Queenly Demeter,
bringer of seasons and giver of good gifts,
What god of heaven or what mortal man
has rapt away Persephone
and pierced with sorrow your dear heart?
- from Hymn 2 to Demeter
Prologue
2nd May 1998, Hogwarts
Sitting on the steps of Hogwarts, Ginny could see the whole scene that lay before her. Groups of people covered the grounds, like ants gathering at a picnic, scuttling to find the tastiest piece of food. Only instead of food, it was loved ones they were looking for. The sun had risen a few hours ago and was casting long cold shadows. Despite it being the beginning of May there was a damp chill in the air. The stench of smoke and ash from the building behind her had settled in her nose and throat. Exhaustion filled her bones, she still hadn't altogether recovered from the previous attack. The battle had lasted for hours, almost days. Her hand moved to her left side, checking the ribs she'd probably re-broken. She made a mental note to take a healing draught later.
It seemed impossible that they'd won the War. A week ago everyone was certain they were going to lose completely, and they almost did. The Dark Lord had managed to kill Dumbledore early on, but Harry had survived. Rising from the dead like he always seemed to do; but mostly everyone else seemed to be okay. The whole thing came down to the two of them in the end, like it was always fated to be. The Dark Lord and The Boy Who Lived. Once Dumbledore was gone, everyone thought that that was it. The Death Eaters had won, a quick flash of green towards Harry and he'd gone down too. But he'd gotten back up again, ready to keep fighting, and there it had ended.
Ginny felt him sit down next to her without needing to look up. The hairs on her arms standing to attention at his arrival.
"You're going to go back to him, aren't you?" Draco's morose voice spoke to her as he slumped down beside her. His head gestured to the mop of black hair in the centre of the ants.
"I have to, for my family…" She trailed off. "I don't really see another option here, Draco."
"I know that, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice yourself."
"It wouldn't be a sacrifice," she grew defiant, chewing on the inside of her mouth as she shifted away from him. "You know I love him too. I'm only doing what I want to do, nothing more."
"So you're just going to go off and marry him. Reward him for winning the war, and completely disregard all the shit he put you through a month ago?"
"Yep," she stood up, ready to leave the conversation.
"How can you do that to us?" His voice was becoming tight the way it always did when he was over emotional. "I love you Gin."
She ignored his last comment, "it has to end. You know that, more people are going to get hurt if we're not careful. You know what he's like."
And with that she left him and started down the path to her future husband. Her future life lay before her. It was odd how far they'd come. Almost as miraculous as Harry rising from the dead.
Chapter One
18th June 1996, Department of Mysteries
There was noise everywhere. Crashes and bangs rang out around her. Ginny could here screams coming from one direction. People shouting to each other. It seemed more than just them and the Death Eaters now but they seemed so far away. Maybe the Order had finally arrived. If she could just make her way back to the room with all the doors then she could help; she was no use to anyone where she was now. Looking around she saw that she was in a long, endless corridor. No light apart from the one at the end of her wand. Brick walls that felt damp to touch. If she stopped to listen she could hear a slow steady dripping noise coming from above. The walls bowed slightly to an arch over head. More than slightly actually, they curved more than she'd first thought. The whole thing was more of a tunnel than a corridor. How had she gotten here? She was sure she'd followed Neville from the other room but there was no sign of him here. There must be a door somewhere, if it was a corridor there should be one at either end, but which end should she go for?
She stretched her wand as far ahead in front of her as she could and squinted. Nothing but pitch black darkness. The screams were getting louder, closer maybe, but still seemed too far away. She should try to make a move but her ankle was killing her. She'd gone over on it earlier running away from one of them, maybe Rosier? She braced herself on one of the walls. Her heart beating so hard she could feel it in her head. She tried moving, using the wall to hold her up but her fingers kept slipping on the moss beneath them. She felt dizzy, head spinning. She could hear the blood pumping through her. The idea of staying there a moment longer was unbearable, she started running. A cold sweat dripping down her neck. The pain in her wrist sending jolting pains through her every time she jostled it. Her wrist? That wasn't right, it was her ankle that she'd injured. Squinting into the dark, she tried to work out where she was. Everything felt too familiar. She'd been here before, or maybe just down here too long. She stopped to look at her ankle. The green light from above gave her skin an eerie glow, but she could see that it was starting to bruise, deep purple blotches were forming over the surface and it was beginning to swell beneath her touch.
