They Shine For You – Chapter One
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas of my own fictional story.
Warning: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows spoilers.
The cool thinning shears gently ran across his hair, his barber quickly maneuvered both the comb and scissors. Twenty minutes later his hair was no longer haphazard, but somewhat presentable and even. The raven black strands fell loosely into his face but short enough to not fall into his emerald green eyes.
Harry hopped out of the barber chair and threw his crooked glasses back onto his face. Today was the first day that he had been forced to go to a muggle barber. No matter what charm was used; his hair still grew back exactly the same. Maybe this time he could manage a decent cut for more than a week.
It was the middle of July in London. Harry was about to be eighteen years of age, just out of Hogwarts. The past year really took a toll on him and he just needed a break from the Wizarding world. So much had happened in such a short amount of time…
"Earth to Harry!" Harry stopped and looked to his left. "I've been trying to ask you the same question for about five minutes now." That's right, Ginny was with him. She stepped in front of him and put her hands on his chest. "There. Now, would you like to try this thing that I've discovered at the café down the street? It's like drinking eight cups of tea!"
Harry nodded and followed the veil of ginger hair ahead of him. Ever since that final duel in the Great Hall, Harry had never been so happy to have Ginny Weasley by his side. She completed him. His thoughts were interrupted however when the waitress asked him what he'd like to drink this afternoon. Ginny ordered an espresso; he just wanted a glass of ice water. Ginny frowned at him not following with the espresso so he agreed to take a sip of hers.
Number twelve Grimmauld Place had been Harry's home for over a month now. Kreacher has been more than pleasant and cleaned up the place quite nicely. Every now and then Ron or Hermione would stop over but it's really just been him and Ginny. If it were anyone else Mrs. Weasley would not approve, but she knew she couldn't hold back her only daughter from The Boy Who Lived.
Ginny was practically twitching and jumping all around Harry. "Espresso is amazing! I just have so much energy!" They were almost back to Grimmauld Place. Harry was of course stuck carrying every bit of packages from Ginny's shopping spree. He figured it would be nice if he bought her a few things for the summer. At first she really couldn't accept it but after the haircut and espresso she agreed. Harry stopped and tapped his wand and number twelve soon squeezed through. All of the charms to keep certain people away were lifted and Mrs. Black wasn't even around. Kreacher greeted them with cookies fresh from the oven. Harry slumped into a chair and lazily bit the soft sugar cookie. Today was just too long.
"I'm going to put on a new outfit for dinner, why don't you just take a nap?" Ginny asked. Harry figured it was a good idea but before he could answer her he had already fallen asleep there in the chair. Ginny bit back a giggle and made her way upstairs with a few of the packages. Memories of the past year flooded his dreams.
Crimson and gold greeted Harry's eyes when he awoke. The spring sun was shining through the windows in Gryffindor Tower. Ron was still asleep, snoring loudly with his arm hanging over the bed.
Harry tossed the sheets over him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stuffed his feet into his slippers, stood up, stretched, and yawned all in one motion. Classes finally resumed today. First class of the day was Charms with Professor Flitwick. Not everyone returned to Hogwarts, some just took the rest of the year off and spent it with their families. But it was Harry's last year, and Hogwarts was his home.
Hermione was almost in the classroom door by the time Harry and Ron saw her. They caught up and took their seats on either side of her and opened up their books, ready to learn. They learned a lot on their adventure the past year but it was nice to have books and an easy class with a friendly professor. Their Charms class was split between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw with a few Hufflepuffs in-between. Not many Slytherins were still attending classes due to the fact that at their closest family members were either in Azkaban or passed during the battle. Or some just didn't want their kids back at Hogwarts.
Three minutes into the class one Slytherin did come in. Draco Malfoy sauntered into the class, his book in his hand and his wand in the other. Almost everyone was shocked to see him here, except for Harry. Despite the years of them being enemies, recently he saw that Malfoy wasn't his father. He could never be his father. With his mother and father now in Azkaban, Draco really had no choice but to come back to school. He took a seat by himself in the far end of the classroom. He had nothing witty to say to anyone and no one had anything nice to say to him.
That day flew by pretty quickly. Harry decided to skip lunch and take a walk outside. It was very warm and the grass had never been greener. Alone beneath a tree sat a special girl with red hair that reflected in the sunlight. This was the perfect chance to talk to her.
Harry slowly walked up to her and took a seat next to her. "Hey Ginny," he sheepishly smiled as blush crept upon her porcelain cheeks. "Hiya Harry… how's classes today?" Oh no, not this routine conversation again. Harry didn't reply, instead he slid his hand behind her ear and leaned in, his lips lightly touching hers. He was quite hesitant, but Ginny didn't take long to reply. She pressed her lips against his harder, and ran her fingers through his unruly hair.
Goodbye to routine conversations and awkwardness.
That was how it begun… for Harry. But things for Ginny were different. She couldn't help but remember the past year at school without him. Everything was so special, so unique. Eventually she told Harry about her year with Draco, but Harry understood after many heated arguments.
Ginny closed her eyes and brought herself back to the first day of classes. The smells lingering from the Great Hall were intoxicating. She slowly made her way down the Gryffindor table. This year just wouldn't be the same; everyone was so afraid. Though the sun shone through the large glass windows there was still a dark presence around them.
