QL, Wigtown Wanderers, Beater 1, Round 8.

Theme: Unexpectedly meeting someone you had been in love with later on in life despite having had to part ways with them before.

Prompts: [word] Forgive. [Dialogue] "I believe you. But I believe everybody else too."

THC [Y3], Hufflepuff, Round 5, Year 1, Short.

Prompt: [Object] Candle

Word Count: 2276

Beta's: Bailey, Aya, Kim, Dina

Notes: Italics - Past. Normal - Present.

Ginny Weasley looked into the grey eyes of Draco Malfoy. She never expected that he would be the person who made her feel better after another fight with Dean. Ginny knew she didn't belong with the Gryffindor but she wasn't the type of person to simply give up. She wondered if she should stand up the little alcove in the corridor and leave as they fell into a silence but wasn't in any rush to go back to her common room.

"I should dump him, shouldn't I?" she asked.

Draco showed a little surprise at her question. "That's your choice."

Ginny nodded and stood up, carefully dodging the candle that Draco was levitating. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything," he said, denying the conversation even existed. He made no attempt to move nor did he stop controlling the candle.

Ginny offered him a smile regardless before walking down the corridor and away from him.

"Time to celebrate your engagement!" an intoxicated Hermione exclaimed, pulling Ginny down the cobblestone path.

Ginny laughed. She finally had what she wanted. She was engaged to the one and only Harry Potter. It was like her dreams were coming true. "Why are you more drunk than me?" she questioned with a laugh. They had somehow lost the boys, though, Ginny had no doubt they'd find each other at some point.

She allowed herself to be pulled into a bar called 'Forgive' for a drink. Without even checking what drink Hermione gave her, Ginny downed it in one.

"That's disgusting!" she yelped immediately. "Can I have something decent?"

"Coming up! Just a sec."

Ginny nodded. "I believe you! But I believed everybody else too and those drinks were half rubbish!"

It wasn't long until she had a different, and better tasting, drink in her hand. The drinking continued. Ginny barely noticed that Hermione had slowed her drinking - had she been sober she may have realised her friend wasn't as drunk as she made out to be. Always the responsible one.

"I need the toilet!" Ginny told the bartender before walking off. She was too drunk to realise that she should have told Hermione. Ginny made her way through the crowd. It was only when she had left the bar did she realise she went in the wrong direction and was now outside. The nineteen-year-old took a few steps to try to stop her head from spinning, but it was only making things worse.

Ginny felt her knees buckle. Thankfully, she never hit the ground. Instead, she found herself being sat down on a bench. She looked up straight into the grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" Draco spat at Ginny as she followed him down a hallway.

"To talk."

"I don't have time for your stupid relationship problems."

Ginny almost faltered. Her steps slowed for a split second before quickening to keep up with him. "I don't want to talk about that. You helped me. I want to help you."

"I neither need nor want your help, Weasley."

"Tough. You're getting it!"

Draco made an unsatisfied sound of annoyance and sent a glare in her direction as he continued to walk. Unlike what she was used to, he didn't insult her or pull his wand out - that was enough of an invitation for the ginger to catch up and walk beside him.

She decided to not start the conversation yet as it seemed like Draco had a destination in mind. That, and she didn't know what to talk about. All she knew was that Draco was a lot more troubled than previously - so much so that it was obvious to almost everybody.

Ginny was caught off guard when Draco suddenly turned on the spot and walked in the other direction. "Where are you going?" she asked before he turned back to her. It was only when he ignored her and walked past did she realise where they were. The Room of Requirement. He passed her again until a door appeared.

Draco strode into the room. She half expected the door to slam in her face but it didn't. This was more nerve-wracking than approaching him in the corridor - a place where others could witness if something went wrong - but followed him in regardless.

"Why here?" Ginny asked looking around at the mountains of thing all over the extremely large - or never-ending - room.

"You can find some very interesting things here," he answered elusively.

Ginny let her eyes travel around the room. She couldn't deny that there were some fascinating items in here. There was a lot of items in general, including a pile of chairs.

"W-what are you doing here?" Ginny hiccuped. She felt as if seeing Draco had sobered her up instantly, but she knew that wasn't the case. Her head was light and spinning, her eyelids threatening to close, and as much as she wanted to see clearly, his face was nothing but a blur.

"Needed some supplies," he answered, then clicked his fingers in front of her face.

She blinked at the click, surprised, and looked at him. "What was that for?"

"You're drunk."

Ginny scoffed. "I am not! I am soooooo sober."

"You're slurring your words."

"Liar!" she expressed; she was speaking with the utmost clarity. He was just messing with her. Though, everything was still spinning and she hadn't counted her drinks. "Maybe," she relented.

Draco pulled a bottle of water out of his bag and handed it to her. "Drink."

"Why'd you have water in your bag?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "That's your question?"

Ginny looked at him. That wasn't what she wanted to ask nor what she wanted to say. Unfortunately, her mouth wasn't keeping up with her mind, and her mind wasn't quite working at the correct frequency. "No." She downed the water willingly, feeling herself becoming more hydrated and slightly less dizzy. That didn't make her more focused, though, nor did it make her mouth stop moving.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I—" she hesitated. "I didn't stand by you. Forgive me?"

He sighed and looked away from her. "We were young. There's nothing to forgive."

"I really did believe you at the time," she insisted.

The grey-eyed man let out an uncharacteristic chuckle—she rarely got one of them out of him. "You believe everybody."

Ginny let out a laugh. She really had said that to him. She wished it was true about herself now.

Draco and Ginny ended up sitting opposite each other, a lit candle between them. He had found a really nice couch, and she opted to sit on the stool a few feet away.

