Christmas ficlet. Maybe not the best, but I was inspired. My avid readers are assured that I will have another chapter for "Draconem Vincere" up soon.
Heartache, Heartfelt
Crisp. Cold. Beautiful. The Hogwarts grounds never looked more stunning. The lake was frozen over, but you couldn't tell for the thick layer of snow covering everything. Icicles hung from the stone eaves and frost clung to the panes of the high north tower window where Ginny Weasley sat gazing at the landscape.
She wished it would snow. Yes, there was already white everywhere, but it had been weeks since there was anything new. Paths crisscrossed the blanket, emanating from the castle towards the greenhouses, Hagrid's hut, and the village of Hogsmead, which they'd visited the day before.
Tomorrow was Christmas, and Ginny wanted a winter wonderland; powdery instead of icy, with new snow covering all signs of human activity and coating all the trees.
As she watched the moonlit landscape, a figure at the edge of the forest caught her attention. Black robes contrasted starkly against the white as the person moved hastily out of the trees, stumbled, and collapsed to the ground. Staring for a few more moments, Ginny watched the figure slump against a tree trunk, before resolving to investigate further.
She knew it was foolhardy to go tramping around the grounds after dark, especially near the forest, and extra especially when she had no clue how serious the situation may be, but she had a strong feeling that she knew who the person was and that they needed her help. Grabbing her wand and a beautiful thick cloak she'd received the day before as an early Christmas gift, she ducked out of the portrait hole and into the castle.
Ginny reached the oak front doors without meeting a teacher, though she hadn't really expected to on Christmas Eve, and slipped out into the cold. Though it was almost midnight, the grounds were particularly bright as the full moon glared off the luminous snow. It was a trek to reach the figure, and she did so with prudence, ready to render aid or run for it, depending on the turn of events.
As she drew nearer, the redhead noticed white blond hair on the boy, who was curled up with his head buried in his arms and hadn't heard her approach due to the muffling effect of the snow. A mask lay next to him, and Ginny recognized it and his intricately designed robes to be those of a death eater, as she remembered them from the night after the Quiddich world cup three years before.
She shuddered, but continued advancing.
"Draco?" Ginny asked tentatively, and the boy's head snapped up suddenly at the sound. His face was contorted, with pain and malice etched across it and red eyes that betrayed his tears.
"Go away, Ginny," he sneered.
Ignoring him, she crouched down in front of him and asked, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"
"Do I bloody look alright?" the blond replied scornfully, breaking her gaze and looking back into the trees.
"Well no…are you hurt? Is someone else?" Ginny pressed, hoping that he'd open up.
Draco's head dropped back onto his arms and he didn't answer. Shivering, the young woman decided not to give up so easily, and conjured a portable waterproof fire with her wand.
The boy brought his head up as he felt the wave of warmth, saw the little fire, and then looked at her. "That's dangerous you know. There are others in the forest; would you like them to be drawn to it?"
Ginny ignored his comment, knowing full well the dangers of meeting other deatheaters on the grounds. He wouldn't be able to stick up for her then.
"You were called to a meeting tonight? On Christmas?" she asked in astonishment.
Draco laughed mirthlessly at her words. "Do you think the Dark Lord gives a damn about Christmas?"
Ginny was silent.
"You're not going to leave unless I tell you what's gone wrong, aren't you?" Draco finally sighed in a defeated manner, as one who no longer cared about anything. She shook her head resolutely.
Exhaling deeply, as if drawing the courage to speak, the blond said, "My father is dead. I just saw the Dark Lord murder him for no reason. He just…killed him…"
Of all the answers Ginny had been contemplating, this was quite unexpected. For many minutes she didn't know what to say or do until she finally said the only thing she could think to.
"I'm so sorry, Draco."
"Why?" he replied, sneering again. "My father was horrible to you and hated everything you stand for. He gave you Tom Riddle's diary…doesn't that tell you how much he cared about you?"
"That does not mean that you didn't love him," Ginny said soothingly. "It does not matter what he thought of me or what I thought of him. All that is important what you felt about him. I'm empathetic to your pain."
"My pain…you know nothing about my pain," Draco said, his defeated manner overcoming him again.
"Please…let me in…" she pushed, very worried about the young man before her.
"Do you like your cloak? Is it warm enough?" he said, evading the question.
"Yes, it's lovely," the redhead snapped, unhappy at his actions. "I already thanked you for it, not that I'm ungrateful, but there are much more important things to deal with at the moment!"
"Maybe I don't want to deal with them yet!" Draco snapped back. "Maybe it hurts too much to think about because it just bloody happened! I already asked you to leave me alone."
