Author's Note: So, yeah. Here's the deal. This was so horribly inspired by another story (look to Disclaimer) that it hurts. However, as this is an entirely different REALM of story universe, it's not a copy-cat per se, so yeah. Anywho, I'm really working on TEIAHO and HTKAW. Just chillax and review my other stories. I have a Lily/James oneshot up as well as a Ginny/Blaise. I'm working on a Luna/Ron that really is just bitching at me, as is my Harry/Pansy. I hate them. Expect Remus/Tonks soon, but, for now, here's this.
Disclaimer: JKR owns these characters. I was inspired to do the 50 themes format by Emmegan's "Kel & Dom: 50 Themes", which is a must-read for any, ANY, Tamora Pierce fan. It's amazing, and I can only hope that this does the format justice. No, Emmegan didn't come up with the theme idea (I don't think. If she did, let us all kiss the ground she walks upon, okay?). As I said before, Draco, Ginny, and all others of the Harry Potter universe aren't mine.
Warnings: Not my usual amount of Fluff (?), Alternate Pairing (:D Because I'm awesome. As is DM/GW.) Language in a few parts. Typos. Dawg. NOTE: THIS IS VERY, VERY, VERY LONG.
01. - Curiosity
The first time he saw her, he had just turned six. He was following his father to Gringotts, the wizarding bank situated in Diagon Alley, when he passed by a mob of people with flaming red hair. Most of them were older than he was- each taller and lankier than the one before him. However, there was one child in the group who stood shorter than the others.
It was a girl, and the only one there by the looks of it.
She caught his eye, tilted her head, blinked, and then looked away.
02. - Hatred
Seeing him in the bookstore the year she was to attend Hogwarts- attacking the boy she loved so very much- ignited something she couldn't name within Ginny. She could hear her heart beating in her ears and her cheeks flush- she even felt the darker thoughts fill her to the brim before acting. Hatred didn't even begin to cover it.
03. - Envy
She had bested him. She was the Heir to Slytherin. She, with her red hair and freckles. She had been the one descended to the great Salazar himself? He locked himself in his room the entire summer break, studying French and Latin as well as every Dark Arts book he could get his hands on. He would not be bested by her again.
04. - Hurt
She fantasized often about Harry saving her. She loved him even more as the days passed by during her summer vacation. She longed for him to be there, yet, at the same time, a little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that Harry had been there to defeat Voldemort. Not to save her. But that hurt, so she shoved the voice away.
05. - Glory
Time passed, and he no longer thought of her. He didn't need to. He had won, at the end of the day, and she would be forced to live a life of poverty with the Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die. If he lived through his fourth year. If Longbottom didn't get to her first.
06. - Beauty
She couldn't afford a dress, but Neville hadn't minded. He told her she looked beautiful, and that was enough to keep her calm and kind as he stepped on her feet all throughout the night. Dance after dance, she allowed her eyes to be drawn to Harry, who sat alone. Dance after dance, she felt that it served him right. And then she regretted thinking such a thing before continuing on.
07. - Balance
He heard her curse once, and it surprised him. She had climbed a ladder to get to a book in the library, but she had lost her balance slightly and, in order to regain it, ended up stomping on her own foot. The words that escaped her mouth after that were vulgar enough to make a sailor blush, but, for some reason, he found the tips of his mouth curling upward in amusement. At this realization, he wiped the smirk away and hurried out of the library, leaving his books and bag behind him.
08. - Guilt
She had hexed him in front of an untold amount of people, and while she was being applauded for it earlier, she simply excused herself to her room to think. She felt guilty.
09. - Observation
His bag appeared in his room one night, and he was thoroughly confused. After careful observation, he extracted a long strand of hair from the strap. It was red.
10. - Purity
She noticed his skin one morning in the Great Hall some time in December. The ceiling in the Great Hall was pure white, just as the clouds in the sky and snow on the ground were. His skin matched, too, and she wondered how a Quidditch player could be that way.
11. - Diversity
The Great Hall was completely white the morning of the first snow that year. Yet, two redheads sat at the Gryffindor table, and, when she looked up at the ceiling and then straight at him, he found that he could count every one of her freckles on her pale, oddly angular face.
12. - Cheer
The Hogwart's Express had been too quiet- eerily so- when she began to hum Christmas carols. She giggled mentally when she heard people beginning to catch on in other compartments. She had jumped when the door to hers had been slammed open and the tall, glaring figure of Draco Malfoy had faced her.
"Shut up, Weasley," he snapped before leaving the compartment, the door still ajar.
She began to hum again.
13. - Relatives
He was seated between his parents at the table, the aforementioned parental units sitting on exact opposite sides of the table in a horribly generic rich-person's manner. They ate in silence- not even utensils dared to scratch the plates they raked.