Where was that green light coming from? She could have sworn it was pitch black a moment ago. She spun around. It seemed to be coming from a circular hole in the wall just further down from her. Ginny shivered in the cold, goosebumps prickling her skin. Dark smoke started seeping its way out of the hole; long tendrils snaking their way towards her. She flattened herself against the wall. The dampness buried itself into her clothes. They would forever smell musty after this. The smoke seemed to be taking form as it edged closer to her. A swirling mass that seemed so solid, like she could reach out her hand and grasp it. So she did. But instead of passing straight through, her hand collided with something. Not feeling like air at all but like silken robes beneath her fingertips.
And all a sudden there he was, out of the darkness, less than an inch from her face, pressing her further into the wall so hard she couldn't breathe. All pale waxy skin and cold cold breath. His red eyes stared into hers and the events of the last few hours flicked through her mind like pictures: the spinning room with the doors, the Thestral ride over London, Draco Malfoy holding her prisoner in Umbridge's office...
And then he was gone. The smoke cleared, and the door was right beside her...
1st September 1996, Train between London and Scotland
The train was dragging along the tracks, outside the window the countryside was passing by, lulling Ginny into a steady rhythm. Summer seemed to have sped by. Usually it seemed like an endless bliss between apocalypses, but this year it had raced past. Like the season itself knew what was coming and, too scared to face it, decided to let its harsher sister autumn face the future. The blossoms on the trees had come and the leaves were turning to red and gold, the nights were coming in quicker. It was the first of September and school seemed an unimportant ordeal. Attacks were growing daily so no one was venturing outside. Heavy grey clouds hung over head with a constant half-hearted drizzle of rain. The summer had been unbearably dull. The only reprieve was when Harry arrived late one night, but the relief of having someone else to talk to was swiftly overtaken by the constant reminder that nothing had changed. Once Harry arrived all attention diverted to him, and Ginny was always pushed right down to the bottom of the pile. She fought the growing resentment in her stomach that tasted like bile on her tongue. She stood up, slipping out of the carriage and leaving Dean, Luna and Seamus behind talking about a recent Quidditch match. Luna said something about how Wrackspurts on the pitch meant the players weren't responsible for their terrible defeat. She knew Luna meant well but she could wind up Ginny's nerves sometimes.
"Oi! Weasley!" Ginny spun around to face the voice that was hollering at her from down the train. A wave of dread came over her as she realised it was Zacharias Smith, she was really not in the mood to deal with him today. "Heard you were part of the lot that were at the Ministry. Wha' happened?" His voice was smug.
"Piss off Smith, I'm not telling you anything. Besides, don't you read the papers?"
"Like I'd trust them, I'd rather hear it straight from the horse's mouth, if you rather." She wanted to punch his cocky face. "Go on, tell us all the juicy details…"
Ginny whipped out her wand and hexed him without giving herself a chance to think it through.
"Well well, do we have here? Hothead Weasley hexing before thinking yet again?" Draco Malfoy's long drawl came from behind her.
"Damn," she cursed herself for being so careless to as not spot Malfoy witnessing her and Smith.
"10 points from Gryffindor and we're not even at school yet."
"You know prefects don't have the right to take points Malfoy, and you're not in that bloody Inquisitorial Squad anymore."
Draco looked at her, a sneer growing on his face. He opened his mouth to retaliate when he was interrupted by someone else.
"What on earth!" The speaker seemed to be another new professor. He was old and pompous with his robes stretched too tight across his bulging belly. "Excuse me please, let me deal with this," he squeezed his way through the crowded carriage. "Who are you two and what is this commotion?" He indicated to Ginny and Malfoy. Smith seemed to have slipped away unnoticed.
"Weasley here was performing dangerous spells on unsuspecting pupils." Malfoy gave her a grin that seemed to say if I can't take points he definitely can.
"Well Miss Weasley, I think you had better come with me." He turned to Malfoy "I'll deal with this. Thank you Mister Malfoy, your assistance is no longer needed." He fanned his hand ushering Malfoy away.
Draco had lost interest entirely once Weasley was taken away and so headed back down the train to his own compartment. Pushing the door open he saw Daphne Greengrass and Theodore Nott in a deep conversation. Not his usual gang, he thought to himself. Much more appropriate than the friends he'd had before though, considering the events of the summer.
