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Prologue
Returning ravens crowed against the draping sky, as though they had been burnt by the orange clouds, which stretched into different purples to the end of the heavens. A last ray shone into the dormitory, struggled across the polished wooden floor and pushed through the crack of closed curtains. A small frame sat cross-legged on the bed, a plain box in front of her.
Taking a piece of paper cautiously from the box, she squinted in the dim light. It felt incredibly fragile in her hand, the note he slipped her a year ago. The ink had started to blur, like her memory of their first encounter, which was now on the brink of disappearing beneath many other thoughts she had in mind, to be sealed and lost forever. She would not like that to happen, the same way she would not like any memory concerning him to, but that was not exactly a pleasant moment and her soul willed to forget the animosity that once prevailed between them.
"Ginevra Weasley, or as you may prefer, Ginny," she began to read.
Ginevra Weasley, or as you may prefer, Ginny,
"White bee, you buzz in my soul, drunk with honey,
and your flight winds in slow spirals of
smoke.
"I am the one without hope, the word without
echoes,
he who lost everything and he who had
everything.
"Last hawser, in you creaks my last longing.
In my barren land you are the final rose.
"Ah you who are silent!
"Let your deep eyes close. There the night
flutters.
Ah your body, a frightened statue, naked.
"You have deep eyes in which the night flails.
Cool arms of flowers and a lap of rose.
"Your breasts seem like white snails.
A butterfly of shadow has come to sleep on your belly.
"Ah you who are silent!
"Here is the solitude from which you are absent.
It is raining. The sea wind is hunting stray gulls.
"The water walks barefoot in the wet streets.
From that tree the leaves complain as though they were
sick.
"White bee, even when you are gone you buzz in my
soul
You live again in time, slender and silent.
"Ah you who are silent!"
White Bee, Pablo Neruda
The same fluttering rose in her stomach. This was the first note from him that she actually read, not tore apart. He had written this during Potions, he once told her, and had no time to put it in an envelop properly. Which is probably a good thing, she replied, because she would have thrown it away if not for the poem catching her eye. So many had changed since then.
A bell rang in the distance, indicating Dinner time. She snapped out of reverie, stood up and ungraciously yawned before getting down to the Great Hall.
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The Great Hall was very much the same every night. The long tables moaned under the weight of all the scrumptious dishes, students chatting noisily, endlessly about the day's events and the latest rumors, blissful for another exciting yet tiring day ended. Ginny took a lungful of the luscious, tempting smell of the food at the door, and her stomach gave a loud rumble.
"Hungry?" A familiar voice whispers into her unexpecting ears. Her knees wobbled and she fell back into a pair of arms, which caught her easily. She heard a low chuckle from above. Blushing furiously, she stood up.
"That's not funny," she scolded shakily.
He didn't say anything but merely raised an eyebrow at her. His pointy face was cold, but amusement was evident in his silver eyes. She sighed inwardly.
"And I missed you, too," he said finally. "Meet me after dinner, okay?" Without waiting for her nod, he turned his heels toward the Slytherin table.
Ginny walked over to her usual place. Everyone was there and no doubt half of them had witnessed what happened. She sat down and threw a warning glare. The Griffindors got the clue and returned hastily to their food and conversation. Well, some did.
"That's sweet Ginny," Hermione smiled across the table, ignoring her friend's scowl.
"Oww what w- Oh. Yeah, Ginny." Ron agreed with a pained expression. Ginny strongly suspected Hermione, Ron's girlfriend since last year, kicked him square in the shin under the table. She laughed at his face and turned back to her fish and chips. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry frowned, but pointedly ignored him.
He had taken the news that Ginny and Draco Malfoy, his arch enemy, were a couple very hard. He screamed at her the night she announced that they were officially together. He screamed and shouted and eventually, begged, claiming that he was in love with her since the end of his fifth year, that he could give her everything, things that Malfoy could never give. Her heart broke at first seeing him, her idol and crush for so many years, cry. There was some evil satisfaction- who wouldn't when their past crush begged for them?- and berated herself for it, but that fleet sensation was nothing compared to the pain his scathing words brought. Gradually, with the help of Draco and Hermione, her forever faithful friend, she managed to recover and ignored Harry, who grew more and more bitter and resentful every day.
She shook her head, making her red curls jump and gleam in the candle light. She was contented with her life now: she was top in her year, a player on the Quidditch team, a popular figure among the girls, had a nice, if not a bit over-protective family, and a boyfriend whom she would love to spend the rest of her life with. What else can a girl hope for?
Nothing, really. She stood up from the table, smiling and saying 'See you later's to her friends.
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Draco watched as his girlfriend stood up from her table, and got up as well. Crabbe and Goyle moved to follow, but he gave them an icy glare that pinned them to their seats, and swept out of the Hall.
He found her at the foot of the Grand Staircase. A wind rustled by, and her hair looked even more like flames under the shaking lights. He pulled her closer and covered her with his cloak.
"Better?" He asked the girl whom he had grown to love so dearly.
She emitted a muffled 'Hmmm' and leant even closer to his muscular chest, inhaling his mild aftershave. It was almost unbelievable how much warmth he could radiate, seeing that he was the second coldest person in the castle, right behind Snape.
