Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Ginny Weasley was dreading this moment, she knew. It was just another day for most, September 1st, seeing their children off at Platform 9 ¾. It should have been just another day for her. But it wasn't.
She waited patiently, she thought. She stood calmly by the scarlet steam engine with her husband, Harry. James had already raced off to see a few friends, while Albus and Harry were talking quietly – she heard the words Slytherin and Gryffindor and tuned them out. It had been Albus's constant worry (fuelled by James, no doubt) that he would be sorted into Slytherin. Her only daughter, Lily, was talking calmly to her cousins, their parents Ron and Hermione playfully bickering as usual.
None of this was what she was waiting for.
But then he entered the train station. This was what she was waiting for.
Yet she did not seem to take any notice of his presence, not flinching as he and his wife and son strode arrogantly by. No one else noticed them.
His hair was still exquisitely white blonde, she noticed without flinching, and his face still exquisitely handsome. He was still shockingly pale, as well as being lithe and almost graceful as he glided by calmly. And he was so tall that if she were standing near enough, she'd be tilting her head back to see his face. His thin angular face with his square jaw and stormy grey eyes, straight nose and high cheekbones. His angelic face.
She forced herself to look away without flinching. He still looked…well… amazing. And it unnerved her that she cared what he looked like, what he was doing with his life.
She could read the Prophet as well as anyone and in the Life and Times section she'd found the announcement of the Malfoy/Parkinson wedding, and later, 11 years ago, the birth of their son, Scorpius. So, subconsciously, she had remembered this information and known that Scorpius would be the same age as Albus, that they'd be in the same year. That they would likely foolishly hate each other, like their fathers. Not knowing that…
No. She could not think that way. It was nothing, had been nothing, they'd both moved on. She was married for God's sake. So why was she still thinking about it?
Glancing at her watch, she noticed there was still 15 minutes until the train's departure. With a quiet sigh, she turned to her husband.
"Harry, I think I'm going to sit down for a moment, I have a headache." And she did.
"Er… okay Ginny. Be back in time to see Albus and James off, though, 'kay?" he said uncertainly.
"Of course," she replied calmly.
He kissed her gently, but she pulled away stiffly, wanting to be away from him. She turned, without flinching when feeling grey eyes on her back and moved through the crowd. Wanting desperately to be alone, she strode out of the platform into the muggle world. There she sat down on a bench and tried to ease her breathing.
She didn't flinch when she felt someone watching her, knowing it was him. Who else would follow her?
"Interesting show back there. Still pretending to be happy with Saint Potter?" His voice was like velvet, but she could hear the pain, well hidden.
"I am happy with Harry, thank you very much."
"Doesn't look like it, from back there."
"Who are you suggesting I'd be happy with?" She asked unflinchingly, rolling her eyes. "You?"
She didn't flinch at his all too familiar smirk. 'Why the disdain Ginny? You were very happy with me as I recall.'
She glared at him. "Firstly, Malfoy, don't call me Ginny. You haven't earned that right. Secondly, we were never together. It was just a kiss in the corridor, which by the way, you initiated. It didn't mean a thing. And lastly, I would never be happy with you."
He sat down next to her, leaning very close, too close. She didn't flinch. "Really Ginny? You wouldn't be? Then why in the name of Merlin, did you kiss me back?"
She glared at the ground, unmoving, not flinching at his words. "I did not," she whispered, blushing.
Oh but she had. She remembered too well her sixth year, that fateful day in early April how he had pulled her into an abandoned corridor and pressed his lips to hers. She'd been frozen with shock for a moment before realizing what was happening and responding passionately. His lips against hers had been her own private heaven. A heaven she often revisited in daydreams. A heaven she unwillingly longed for, foolishly desired.
"Really Ginny? Because I remember it quite well."
She lifted her gaze and their eyes met. She didn't flinch as she stared at him and spoke challengingly. "You do, do you?"
"Yes. And I wouldn't mind refreshing your memory, either."
Her eyes widened, but she didn't flinch as he slowly leaned closer to her, much too close now, gazing at her a moment and gently pressed his lips to hers.
It was exactly like last time, too. She was frozen a moment before realization hit, and suddenly, recklessly, she was kissing him back. This piece of heaven, her heaven, had blissfully returned, the heaven she had irrationally craved for years.
She didn't flinch as he pulled away.
"I loved you, you know, foolish as it was. And I always regretted losing you to Potter," he whispered huskily. She didn't flinch at his words. "I thought maybe after I kissed you, you'd notice, you'd understand, that however idiotic it was, we'd be together or something. But you never came back after Easter and then Potter came back, miraculously not dead and I should've figured you still loved him. I don't care that you didn't feel the same way, that you don't and never will, although…a part of me still loves you, Ginny." She blinked but didn't flinch at his confession.
He sighed. "I just needed to say that, even though you're married and have kids and so do I. I just needed you to know that so…. Goodbye." She didn't flinch as he stood, her voice not working well enough to tell him that she had loved him too, that she still did and would forever.
She didn't flinch as he kissed her cheek and turned away.
But she did flinch as he walked back to the platform and his wife and son, and out of her life forever.