14. - Family
She reached across the table for the Yorkshire pudding, slapping her elder brother's hand out of the way in the process. He huffed, and she stuck her tongue out at him before dragging the bowl to her.
"Ginny!" her mother snapped, and the girl looked up innocently.
"Yes, mother?" she replied, and all she received in response was a sigh.
"Manners, Ginevra."
"Yeah, Ginevra," the youngest boy said to his sister, earning a buff across the head from the eldest. "Ow!"
"Shut up, Ron," the older one said, smirking at Ginny, who grinned back.
15. - Spontaneity
He had let out a deep breath he hadn't known to be holding when he found the last carriage was empty. He took a seat and almost made to relax before the door was tugged open and the lithe body of a redheaded girl entered. She noticed her mistake quickly, and he glared fiercely at her, but, when she tried to leave, a quick jerk sent the carriage moving, and she was forced to sit.
He didn't stop glaring until late that night, when no one was there to see him fall asleep.
16. - Hunger
It was close to the end of her fourth year when she first snuck down to the kitchens. Years of living with the twins gave her a sense of intuition, and she found them after an hour or so of searching, along with some help from kind house elves she caught here or there. As she reached to tickle the pear, however, she found that someone had caught her.
"Weasley," he sneered, glaring darkly.
"Malfoy," she said back, calm as she could make herself be.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor- go back to bed," he said nonchalantly.
Ginny shrugged. "Actually, no. I came here to get food, and I'm going to get food. Now, you can either join me or continue moving about with that giant head of yours stuck up your arse."
He had grown silent, and she slipped away into the kitchens, her breathing fierce.
17. - Judgement
He had been walking the halls, patrolling, when he caught her. She seemed harmless enough, but, come to find, the she-Weasel had teeth. Not too sharp of teeth, but teeth nonetheless. Teeth that had just given him the option to join her in the kitchens or walk away, content with the twenty points docked off of his least favorite House.
'What the hell,' he thought. 'Worst-case scenario, I still get to take off points if I'd like.'
And, with that, he tickled the pear and followed her.
18. - Surprise
"What the hell?!" Ginny shrieked, jumping slightly as he came up and tapped her shoulder. The flour that was in the bowl before her splashed up and covered her neck and collar bone. "Oh, look at what you've done!"
"I'd really rather not," Draco drawled out, resisting the urge to scrunch his nose. She rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, just get out of my way while I find some house elf to load this off onto."
"Won't the Mudblood be pissy if she finds you doing that?" he asked before he could stop himself.
"Don't use that word," she ordered, "and, if she were here, I'd be more careful. But, for the time being, I'm tired, and I just want some hot chocolate before the game tomorrow."
"Game?" he asked, and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, the one against Hufflepuff. Harry's playing and I-"
"Of course," he sneered. "Dearest Potter is playing so you, his little, sad excuse for a wife, have to bake him a victory cake before hand, don't you?"
She glared at him. "One," she said, holding up a finger, "calling him 'Dearest Potter' is going to confirm those rumors going around. Two, I'm hardly going to end up being a housewife who does nothing but bake all day, and, three, I especially refuse to do number two for Harry of all people. So shove off, Malfoy."
He was silent the rest of the night, not wanting to be surprised by the redhead anymore than he had been. Draco Malfoy didn't take well to surprises.
19. - Confusion
He had almost blown all chance for passing Divination by the time O.W.L.S. came around, and it was unsettling to know that, of all the people in the world, he wondered if the she-Weasel knew the difference between the tea leaf formation for 'suffering' and 'success'.
20. - Agreement
She hadn't expected the note that came to her via owl, but, when it came, it seemed logical that she agree to it. After all, teaching a boy about a class she had never taken wasn't a sign that she was intrigued by him, was it?
Of course not.
21. - Control
He entered the abandoned classroom before he had told her to. He liked feeling in control, and this entire situation felt out of his reign of power. Having the advantage of being there first was not something he was willing to part with. He didn't sit, but, instead, leaned against the far wall, just barely hidden from the door.
When she entered, she didn't see him, and he had control. However, her eyes flickered across the room and she rolled her eyes before speaking.
"Come out, Malfoy- I don't bite."
And, just like that, he lost what little bit of control he had over the situation.
22. - Understanding
"I understand," he lied, not liking how simple she thought the subject to be. She looked at him skeptically.
"Why don't you look at it like this," she said, rotating the cup, and he looked down, sucking in a breath.
The tea leaves really were in the shape of a top hat.
23. - Acknowledgment
She passed him in the hallways, and he nodded to her. The simplest of motions, yet, she found that, every day after that, she would smile at him in the hallways. He never risked a nod again, but the thought was there.