Sitting by herself, Ginny slowly went through the Daily Prophet in front of her. The accusations of Dumbledore's secret life drove her mad with such anger for Rita Skeeter. How dare she say such horrid things about such a wonderful man? She could only imagine what they'd say about Harry if he were to pass away. Harry…
He left her on bad terms, that whole day was just a mess. She felt as if she were to let go she'd never see him again. So far she's been right; they've been gone for a while now, her big brother too. The only upside of no Ron was that she could actually talk to boys this year maybe. If she could get over Harry, that is.
Her thoughts were broken however when a cold goblet of pumpkin juice spilled all down her back, drenching her hair and robes.
"What the fuck--" She turned around to see Draco Malfoy sporting a sheepish grin which she knew was completely sarcastic.
She stood up and glared up at him, her hand clenching the wand in her pocket. "Oh, Weasel, what are you going to do this year without Potter and your pathetic brother to save you?"
She quickly removed her hand from her wand and it soon made contact with his face. His jaw dropped a little as he watched her long red hair swing behind her in a quick stride out the doors.
A month later and Draco hadn't even taunted her once. Ginny sat in the common room working on a potions essay on certain Indian flowers and how the way they were sliced made the potion. It didn't make sense to Ginny; she felt that he just gave them bullshit to do busy work on. But she wrote on anyway, until a dark brown owl began tapping at the window next to her. She took the parchment from it and pet him on his head. The dark paper was small and on it were words in perfect calligraphy.
'You fly well; you'd be excellent if you had a new broom. I've seen you almost every night at the Quidditch pitch. Why are you always out there so late? Write back on this parchment- it's charmed.'
Ginny stared at the parchment in front of her. Was someone stalking her? Who was this person?
'Who are you?' Ginny dropped her quill as words started to appear again. She's only seen parchment like this in a store she accidentally walked into in Diagon Alley- well, it was really Knockturn Alley.
'Why would I give away my identity? There's no fun in that.'
Ginny was starting to get mad, and wrote one last sentence.
'I have homework to attend to. I'm not going to play this childish game. Goodnight to you.'
Ginny tossed the parchment in her book and slammed it shut. It was probably just Luna messing around with her. Luna knew she flew late at night because Ginny couldn't sleep. Luna was the only person who knew that and it was messed up of her to even play around with her.
But it wasn't Luna, Ginny didn't know that then because she didn't see the person's reply until Potions the next day when she opened her book.
The stars seemed ten times bigger that night. Ginny laid on her back staring up at the stars. She was trying to count them until a dark figure shot across the sky. It was obviously someone on a broom. All she saw was the platinum blonde hair. Draco Malfoy.
He must have seen her too because it was at that moment that he landed right next to her. She didn't move. Draco looked down at her, her pale skin glowing in the moonlight, little gold glimmers bouncing off her deep red hair. No smart remarks came from his mouth as he just sat down next to her.
"Can't sleep?" He turned to her waiting for her response. Ginny didn't know if this was some sort of trick, if he had people waiting to lure her away. But Ginny gave him the benefit of the doubt and replied.
"Not really. You?" She didn't even glance at him, still unsure of his motives.
"There are so many things you can be doing in the time that you're sleeping. It's such a waste of time." This time Ginny looked at him, is this Malfoy?
"So what gives, why are you talking to me Malfoy? Are you ill? I really don't think I can carry you all the way to Madam Pomfrey." Ginny sat up and propped herself up on her elbows.
Draco laughed and shook his head. "No one is around; I can be nice to you. See, my father has spies…" It was true. Ginny shoved him so he was lying down next to her.
Last year she began a secret sort of friendship with Draco. She knew he was misunderstood and he really had to be his father's son. It wasn't his choice. That's why in the beginning of the year she was so upset by his actions toward her. The met one night in the astronomy tower- completely coincidental and got locked in there. Eventually he just opened up to her.
"I hate this, you know that? I wish I could talk to you at school, I wish we could be seen together and I wish that this war would be over." Ginny lay back down and turned to face him.
He looked over at her and frowned slightly. "I know… it will all be over soon though. By the way, I know you loved the present you got earlier. Now we can keep in touch better."
So it was Draco, not Luna! Ginny began to get up but was pulled up by Draco who beat her to it. She was face to face with him, just a tiny inch away from him. Neither of them moved. He then took her hands and looked down at her. "I've got to get back."
She nodded and dropped his hands. She began to turn around when his hand caught her shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She hugged him back, her tiny hands around his neck. Then with a flick of his wand he jumped on his broom and flew back to the castle.
It was moments like that that confused the hell out of Ginny. Just what did Draco want from her?
Potions was the last class of the day and that's when she opened her book. She smiled at his last comment.
'I'll talk to you at the Quidditch pitch later.'
Ginny wasn't sure exactly what she felt for Draco. He was a good friend, a good listener, and good looking. But he didn't have those emerald eyes. But who knew what was going to happen when Harry came back, Ginny needed to take a chance, do something new! Maybe Draco would help her in this endeavor. It was then that she wrote back to him on the parchment.
'Meet me in the room of requirements in a half an hour. Think that you need somewhere to eat chocolate – no one else would need that.'