"I won't!" she said firmly, calming down. "And I won't let you freeze either. Come on, I want to show you something." Without waiting for his reply, she grabbed his wrist and hoisted him out of the snow bank with unknown strength.
They crossed the snow-laden grounds and entered the castle. Still holding tightly to Draco's hand, Ginny pulled him up the marble staircase, and then proceeded to maze her way through the corridors. After going up four floors, ducking through a door hidden behind a tapestry, and skipping over several trick steps Draco finally asked, "Where the bloody hell are we going, Ginny? Getting us lost won't help me."
"We're nearly there," she replied softly, turning onto a very dark, narrow passage. She halted at a door, unlocked it with a flick of her wand, and the two entered a large aged room that was empty save a great gilded mirror leaning against the far wall. Moonlight bathed the dusty floors from many tall windows on the wall opposite the door.
"Ginny…I don't think a good shagging will help me tonight," the blonde said uncertainly.
"Good," Ginny replied, unable to hold back a smile. "Because you're going to have to do a lot more than buy me a cloak to get into my pants."
"So why -"
"Over here," she interrupted, dragging him towards the mirror. Placing him directly in front of it, she said, "Give it a look," and then stepped out of the frame.
He stared into the mirror and saw that his reflection was fully dressed in death eater robes, though he himself had his hood down and knew he'd left his mask in the snow bank he'd been sitting in when Ginny found him. Watching intently, the reflection moved of its own accord, first ripping off the mask and tossing it aside and then doing the same with the death eater cloak. The reflection held out its arm and Draco saw that the Dark Mark was nowhere to be seen on the forearm. He was free.
"Ginny, I don't understa-" he began, but his attention was wrenched back to the looking glass when he saw his reflection stoop suddenly and catch a tiny figure as it hurtled into his arms. The reflection lifted up the little girl, who couldn't have been more than three.
Draco stared in wide-eyed amazement. The little girl had his hair, his eyes…his own reflection looked older, maybe in his early thirties. Suddenly, more people were joining him in the mirror; a redheaded little boy, maybe seven, came and held his hand lovingly…and Ginny, though he could still see her standing out of the mirror's range from the corner of his eye.
The woman in the reflection was holding a baby with reddish hair and kissed his counterpart tenderly. Draco touched his cheek where the kiss had fallen, almost convincing himself that he'd actually felt it, wishing that he could actually hold the little girl or feel the little boy's hand in his own.
"What do you see?" the real Ginny asked as Draco stared at the imaginary family who were all now smiling back at him.
"I'm…happy…" he replied in amazement, his eyes actually filling with tears. "Is this…can this come true?"
Ginny sighed, then said, "This is the Mirror of Erised. It shows the deepest desires of the one who looks into it. Dumbledore says that it shows no absolutions, but I think that if you can glimpse something your heart truly desires, your path will be directed towards attaining that which you wish."
Draco continued to stare at his family until the real Ginny entered the frame and the image vanished, though, he noted, the new reflection of their true selves was rather intriguing as well.
"You look," he said, stepping out of the mirror.
"I've seen what I -" she began, but suddenly a new image she'd never seen began to form in the mirror. Draco, an imaginary Draco, entered the frame and wrapped his protective arms around her waist from behind. She could tell that he was older, in his mid-twenties at least, and her own reflection had aged as well. The reflection began to kiss her lovingly on the side of her neck, and Ginny longed to actually feel it.
Looking to where his arms were around her waist, she gasped at the sight that met her eyes…her reflection was very heavily pregnant. Hand involuntarily shooting up to touch her still flat stomach, the redhead found herself almost wishing that she could feel the swollen belly and the baby kicking.
"Well, what do you see?" Draco's voice interrupted. She turned to look at him, already seeing him differently somehow.
"You're going to be alright, Draco. Your father loved you and as long as you remember him and honor his memory, everything will be fine. You will be happy someday."
Draco smiled at her comforting statement. He knew she was right, knew that one day he would have what he had seen in the mirror. Such a desire was not unattainable, and he was thankful for the chance to glimpse something so encouraging and soothing.
"You didn't answer my question," he said gently.
Ginny looked into his eyes and smiled, "I saw…I saw snow falling."
They both looked out the windows and saw that large flakes were drifting past the panes. Draco put his arm around her and they walked to the window to watch the snow cover the grounds.
"Some people see snow and think of the bitter cold," Ginny said softly. "I see snow and think of rejuvenation. Every snowfall is a new beginning."
"Happy Christmas, Ginny," Draco said, kissing her tenderly. "Thank you."
"Happy Christmas," she smiled back.
Merry Christmas, Y'all!