"I can never have enough of your scent," she said lazily in his arms.
"And I can never hug you enough," he whispered back. Anyone who saw him right now would not have believed their eyes: Is this truly Draco Malfoy? He was holding her tightly, but not too so that Ginny would be uncomfortable. His silver eyes were staying on her face, the cynical edge in them melted and replaced by tender emotion. Even the lines on his face, often hard and carrying a sneer, softened.
Ginny looked at him closely and marveled at his change. He was still the same cold, arrogant Slytherin in many ways, but he was a considerate gentleman to her, and only to her. What could change a person so much? She dared not take credit, but thanked the Almighty for him. He was the piece of missing puzzle, and her life was complete finally.
Their gazes entwined and neither wanted to look away. The outside world fell away, and all that left were themselves. And silence, peaceful, comfy silence. Draco moved to push a stray curl of hair out of her eye. She blinked when his long fingers blushed her eyelashes. He traced his fingers slowly across her face, then cupped it in both hands.
"Ginny," he said, his breath touching her nose.
"Yes?" She could feel her cheeks burning, but didn't look away. In his almost translucent eyes she saw herself, a tiny girl beaming at him, clearly love stricken.
"Come and live with me after you graduate," he drawled lowly, showing none of the nervousness he was feeling inside.
She looked straight into his pupils and saw that he was serious. She flushed even deeper. Is he doing what I think he is doing? Is he... proposing? She bit her lip unconsciously, then shyly, nodded. He didn't show his ecstasy, but lowered his head and kissed her on the lips instead. Ginny could feel her legs turning into jelly for the second time of the day, and hung to him like a drowning man would to a log.
The kiss was long, passionate, and perfect. She relished in the feeling his soft lips exploring hers, firmly, yet gently. When they broke apart, both were red in the face and gasping for air. She smiled, then slid her arms around his waist and leaned on his shoulder. He held her in the same way.
"Don't ever, ever leave me, Ginny," he begged in her ear.
"I won't," she said into his robes.
"Promise me, don't leave me; whatever happens, don't leave me," he insisted and hugged her tighter, as if she would vanish into thin air the very second.
"Is there anything wrong?" she asked, puzzled, and pulled away slightly, searching his face.
For a moment Ginny thought she saw a scared, insecure expression on Draco's pale face, one that reminded her of a lost child. But it was gone quickly, and as he shook his head, she wondered whether she had imagined it. He pulled her back and whispered again,
"Just give me your word, my little Flame, never leave me."
She loved it when he called her his little Flame, but this time it had something else to it. She nodded, burying her face in his chest.
"I will never leave you, no matter what happens," she promised.
He lifted her face once more, and kissed her. He seemed more desperate, crushing his lips against hers, and when she couldn't help but moan, his tongue skidded in. She threw her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, his arms the only thing supporting her to stand. Emotion tingled between them, and she could feel a shiver ran down her spine.
Suddenly he pulled back. Looking up, she gasped. He had gone very pallid and was grimacing as if in great pain. A fat drop of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"What's wrong?" She cupped his face and watched him anxiously. "Draco? Draco?"
As abruptly as it had started, it stopped. He forced a smile at her and in a few seconds, he was standing upright again, as though nothing had happened.
"I'm okay, must be the food," he said swiftly. Then glancing at his watch, "I must go."
"Go? Go where?" she asked apprehensively. He patted her hand and smiled again.
"Prefects' meeting," he said and seeing that she was still worried, added, "Don't worry. I will go to Madam Pomfrey after the meeting, okay?"
She nodded rigidly. He lowered his head and kissed her one last time, then swept down the hallway.
Ginny stared at his back longingly with a thousand questions flashing across her mind. The last kiss had lost its magic- there was no love in it.
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"Starry night," she muttered dully to the Fat Lady, who elegantly answered, "Indeed it is!" and swung open. Climbing through the entrance, she was greeted by a merrily dancing fire and noisy Griffindors. Staggering lazily, she slumped into the nearest velvet armchair and stared at her housemates working and playing.
"Hey," a voice penetrated through her trance and she snapped up. "What- who are you thinking about?" Hermione grinned and sat in the next chair with a thick book in hand.
Ginny stared. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, this is a Common Room, you know, and-" Hermione started sarcastically, but Ginny was in no mood for sarcasm.
"I mean, what about the prefects' meeting?" She folded her arms. Hermione, as Head Girl, was supposed to attend every prefect's meeting.
"What meeting?" She asked, dumfounded. Ginny looked blankly back at her friend. What meeting?
"I must have been mistaken," she replied, and dragged herself up to the dorm, leaving Hermione by the fire with a pensive look on her face.
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Dear Diary,
It was a habit that she had picked up since second year, keeping a diary. She had write in it every night for almost four years now, though it had became something like a 'Ginny & Draco's Memories' as all she wrote about was him since the fateful poem. She dipped her quill into the ink bottle, frowning. It wasn't a nice memory, being betrayed by a diary in second year, and every single time she wrote something in a diary, the memory came back and haunted her in dreams. But with grim determination she started to write,
Something strange happened today...
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