24. - Help
"Are you sure that's how you do it?" he asked, and she nodded her head.
"Positive, just do it- you'll see."
He looked at her skeptically. "You're a liar, Weasley."
"Oh really? And who's the one that's failing Divination of all things?"
"This is different!" he almost-whined. Almost.
"Yeah, if that's what you have to tell yourself to sleep at night."
He didn't dignify that with an answer, but she started to giggle anyway. "What?" he snapped.
"I can't believe I'm actually trying to help you learn to use a tape recorder, and you're convinced it's the end of the world!"
25. - Competition
She didn't know if they were friends. She saw him three or four times a week to help him with Divination (he honestly was utter rubbish at it), and she spoke to him more than anyone else.
In fact, since she had started talking to Draco Malfoy, everything had become such a competition, it felt as though talking to others wasn't talking at all; it was just practice for that hour or so she spent with him in some abandoned classroom or another, bent over cups and dream charts, the former holding tea leaves, the latter smudged with ink. They would sit for long moments, Ginny watching as he struggled with some sign or another as he wished her hair were less red, and, therefore, less distracting.
Talking wasn't worth much, anyway.
26. - Risk
He had almost slipped up. He had chanced a nod at her, and Zabini saw it, followed by Pansy. It had taken a good few hours to convince them that it was to royally piss her off, but Draco felt that he had succeeded. Pansy was hardly a worry, but Blaise...
"Mate, trust me when I tell you that Weasley is bad news for you," the darker boy offered.
Draco scoffed, "Like she's anything for me.
27. - Acceptance
"I heard you, MALFOY," Ginny hissed, stepping through the frame into the kitchens.
"I'm afraid you have me confused with someone who reads minds, Weasley," Draco said quickly.
"You and Zabini- I heard what you said! Well, I didn't hear it, but Neville did, and he told me everything! You great arse, I bet you don't even know how to be kind! I was doing you a favor, and all you could do was-----"
She couldn't finish talking, however, because somewhere between her being pissed off and his having a headache, he decided to just accept that she could be worth his time and kissed her.
28. - Denial
She was decidedly not thinking about Draco two days later. 'It didn't happen,' she told herself. 'He's mean, arrogant, and destined to be a Death Eater. This can't happen.'
29. - Trial
"That's the sign for success," Draco told Trelawny, mentally adding 'you old quack' to the end of his words.
"Marvelous!" the Divination teacher cried out. "Ten for Ten, Mister Malfoy! Why, in all my years, I've never seen a student improve as much as you have!"
Though he was aloof as could be at the comment, his thoughts immediately turned to a redhead who was now officially ignoring him.
30. - Parting
"You passed you Divination exam?" Ginny asked calmly, and Draco nodded.
"Ten for ten," he gloated, and she let out an unladylike snort.
"Well then," she said, straightening herself a bit. "I suppose this is goodbye?"
"Considering that summer break begins in a week, I suppose so."
"Oh," a flash of some alien emotion kicked her, but she rebounded well. Allowing him a bright smile, she nodded. "Okay then- goodbye Malfoy."
She turned and left the room, smiling all the way.
"Bye, Weasley."
31. - Change
The year came to an end, and he had passed Divination without too much of a struggle. The Hogwarts Express was loading, and he looked back at the castle, somehow knowing that over the summer and his next year at Hogwarts would be different. He didn't know how to feel about it, but something within him told him that this was the end of his boyhood. He would have thought more on that, but a flash of red hair distracted him, and the notion was gone.
32. - Heat
Sure, the days were long and hot on the outside, but inside the Burrow it was absolutely steaming. Though she had no choice but to be outside, lounging about in this pool of water or that, the hot, sweaty summer days turned into cool, comfortable nights that found Ginny on top of her roof, studying the stars and wondering what they held for her future.
33. - Boredom
New robes were mandatory, and not just because he was a growing young man, but also because he had the money to do so. Yet, he found that the robes had bored him over the years, just as everything else tangible had. Sure, he'd find something else to distract him soon enough, but for now... Draco was bored. Bored enough to begin picturing tea leaves and freckles on ivory skin.
34. - Consideration
She didn't know what possessed her to think of it, but one night, as she was searching for a midnight snack, Ginny felt the strongest desire to bake some cookies. She didn't pay much attention to it, but, somewhere within her mind, she wondered if Slytherins were allowed something as innocent as cookies.
35. - Demand
"Draco," a man said darkly, and it was a silent order to do as he was told and ask no questions.
Turning to the third figure in the room, Draco took all of his fears and doubts and turned them into a mock-courage; just what he needed when facing the creature that currently stood in his parlour.