He interrupted them as he sat down."Where's Blaise?"
"Not sure, that new professor came and asked him to join him in his compartment." Daphne was the one who answered. Theo, it turned out, didn't say much if you knew him or not. Even Daphne only got a few words out of him during conversations. He allowed them to continue their one sided conversation while he thought everything over in silence.
3rd October 1996, Hogwarts Grounds, Scotland
September raced by and the first Quidditch match of the year was upon them. Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Harry had made Quidditch captain, and after a few horrendous tryouts had actually pulled together an almost decent team. As long as Ron could remember to hold his nerve. Ginny had a sneaking suspicion that Hermione was involved in McLaggen's terrible run through the other week. She fumed at the memory, McLaggen would have been insufferable on the team but at least he could block the hoops. Ron was decent on a good day, but it was rather like waiting for the muse to descend on an actor before he could give a spellbinding performance. And his pre-match jitters always managed to set Ginny on edge. Besides, cheating Ron's way onto the team had done nothing for his self confidence.
The day was cold and wet. The wind rippled around them bringing a dampness to their Quidditch uniforms. She hoped it would be a quick game, this sort of weather was hell to play in and harder to win in.
They all gathered around in the locker room as Harry spoke. "Right, just go out and play as best you can. Slytherin don't have a great team this year so we stand more than a fair chance."
Less than rousing, and delivered with about as much false confidence as her mother had had when Bill announced his engagement to Phlegm. "and Ron, just don't listen to the crowds, we know you can do it."
They left the sweaty comfort of their changing room and moved out onto the pitch. In the centre were Hooch, Harry and Urquhart, the new Slytherin captain. Right at the other end Ginny could see Malfoy, preening in his green robes. Looking like a peacock during his first mating season. She mounted her broom. The whistle screeched and they were off. Ginny pushed her foot off the ground and soared high into the air.
Zacharias Smith's strident voice sounded around them, it was hard to work out if he thought either side actually stood a chance of winning, he was being so derogatory about all players. "Two Weasley's on this year's Gryffindor team. I guess it's easy to make the team when you're close, personal friends of the captain. Popularity over skill seems to be the route Potter's taking this year, not sure that'll get 'em the cup. Mind you, Slytherin are following in the same pattern as always, not a decent flier between them!" Jeers rang out around the stadium.
Ginny spun her head around to find the Quaffle. Urquhart had it tucked under his left arm as he sped towards the Slytherin Goals. A glance towards Ronald's face told Ginny she'd have to intercept ASAP. If Ron missed the first goal of the season he'd never get his nerve back and the whole year would be a waste of time. She raced towards Urquhart, curving around between him and the hoops, forcing him to change direction. A swift Bludger from Cootes meant he had to chuck the Quaffle over to Vaisey. Ginny saw her chance and swooped in. Grasping the ball under her arm, she clung close to her broom and flew as fast as she could to the other end of the pitch. Seeing Demelza out in the open by the other end she hurled it at her.
"Aaaaaand it's Weasley to Robbins to Thomas, intercepted by Vaisey, who throws it to Montague… Back to Weasley who scores for Gryffindor! Guess it's possible to be lucky every so often."
Cheers rang out around the pitch, either for celebrating Ginny's goal or Smiths dig at her.
Several hours later, Gryffindor were 100 points ahead of Slytherin, and six of those goals were hers. It had been a long hard game with both sides struggling to score. There had been a small scuffle between Harry, Malfoy and the Snitch not too long ago but neither had caught it. If Slytherin caught it now they'd win, though not by much. If not, a 250 point lead for Gryffindor would set them up brilliantly for the rest of the season.
"Will someone catch the bloody Snitch already, my arse is freezing itself off!" The crowd seemed to agree with Smith on that one, even the players were agreeing with him. The rain had only gotten worse since the game had started and they'd been out so long the warming charms had worn off.
A flash of green raced past Ginny as she flew towards the play. It was Malfoy, and he seemed intent on reaching something not too far in front of him. Harry had spotted Malfoy too, but was too far away. He'd never beat Malfoy to the Snitch from that distance.
