The keys on Ginny's keychain clinked as she walked down the hall towards her apartment. She loved that sound because it was just another reminder of her new independent life.
It had been five years since the end of the war but only three years since she had picked up her few belongings and left the wizarding world. Now she was a witch living among unaware muggles, and she loved it. For years she hadn't really understood her father fascination with everything muggle, but after a few months in her new life she finally saw what Arthur had seen so many years before.
With no capability to do magic, muggles should have, by all means, be living in small huts; eating anything they could hunt, gather or plant, communicating through letters carried on foot and traveling from one place to another on horses or maybe even boats But that wasn't the case. Somehow they had managed to "create" magic through technology, allowing them to build cars, buildings, ovens and everything else they could ever need to make their lives better and more comfortable. They didn't rely on the flick of a wand, but on science and creativity. They had created their own kind of magic and it was impressive.
So after learning the ropes of her new life, Ginny could not be persuaded to leave it. Even though her mom and The Golden Trio worked very hard to convince her to move back. Molly wanted Ginny to stay somewhere where apparating and the floo network wouldn't pose a problem, while Ron, Harry and Hermione thought she was only running away from the consequences of the war and insisted that Ginny should confront them.
The rest of the family let her be. George, Bill, Charlie and Arthur had been great about the whole situation and had even helped her move her furniture into her new place. The best part of it all had been when non of them complained when she told them it had to be done the muggle way. In fact, despite his old age, Arthur had been extremely excited about carrying things up and down several flights of stairs.
"It makes me feel alive" he had told her after the third time Ginny had asked him to take a break and leave the rest to them.
She reached the door to her home and unlocked it, the sound of it unlocking as she turned the key bringing a smile to her face. It never got old. Ginny pushed the door open and went inside, pulling off her shoes as soon as she closed the door behind her. It was not something she had ever done back at the Burrow, but instead a habit she had picked up from her new friends and neighbors.
As she walked towards her room, she noticed a red light blinking on her phone. She had a voicemail. Ginny had gotten that landline after realizing that talking to her father on her cellphone while at work or at any other public place posed a problem, as he would still sometimes shout into the receiver and ask her about the muggles.
So instead of risking any complicated or embarrassing moments, Ginny got a landline, that way she and Arthur could speak freely with no distractions and no confusion codes. But even though he had respected the "no more calls on my cell phone clause", her dad would constantly try to reach her while she wasn't home, hence the extraordinary amount of voicemails Ginny had to go through at least three times a week. But she didn't mind. She loved how enthusiastic Arthur was about all of this, and to be honest, she really needed the support.
Ginny walked up to her phone, pressed a key and waited. A few seconds later the robotic voice of an unknown female came through the speakers. "You have three new messages". Ginny chuckled. It had to be quite a long message if the machine had cut him off two times.
A beep followed the woman's voice and then Ginny heard Arthur's excited voice. "Ginny, dear. I have something amazing to show you! I'll be by your apartment tomorrow after work. Mom asks if you need her to make anything for you. For some reason she still believes you are on the brink of starving to death. I've told her not to worry, but you know Molly…"
The machine beeped again and Arthur was gone, but only for a few seconds. The next message reminded Ginny to be home right after work and to please owl her mother so Molly would not worry about her well being.
The machine beeped again, but this time it wasn't Arthur's voice coming out of the speaker.
"Hello?" Two syllables. Two syllables were all it took to shake her world. Her knees buckled and her heart began to race. Her brain screamed for her to turn off the machine and delete the message forever, but her hands and arms felt as if they weighed a million pounds and she wasn't able to move them. Ginny closed her eyes in the hopes of disappearing and avoiding to hear the rest of what was coming. But it didn't work.
"Is this working? Shit… ummm… So I don't know if anything is happening but… okay. Hi Gin, it's me, Draco… I probably shouldn't be doing this but feel like I have to. Can we talk? I've called this number all day but I only got a message saying you weren't available. Maybe it's broken. Shit. I dunno. Just owl me if you get this. And Ginny…"
There was a beep and Draco Malfoy's voice was gone. The robotic voice came back on but Ginny paid no attention to it. What was the end of that message? What did he want to say? Why did he want to talk?
It had been at least six years since they last saw each other. Since he had turned his back and walked away from her. Ginny could still remember their last conversation, the look on his face as he said he wasn't going to be a part of whatever the Death Eaters were planning. She had thought he would join their side, join the Order, but the very next day he was gone, nowhere to be found. All that he left in his wake was a diamond ring in a green velvet box with a note that said "Someday".
So she waited. Maybe he would be back. Maybe he would show up and join them, help them… help her. But nothing happened. Weeks turned into months, and months into years. Ginny was in the front line, fighting for her life, for his and for the rest of the wizarding world. Then the war ended and she was volunteered to join the Retrieving Mission. So she joined Aurors and Order members in the search of war criminals. They apprehended Lucius Malfoy and his wife, but his son was nowhere to be found.
Ginny had secretly hoped to find him on that mission, but he had vanished. So when everything was over, she went back home, packed her things and move away. She had waited long enough. She had tried hard enough, and "someday" just didn't mean anything anymore. So if he had chosen to leave her, she would chose to not wait for a fairy tale ending. She would disappear just as he had, and for the first time since that night under the shelter of willow branches she would move on. She would forget him and their time together.