"I don't want to be… bad. Or whatever. My family's path shouldn't be mine, but I don't have the option. If I could choose, I'd choose Potter's side."

"I believe you. But I believe everybody else too," Ginny replied. "You have done some really nasty things. You've bullied half of Gryffindor."

Draco bowed his head in a half nod. "I'm Draco Lucius Malfoy - what else am I expected to do?"

Ginny looked at him. She truly believed that he meant his words, that he was trapped in his parents' choices and decisions. "You be you."

He scoffed. "Life is not that simple."

"You're top in some classes, second in others. Definitely the smartest evil dude I know."

"Evil dude?"

Ginny blushed slightly. "Yeah. Sounds better than 'bad guy'."

Draco fell into a silence - thoughtful or otherwise, Ginny did not know why. Perhaps he didn't like being referred to as evil. She wished he'd open up more than he already had. Ginny really wanted to help him but she still wasn't sure how. To allow him time to his thoughts, she pulled out her wand and carefully levitated the candle. She loved watching the fire dance around as she balanced it in the air.

Soon Draco's attention moved to the flame too. It had become a tradition to light a candle when they met up to represent time passing. The two of them started meeting up somewhat regularly over a month ago. At first, it was difficult to work out what to talk about. They were in different years so classroom discussions bored him. He wasn't the type to offer suggestions but didn't seem to mind her hanging out with him. For the first week or so the majority of the conversation was her talking about her life. Draco probably knew more about her relationship with Dean than anybody else, including Dean - if that were possible.

Her focus slipped as did her levitation charm. The candle dropped down to the table with a thud and landed on its side.

Draco was quicker at reacting than she was; he pulled out his wand and cast 'Aguamenti'; the fire had barely started before he put it out. "You should be more careful. If fire was let loose in this room the whole thing would go up in flames."

"Right. Forgive me."

"You should head back to your common room."

Ginny looked at Draco and nodded. She gave him a small wave, took a glance at the candle, and walked off. Draco tended to stay here after she left. She had learnt to accept that. It was probably for the best that they weren't spotted together often.

"I'm sure I only ever said that once," Ginny defended lightly, leaning heavily against the back of the bench.

"Twice," he corrected with a smirk.

Ginny smiled as she looked at him. "You're in a good mood."

Draco's expression softened. "I'm in a good place now."

"You happy?"

He nodded.

"Have you forgiven yourself?"

Another nod.

"Good. You deserve to be happy."

Draco gave her a small smile before avoiding eye contact and looking around."I hear you're with Potter now?"

Ginny instantly felt a little bit awkward. There was a time in her life that she thought - that she was convinced - that she and Draco would end up together. That she would be Ginny Malfoy. Now, however, she knew that wasn't the case. She had just agreed to become Ginny Potter. It was a big difference. "Yeah. I heard you're with Greengrass?"

"Astoria. She's great."

"Really?"

Draco nodded. "Can I ask you an awkward question?"

"I thought you hated awkward questions?"

"They're needed sometimes."

"Can I ask you an awkward question?" Ginny blurted as she watched Draco play with different sized candles. She had been drawn to a big pile of them, and he was finding her the best ones.

He let out a groan at her question to ask a question. "Why does it have to be awkward? Can't you just ask a normal question like others?"

"Who wants to be normal?" Ginny replied as she moved to sit next to him. She picked up a long sparkling gold candle and examined it. "Why does your family hate mine?"

"You're blood traitors," he replied without missing a beat.

"Still purebloods," she pointed out.

Draco looked at her and that was when she realised how close she had sat to him. "I know."

"Muggleborns aren't bad," Ginny said softly.

He nodded. "I know."

"Yet your family—"

"My family doesn't define what I know or what I believe," he interrupted.

It was Ginny's turn to say, "I know."

Draco signed, putting down a rather sparkly silver candle. "I wish more people knew."

"Nobody else matters. Just stay true to yourself and…" she hesitated, unsure what to say. Ginny knew she couldn't stop mid-sentence and looked at him. "You choose your own path, Draco."

Ginny let out a small surprised gasp as Draco moved and connected his lips with hers. She had never expected his lips to be so soft. She was the one who pulled back. It was at that moment when she saw Draco's eyes dart around for the best escape that she realised she was falling in love with him. This could end very badly, she knew that, but she would regret it if she didn't give it a go.

With her forefinger, she touched his cheek and got his attention before leaning forward and returning his kiss.

"Are you happy with Potter? Honestly happy?"

Ginny was surprised by the amount of concern in his expression. Maybe their short relationship had made an impact on both of them. She regretted not standing by him when everything had gone to hell. It was too late for that sort of thinking now though. "Yeah. We're actually engaged. I'm… celebrating the engagement tonight."

"Oh!" Shock completely covered his face as his beautiful grey eyes widened. "You should get back," he said standing up.

"Wait!" she found herself almost shouting as she stood up as suddenly as he did. Her hand grasped his shirt as her vision unfocused. Ginny found strong arms sitting her back down.

"Who are you celebrating with?"

Ginny didn't want to tell him. When she did, she knew this conversation would be over. "I really loved you."

Draco knelt down in front of her. "I know. I loved you too."

"We could have worked."

He took a breath and moved some of her hair out of her face. "We weren't meant to be, Ginny. We both know that. We both have everything we want and need. You have always loved Potter. I love Astoria. Our lives aren't supposed to be together."

"I'm sorry."

"Who are you here with?"

"Hermione."

"Wait here."

Ginny watched Draco head into the bar. Moments later he returned with Harry following closely. Her fiance instantly came to her side before thanking Draco. Right then, Ginny knew that she was happy and with the right person. She also knew that she and Draco would have worked, too.