"Oi, Malfoy!" She yelled into the freezing air, hoping what she said next would reach Malfoy's ears and distract him for a second. A glance her way was all they needed. Without thinking about what she was saying, she yelled to him again. "Have fun learning how to be a Death Eater this summer, did you?"
After the match Ginny waited around in the lockers, letting the rest of the team go ahead and join the celebrations. Ron hadn't even bothered to change out of his keepers uniform. Her mind flicked back to what she'd said to Malfoy; had she over stepped the mark, maybe? Once the room was clear she began tugging off her boots, wiggling her toes as they became free of their confines. Her trousers were stuck to her thighs from the rain and she had to peel them off, shifting her hips to jostle the material down her legs. Once they were down to her ankles, she stepped out of one side and kicked the other off her ankle. She now stood in only her socks, knickers and Quidditch shirt. Goosebumps covered her body and she shivered. She began to toe off her socks and head to the showers. Needing a long one before she could face heading to join the rest of them. The tiles were wet underfoot as she grabbed a towel off the stand. She reached to turn the water on when she heard a noise behind her. She spun around, clutching the towel to herself.
In the doorway of the lockers stood Malfoy. He'd changed out of his uniform and was wearing plain black slacks and grey jumper. It looked so soft that Ginny just wanted to rub her cheek against him like a cat. She shook her head, not knowing where that thought had come from and wanting to be rid of it. Malfoy didn't look too pleased. His eyes were dark and a tight lip replaced his usual smirk. The redness to his cheeks from earlier had gone leaving behind just the pale complexion of his skin.
"What made you say that, Weasley?" He clearly had unresolved issues following his failure to catch the Snitch.
"Had to make you look, didn't I?" She retorted. If Malfoy took Quidditch as seriously as he should do, and he seemed to given he was questioning her about it, then that should have been enough. "Couldn't just let you catch the Snitch without at least trying to stop you. Not in my nature to let Slytherin win so easily."
Malfoy didn't seem satisfied by her answer. His lips tightening even further, a nerve twitched in his jaw drawing her attention to the sharpness of his jawline. There was a small hint of blond stubble just at the edge of it leading up to his hair. "But why did you say that?" A small fleck of spit flung from his teeth as he emphasised the last word. Ginny might have hit a little too close to home, maybe Harry's suspicions were true and Malfoy had followed his father's footsteps. Despite her now believing she was trapped in a very small room with a Death Eater in just her underwear, Ginny didn't feel scared at all.
"Just a comment, nothing more. So..." she paused to look up at him, daring herself to ask the next question. To finally have an answer that she could lord over the golden trio, "are you?"
She let the question hang in the muggy air around them.
Malfoy didn't move. The answer seemed stuck on his tongue, like he was deciding how much he should give away.
"So what if I am? You going to run off and tell that headmaster of yours on me?"
Now it was her turn to to work out how much she should say. Yes, of course she should tell Dumbledore. But on the other hand she didn't actually… want to? She shrugged her shoulders, "no business of mine if you are. People follow Him for all sorts of reasons. I'm sure you had yours, the way I had mine." She stared him down, mirroring his stiff posture, not letting the towel be proof of her vulnerability.
This made Malfoy pause. It was not where he had expected the conversation with Weasley to go. He had expected her to get defensive and try to use that curse she'd cast on Smith on the train. Then he could retaliate by using one of the spells he'd picked up over the summer. Finally teaching the smug bitch a lesson that'd he'd meant to give her last year when she'd hexed him. He'd under-estimated her then too. He looked her over, trying to get a firmer grasp on what she was likely to do next. She was fairly attractive, he'd give her that. Far too much red hair and too many freckles. So many freckles! It wasn't possible for one body to have that many freckles, he thought to himself. But still, there was something in that hard look she gave him. He didn't want to forget how she looked at him.
