weird forms it comes in.”
Ginny glanced around her childhood room. She had only packed a few pieces of clothes and some mementos, things she didn’t want to leave behind. Her eyes reached her brother. He was staring at her as if trying to convey the fact that he was telling her something very, very important. She stepped forward and hugged him. “Thanks again Ron. Promise you’ll come and visit? You can get along with Draco for a week, right?”
Ron’s body stiffened slightly.
“He showed me some pictures last week, it’s so beautiful. I can’t wait to get there.”
“I saw those pictures,” Hermione finally spoke up. “It does look amazing.”
Ginny quickly turned her head to look at her friend. “So… you’re not mad at me?”
Hermione sighed loudly. “I wasn’t so much mad as surprised. I didn’t even know you and Malfoy were seeing each other! Do you know how shocking it was to walk into the Great Hall and find the two of you wrapped around each other like your lives depended on it?”
“It wasn’t like I could owl you the news,” Ginny grinned. “You lot were off running around trying to save the world.”
“Just promise you’ll come and visit,” Hermione pleaded.
“And if he ever doesn’t treat you like a princess, let me know,” Ron added.
“If you promise to visit me,” she bargained.
“I dunno about that,” Harry said finally.
“You can go on a safari. How cool would that be?”
Harry finally smiled at her. “Pretty cool, I guess.”
A sharp knock at her bedroom door interrupted them. Ron reached over to open it and Ginny smiled widely at her pale boyfriend.
“Are you packed?” Draco asked, framed in her doorway. “Your mum is… well, she told me that if my actions were as beautiful as my words, she’ll be alright.” He eyebrows were drawn together in confusion.
Ginny grinned and slipped her hand into her pocket, feeling the parchment she still carried with her – her letter from Draco.
“I’m packed.” She motioned to her trunk.
Draco stepped forward with his wand to shrink it for her. “It’s a perfect day to travel,” he told her. “The sun is shining. Just like you wanted.”
“Really?” Ginny stepped towards her window and pressed her nose against the glass. Sure enough, for the first time in over a year, the unnatural fog that the dementors and the dark magic had left behind had lifted. All Ginny could see was a bright blue sky and the sun, shining brilliantly against the land. “It must be a sign,” she laughed. “I’m ready.”
Draco pocketed her trunk, picked up her hand and kissed her cheek. “Me too.”
The End.
jessica k malfoy is the author of 29 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 19 members. Members who liked Sunshine Before Shadows also liked 1397 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 19 members. Members who liked Sunshine Before Shadows also liked 1397 other stories.
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