And she had. Or at least she was nearly there. She had left the green velvet box at the bottom of her school trunk in the Burrow's attic. She had found a new career in muggle law enforcement and was excelling as a rookie. She had also been on several dates and even though non of them amounted to much, Ginny was still trying.
But now everything she had been working for seemed to crumble down around her. Just hearing his voice again make her stomach flutter and her chest contract. What did he want?
Ginny shook her head. She shouldn't care. She didn't care. She had a new life and Draco Malfoy was not a part of it. He would never be a part of it.
She dropped to the floor, unable to get herself to her bedroom. Memories flooded her mind and she couldn't shake them off. Their first kiss. Their first night together. The secret meetings under the willow tree. Their plans for a future after the war. Plans she had actually believed and hoped to fulfill. He had even began listing names for their children. Ginny wanted to throw up. She wanted to cry. Her stomach tightened and her eyes burned.
"FUUUCK!" tears streamed down her cheeks.
Ginny didn't know how long she had been on the floor when the phone began to ring again, but it felt like ages. She looked up, deciding whether or not to answer, but if it was Arthur and she didn't pick up, Molly would become increasingly worried and would not stop owling her until she showed up at The Burrow.
So she took a few deep breaths, mustered the strength to reach for the handset and answer.
"Hi dad. Are you coming by today?"
"Gin?" her breath caught in her throat. It was him again. Why would he keep calling her?
"Gin, please talk to me. I really need to…"
"Meet me under the willow tree in an hour," she said swiftly and before Draco could answer she hanged up the phone.
The words left her lips before she could stop them, but as she said them it felt right. She needed closure, she needed an answer as to why he had left. Where he had been. What had taken so long. And if that meant walking into the lion's den and seeing him one more time, so be it.
But as time passed and she got ready to make a quick pit stop at her parents, dread began to take over. Had she done the right thing? Just hearing his voice had been overwhelming, maybe seeing him would push her over the edge.
"Maybe he'll tell you he is sorry. Maybe he'll tell you he loves you." an intrusive voice said in her mind. She tried to push it away, but knew that deep down that's what she wanted. She wanted for him to take her in his arms and make the past years disappear. She wanted to be by his side and work on the plans that had been left behind.
"This was not a good idea" she thought as she apparated for the first time out of her muggle home.
—
She still had thirty minutes before her meeting with Draco when she arrived at the Burrow. As she had anticipated, Molly was in the kitchen preparing dinner and listening to the radio.
"Hey mom!" Ginny greeted her as cheerful as possible, and quickly added "I'm late for a meeting but I need to get something from my school trunk before I get there. Is it still in my room?"
"Of course," Molly nodded but before she could reach her daughter for a hug, Ginny was out of the kitchen and running down the stairs.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley! What kind of manners are those?" The witch yelled up the flight of uneven staircases.
"Sorry mom! But I'm really, really late. I'll be by on Friday and promise to stay through the weekend to make it up to you". Ginny's voice wasn't as loud as her mother, but it carried well through the many floors of the Burrow. "See you in a few days!" She yelled again, and a faint pop let Molly know her daughter had apparated out of her home.
Ginny chose a place out of ear shot from the willow tree. She still wasn't sure if coming had been the best idea, so she didn't want Draco to hear her before she was ready to talk to him.
She looked down at her watch, there were only 20 minutes left, but if Draco was still the same Draco she knew, he would already be there waiting for her.
She pulled her wand from her coat and placed a silencing spell on herself. Even if only for a few seconds she would have the upper hand. He wouldn't hear her coming and she would have enough time to figure out her whether or not she wanted to stay.
Ginny walked towards the willow slowly, her stomach so tight she felt it would be in a knot forever. When she reached the falling branches she froze, she could see Draco's back through the foliage.
He looked tense and he kept on shifting his weight from his right to his left leg. He was just as nervous as she was. She wanted to walk forward, to know what was on his mind, but as she stared at his back she realized it wouldn't matter. He had left her and she would never bee able to look at him the same way she did as when they were still in school.
"What if he thought he was protecting you?" argued the nagging voice in her head.
She hadn't needed protection though, she had needed him by her side. She had needed the comfort of his arms, his soft words of encouragement. But he had walked away. He had turned his back on their life and future together. She could never forgive him for that.
Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out the green velvet box she had picked up at her parents. Someday was never going to come. She quietly walked past the branches and settled the box on the grass behind Draco. She looked at him one last time before appearing to her apartment.
—
Ginny reached her home with tears stains on her checks. It was the right thing to do, but it had been hard non the less. She walked to the landline and plucked the cord from the wall. She then grabbed her cell and call her dad.
"Congratulations daddy, you have graduated from landline to cell phone".
Miles away, Draco Malfoy was standing under a willow tree at the edge of the Forbidden Forest when he heard a pop behind him. He turned around expecting to see Ginevra Weasley, but instead there was only empty space. He looked around confused, but there was no one there. It was only when he took a step forwards that he felt the change. He had stepped on something. Moving his foot away, Draco discovered a green velvet box on the ground. His heart stopped. He picked it up and opened it with shaky hands. Inside, sitting comfortable between two cushions of black velvet was a diamond ring with a small note that read "Someday".