He turned on his heel and left, leaving her standing there. He couldn't face the common room so he dragged himself for a walk around the pitch. The rain still hammered the ground. By the time he'd made it all the way around his mind wasn't any less clear and he was drenched through. He found himself walking back to the Gryffindor lockers, his feet racing as fast as his heartbeat. He opened the door, finding her standing there in her towel; just as wet now from her shower as he was from the rain. His hair was stuck to his face, his breathing ragged as he moved towards her. Ginny didn't move as he pushed her wet hair away from her face, his hands on the back of her head. He pulled her towards him. Her eyes refused to close as he pressed his lips to hers. She gave in, her hands clutching at his waist. His lips felt feverish as he deepened the kiss. Frantically exploring her mouth. Trying to taste as much of her as he could before he dragged himself away. She was warm and soft under his fingertips, he could feel her breathing heavy as they kissed. Her hands holding onto him as hard as he was to her, fingers knotted in the weave of his jumper. He didn't want this feeling to be over. He was light headed, like he was finally breathing after years of living underwater. Eventually he pulled himself away, both trying to catch their breath, foreheads resting against each other.
The overwhelming shock of what had happened came over him. He backed away and raced towards the door. Leaving her standing there again, just a towel wrapped around her and her lips tingling from what they'd done.
Ginny meandered back up to the common room. Trying desperately not to think about Malfoy. She'd taken her time getting ready after he'd left. Hoping no one would notice her slipping into the tower. Hoping she could sneak past everyone. The game had taken most of the day so it was early evening by now. She'd missed dinner already. Glancing out of the windows on the fourth floor she could see the weather had lifted, the sun setting over the mountains in the distance. At least the rain had finally stopped. She could hear the noise from outside the portrait hole. The celebrations were going to go on late into the night.
Entering the room she could see half of her team in one corner, taking bets with a large variety of Bertie Botts in front of them. She wanted to scourgify her eyes when she saw Ron kissing Lavender furiously in one of the great arm chairs. Harry and Neville were chatting on the sofa by the fire with Dean, who was pulling the feathers out of one of the sofa cushions. At the other end of Dean's sofa was Seamus, whose hand had wandered up the knee of one of the girls in his year. The look on Dean's face lifted as Ginny made her way over to them, plopping herself down between the flirting couple and Dean, proceeding to whisper in her boyfriend's ear. She pretended to say something much more flirtatious than she actually was while imitating nibbling at his ear. "I'm starving, fancy going to the kitchens and grabbing food?"
Her act was enough that Ron emerged from his entanglement with Lavender, making a small squelching sound as he disengaged.
"Do you have to do that right there Gin? It's gross watching my little sister feel up one of my mates." She stared in disbelief at him as he indicated to her hand on Dean's thigh.
"Yes. Absolutely, let's go!" Dean had stood up, grabbing Ginny's hand with him and marched her quicker than she thought possible back out of the portrait hole.
"Hypocrite," she whispered under her breath at Ron.
As soon as they left the tower Dean let go of Ginny's hand. "Thanks for saving me back there," Dean nodded back towards the portrait hole, "not sure I could have stood it much longer."
"Not a problem, what are fake girlfriends for?" She winked at him while grinning broadly. She and Dean had begun dating at the end of the summer, but she had soon realised how not into her he was. It didn't take them long to work out the set up they had now. Him getting an alibi while she got to piss Ron off; it was a win-win situation. And Dean always managed to relax her, he cheered her up when no one else could. "You know, you should tell him at some point?"
"Why? It's not like it would make a difference," Dean shrugged.
"Might stop you getting yourself into those awkward situations."
"What awkward situations?" Dean smirked at her, "there are no awkward situations here!"
She threw her head back and laughed, most of her tension from earlier seemed to have washed away. "You know, the ones that push you to the brink of standing up and shouting at him: I know you're my best friend but I am in complete and utter undying love with you!"
Even Dean laughed at that, "Maybe… but I'm not sure he'd take it too well. You know how he is." He stopped laughing, resignation changing his features. "Anyway, what about you? Still trying to confess your feelings to Harry?"
She scrunched her nose up, looking at him with distaste, "ew, no. That ship has firmly sailed." A smile ghosted her lips as she thought back to Malfoy.
"But there's someone! I knew it!" Dean Looked triumphant, "Tell me, tell!"
There was no way she could tell him. Even with all the secrets they shared, this was too much. Besides, even she didn't quite believe that she was into Malfoy. How ridiculous would that be, a Malfoy and a Weasley?
So that's it! I've finally got the first chapter up and you've finally read it! I've been writing this fic for the past few years and its gone through many iterations and rewriting, but I finally felt it was time for it stop catching dust on my computer and brave the big wide world.
I hope you've enjoyed reading to this point, please please let me know what you think.
I love you all.
xxxx
