Is This the End?
It was a chilly night when everyone had fallen sound asleep in the Burrow…everyone, except the youngest member of the Weasley family. Ginny Weasley had her flaming red hair tied up in a ponytail as she ducked beneath her bed, searching for something. Her brown eyes scanned her bedroom. At last, it landed on an armchair placed close to the window. The snowflakes fell from the night sky onto her windowpane, slowly piling up. It would eventually block out the nice view of a soon-to-be white garden. Ginny paid no attention to the snowflakes, her eyes locked on a thick, leather bound book resting on the armchair. Slowly, she walked towards it and picked it up.
It was covered with dust and she blew it away, watching them all fall to the ground. She gently opened the book, scared if she tore anything in it. It must have been months since she had last opened it. No, it must have been years. The first page was a blank, yellowed page. The next, however, had moving photographs pasted onto it. Ginny smiled to herself. It was her old photo album. She had kept all her school memories in it. She would have looked at them every day since graduation. But, judging by the amount of dust, something had stopped her from doing so. Two years had passed since she had graduated, and yet, that was the amount of time she had not touched it.
Ginny settled into the armchair and started flipping through the rest of the pages. She stopped at a few pages, laughing and smiling as she recalled the good times she had spent with her friends. Her favorite picture had been her and Luna hugging each other and laughing. Suddenly, her smile faded from her face as she turned the page over. There was a photograph in it. Unlike the others, Ginny could not remember taking this one or putting it in her photo album. It was a moving portrait of Ginny and her nemesis – the Slytherin Prince, Draco Malfoy. They did not seem to be snapping or yelling. They actually looked at each other, laughed and smiled at the camera. Draco, being Draco, had his usual smirk while Ginny poked two bunny ears above his head. It was supposed to be a hilarious photograph, one of the funniest she had seen, but she was not laughing. Ginny desperately racked her brain for answers.
Ginny was fighting Amycus Carrow near the Black Lake of Hogwarts. It was supposed to be a beautiful night sky, where the lake reflected the stars. But it was not the time to be enjoying it. She was losing the fight. Her wand had been smashed to pieces and she had no way of defending herself. Amycus walked slowly towards her. She backed away, taking one step at a time. Amycus had his back towards the Black Lake. Ginny could run straight at him and push him into the lake, drowning it. But, it would hardly be successful. Amycus might see it coming, and kill her before she could even take another step. Or, she could push him, but he would drag her down with her. They would both die. Either way, Ginny had 'death' painted all over her decisions.
She was breathing heavily, sweating and frightened. She took more steps backwards, slowly and steadily. But then, her back touched something rough and cold. She turned her head a little to look. A tree! She was cornered.
"It's over," Amycus laughed, his grip tightening on his wand. "You're dead. Do you have any last words, little girl?"
"Yeah," Ginny managed a smile. "I've quite a few, actually."
"Don't worry; I've got all the time in the world. You don't. So, go ahead, I'm all ears."
"Firstly," she cleared her throat. "I'm no 'little girl'. Second, you destroyed my wand, so I hope you can give a new one to my family."
"You won't have a family after I'm done with you. They're probably sprawled lifelessly on the ground right now."
"Excuse me!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm not done. Lastly, Harry's going to kill you after I'm gone."
Amycus laughed again, his sheer joy chilled her. "Potter's going to kill me? I doubt he's even going to survive all this."
"If he doesn't, I'll take over his job." A voice came somewhere behind Amycus. The Death Eater turned around, only to be embraced by a streak of red light. He was stunned, and then fell to the ground, revealing an exhausted Draco Malfoy. His stone gray eyes had lost all its strength. His blonde hair was messed up and his face was paler than usual. He was panting as he crouched to the ground to check on Amycus. Then, his hooded eyes looked at a dumbstruck and gaping Ginny. "I wouldn't open my mouth if I were you. If a fly doesn't get in, something worse might."
"You saved me." It was like a scene in a movie – a person's arch enemy had just saved them, and they could hardly fine the right words to say. Well, that was exactly how Ginny felt. There was a long moment of silence. "Thanks."
