Memory Bound
By: Somewhere Sky

Disclaimer: Of course, as always - the rights to the Harry Potter realm of fiction belongs solely
to J.K Rowling and her brilliant mind. Although I may admit, I shall always be slightly jealous.

A One Shot dedicated to the temper of Ginny and contentment of Draco.


The departed sounds of ghosts whispered; quilting the air with a deep fog; remembrance of a darker time was gushed through the sky like a bad plague. The evening was brimming on the edge of blistering cold and shaken was a particular red-head who sat perched on a bench near the lake. She brought no sweater with her as she walked to this place, no jacket to warm her arms, as she sat massaging herself to revive a warmth inside of her that had vacated the cavity in her chest long ago. Shivering, Ginny exhaled into the cold breeze, her own breath left to ice over in waiting.

It was the anniversary of her brother's death, every year she visited Hogwarts and every year she sat alone near the lake, turning to stone from the chilling night air. Slowly the skies moved to darken, clouds bogging over the grounds leaving shadows below. The Lake lit up when the sun fell, the sparkling waters looked tainted and untouched. Remote, and in solitude they glistened. A friendliness to accompany her in this time of sorrow.

Ginny was enjoying the silence, the magnification of nothing but the swirls and sounds that wind makes. It was calming, especially considering Ginny's bruised heart. Mourning her brother, and nursing her own heartache, she couldn't resist the urge to fall freely into the waters before her. To just disappear into a world that wasn't her own, a world of mer-creatures and underwater loyalties, even castles. Somewhere she could belong without being herself and facing her past. Ginny knew that she was running from many things, and that maybe bolting into a direction of unknown outcomes was not of the healthy variety but an escape was what she so desperately yearned for.

She was willing to beg; and a proud Weasley never submits to grovelling.

'crack'

The sound of footsteps echoed behind the small-framed red-head, and as she breeched to turn and unwelcome this company – the waves hit the shore, smashing up against the mudded walls. As if the creatures below sensed the oncoming of discontent. Ginny could hear him, she could almost see him hidden by the coating of mist, the outline of his tall, muscular body surged through the cloud.

"Draco" she said barely above a whisper.

"Hey kid -" his voice hesitated, strong was how it reverberated in the darkness. He sounded older, more mature, wiser even. And for a brief moment she wanted to be wrapped in his arms. With him telling her that everything would be okay, that this shredded feeling of pain and anguish over Fred's death would dissipate. He smelled of lilacs and honey, of a war fought and a change in loyalties reigned, of a life full of greater things, better memories than bitter allegiance.

"Why are you here Draco?" She asked him. Her breath caught in her chest and droplets of water forming on her cheeks, as she tilted her head back turning her tears away. She feared his response.

"I came to see you" his words shook her, "I needed to know that you were okay, I know that today is still difficult for you." He pretended to know her. He did know her, once, a very long time ago after the war ended, he had got to see the deepest depths of her souls and she had let him.

"You don't know me anymore Draco." She told him, her voice boiling to a degree of anger and guilt. She felt the madness untame itself, slowly tipping over the edge.

"Don't do this Ginny." Draco scratched the back of his neck and walked over toward the bench nervously sitting beside her.

"I'm not yours to pester Draco Malfoy," her voice raised, "Stop with your boyhood games and your pathetic excuses to bother me; you're not a part of my life anymore."


"I don't believe that." He said in confidence. He knew he may regret it and he knew that coming here probably wasn't a wise idea; but he needed closure, just as Ginny did. . He knew in his heart she wanted the same thing. To know whether or not they had cut their love short, or whether they had done the right thing by leading separate lives.

He needed to know.

He needed to taste her soft lips against his own, wanted to feel her body embraced against his chest. He needed to hear those three words again. The thought of her intoxicated him with fear, a fear to be without her for eternity. He was bloody terrified of what life would be like if this girl was not with him until the end. He regretted letting her be with another man. Not standing up and screaming that she belonged to him.

He looked into her eyes, the emerald was fading.

She looked into his eyes, they were still so stunning.


"Why would you do this to yourself Draco? You know we can't be together, so why put the both of us through the pain?" She whispered, just as his hand grazed hers, parallel to the wooden bench. Her head looked down to where his hand lay on hers, feeling to sweet softness of his skin reminded her of so many kisses, memories, long nights curled up in each other's arms. It reminded her of a happiness she no longer had.

"I made a mistake .." Draco muttered, but Ginny had stopped listening as she lost herself in a world of possibilities. In a world where they could be as they were, no more secret affairs, or hiding, no mare telling lies and meeting up privately later. In a world where he wasn't the enemy.


Draco leaned toward her, his body was framed with hers, his warmth removing the shivers that had spiked her not long ago, his touch electrifying every part of her soul. His face was inches away from hers, they could feel each other's hearts racing through their sweating palms, his lips brushed against hers and he wrapped her in a calming clutch of his arms. The taste of her, the smell of her, the very fact that she was there beside him was all so much he couldn't pull himself away, Draco had wanted this for so long and from the carrying aggressiveness of passion in Ginny's kissing, he knew that it was what she wanted.

"Gin, Are you by the Lake again?" Another man's voice bellowed through the darkness.

In a sudden bolt Ginny pulled away, her eyes wide from shock and her breath defeated from kissing him so hard, from attempting to put everything she had felt and still did feel into that one single kiss.

"You're too late Draco ..." was all she said to him, her footsteps fading into the fog just as the memory of her love dissipated into a mere fantasy.

He watched her fall into the arms of another man, her lips brushing against those of someone else's. A gut-wrenching sickness knocked Draco over in crippled fear. He could feel his heart shrinking in grief, as if it had been plied from his chest at the flick of a wand. It was as if Ginny herself had taken that sole-pounding vessel of his with her.

It was then Draco realized,

She was no longer his to love ...


Author's Note:

And so be it, my first Ginny & Draco One Shot is complete. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do tell me your thoughts on the piece, Read and Review as always my lovelies.

EDIT: I quickly ran through with a graze of an edit after a well thought out review. It was suggested that the perspective changes were confuses, so I added lines to divide the thoughts. Maybe this will help a little. The Imagery I enjoy far too much to remove or lessen.

Enjoy

~ Somewhere Sky