"No problem." Draco crawled to his feet. He dusted his sleeve and looked at her again. His eyelids appeared heavy, either he was going to fall asleep or die on the spot. "The fight's over, you know." Ginny nodded speechlessly. The way his eyes looked at her, it was as though they were piercing right through her. When she saw the end of his lips twitch into a tiny smile, she shivered. Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater. If he smiled, that meant Harry would be dead. But, he had just saved Ginny's life, by stunning one of his own men. Maybe he wanted to kill her himself. It could all be a joke, a total prank – or it could be a plan. Draco rolled up his sleeve, revealing nothing but pale skin. The Dark Mark was gone.
"Potter won." He muttered, lifting an eyebrow. Ginny could see the strength returning to his eyes. She could see the happiness that started to form on his face. She could even hear him heave a sigh of relief. "I don't suppose it's a surprise. I've always had a little faith in him, despite what kind of fights we got into."
"I'm sorry," Ginny rubbed her temples. Everything was so confusing; she could hardly understand a thing. "I don't get it. Why would you even bother about Harry? Why are you happy about him winning? Why…why did you save me?"
There was a pause. "I have my moments," Draco answered. "I may be a total jerk sometimes, and I may get into all these unwanted fights with you and your brothers. But, I'll tell you this: I don't hate you. It's your brothers I detest like hell. Actually, Weaselette, you're not all that bad. You've got personalities that other girls don't have. I kind of like you."
Ginny stared, expecting a laugh. When he gave no response, the shocking truth reached her brain. She almost fainted when he continued with: "Do you want to give…you know, give us a try?"
She remained silent. "Okay," he sighed, turned around and walked away. "I think…this would be the last time you see me. I'm not going to die but…it's just the last time. I'm not coming back to this school, ever again, even if it is for some reunion."
"Is this the end?" Ginny asked loudly.
He stopped and looked back at her. "I believe so." Then, he walked up the stairs leading to the clock tower and disappeared.
Ginny knew at last where she had got this picture. Draco was not really with her. She had used magic to weave an imagination into a photograph. The moment the piece of paper had floated out of her wand, she had cried for a good four hours. She knew why she had not touched the photo album in two years. She did not want to endanger herself in being humiliated by her friends or family. She did not want them to know the truth. Ginny Weasley missed Draco Malfoy, that much she was able to understand when she was experiencing her seventh year in Hogwarts. She remembered now. She had spent free time wondering about him in her Gryffindor dormitory. She had turned him down when he had saved her life. Two years had gone by, she was already nineteen, and he would be twenty years old. Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, its hour hand pointed to eleven. It was eleven o'clock, close to midnight. She could sneak out.
Ginny allowed her long hair to fall to her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless sky blue night dress and put on a jacket. She could not go downstairs and grab her cloak, afraid that her family might wake up. She took her wand and Apparated to Malfoy Manor. It was freezing. The winter breeze blew fiercely at her and the snowflakes fell gently onto her head. She had not put on her shoes, so she stood on a frozen front porch. Shivering, she knocked twice on the great green door of Malfoy Manor. She waited patiently for about two minutes in the cold when the door finally opened.
A tall, slim, pale and blonde man stood at the door. "Draco…" she muttered. He had never changed a single bit. He looked exactly the same as the last time she had seen him.
"Ginny?" He asked in shock. "What are you doing here?"
She noticed that he was not wearing an engagement ring of some sort. She looked up at him. "I'm sorry if I turned you down two years ago, in Hogwarts." She apologized. "But…I want to give us a try, I really do."
Draco's eyes softened. He brushed a strand of red hair from her face. "Hmmm," he snorted. "I guess I was wrong about not seeing you again." Draco smiled, putting an arm around her and dragging her into the manor. "Now, we can talk about plans over some nice hot chocolate."
"That is a brilliant idea." She put one of her hands on his. "Draco?"
"Yes?"
"Is this the end?"
"Of course not." He laughed. "Can't you see? There was no end. There was only the beginning."