"Yes, my lord," he agreed, getting to his knees and kissing the toe of the most evil wizard of all.
36. - Refusal
"Mom, please- I want to be in the Order! I'm old enough, can't you see?" Ginny begged from her spot on her mother and father's bed.
"No, Ginny. You've only just turned fifteen!" her mother told her firmly, folding the laundry by hand so she would have something to do with her hands.
"Fine," Ginny said, standing up, "but I'd bet the Death Eaters have members my age."
Molly shot a dark look at her daughter. "Don't be silly, Ginevra. Go get your breakfast."
37. - Wait
There was never an actual line to get onto the Platform, as that would look too conspicuous. Yet, when Draco arrived, he allowed a sneer to cross his face for a quick moment at Ron Weasley (who couldn't see him) before turning to watch the youngest redhead.
She was leaning against a tall black boy he had only seen in passing. Her brother looked ready to have an aneurysm, but the hand that was on his arm, belonging to none other than Granger herself, seemed to be calming him.
He wanted to ask her some questions, but he knew that he would have to wait- not just to get onto the platform, but to get her completely alone, where no one could accuse them of being.
38. - Attraction
She didn't know why it happened, but she found that she held her breath as she caught a glimpse of Draco striding by her compartment, his cronies guffawing behind him.
She shook her head, began to breath again, and returned to the game of Exploding Snap she and Neville were playing.
39. - Exhaustion
He crawled into his bed with a throbbing headache two weeks after the beginning of his sixth year. His mind whirled about, trying to focus on what his father's... associate... had told him to do. He wasn't sure if he could do it, but he knew one thing: he could not fail. Only death would meet him if he did. With heavy lids that didn't offer much protest, he fell in to a mercifully dreamless sleep.
40. - Danger
She was making her way silently to Snape's office, careful of the rats that scurried about her feet as she did so. The corridors were dark as could be, and her eyes burned as they struggled to work properly. She could hear her own, nervous breathing echoing off of the walls, yet she didn't bother stopping it.
A fierce shriek and the feeling of fur against her ankle told her that she had stepped on a rat's tail, and it was not happy at all. She stifled a scream, but froze.
"Weasley?" a silent, almost imagined whisper called out to her, and she flinched. "What are you doing down here?"
"Shhh," she hissed, placing a finger to her lips as if he could actually see them.
"I will not bloody well do so," he growled, and she felt a cool, smooth hand grab her arm and tug her towards the wall to her left. "What. Are. You. Doing?"
"I should think that's obvious," Ginny said, glaring at the hand that still rested on her arm. "I've been sent to get... ingredients."
He snarled. "No doubt to help Precious Potter and his gang of nitwits on their next big scheme."
She slapped his hand off of her and huffed. "Actually, Colin dared me to do it, and I never turn down a dare. Now, if you'll excuse me."
She moved away, fighting the urge to stomp in a childish show of anger, and he was silent once again.
41. - Suspicion
He returned to his room that night silently, so not to wake the snoring Crabbe and Goyle. He threw back the curtains of his bed and had to stifle a groan. Blaise Zabini sat there, looking up at his peer with dark eyes.
"You'd better get a move on, Malfoy," he warned, moving to get out of the bed. "My mother seems to be concerned that he will grow... violent soon."
"I fail to see how his temperament is of any concern to you, Zabini," Draco returned curtly. "Please extract yourself from my bed so I can sleep, now."
"You think you won't get caught, don't you?" the darker boy asked as soon as he was out of the bed. "You think that people don't hear when you say the most ridiculous things in your sleep, right?"
"Zabini, I have no idea what you're talking about- go away."
"Fine, but, if I were you, I'd stay away from the she-Weasel. She's bad news."
42. - Friendship
Hermione caught on to the little things quickly enough, yet, about a month into Hogwarts, she caught her friend's eyes glued to the Slytherin table. Ginny had always been her friend, so it confused her.
But that was long-forgotten when Ron turned to her and asked for help on his Charms homework. It wasn't like Ginny could feel anything but hate for Slytherins anyway.
42. - Love
He didn't know when it started, but Harry Potter found himself disliking Dean more and more every day, and every time he saw red hair, he felt a hauntingly familiar thing within his chest telling him to---
"Harry?" Ginny asked, breaking him from his stupor.
"Oh, hey, Ginny- what's up?" he asked, taking care to watch his breath.
"I someone sitting here?" she asked, motioning to the seat beside him. "Dean and I want to sit together, but this is the only area with two seats open..."
"Oh," he said airily. "Sure, go right on."
"Excellent! Thank you Harry!" she said brightly before turning to go get Dean.
He sighed and watched the red head move away from him, feeling as though the entire situation was symbolic in a way.
43. - Boyfriend
She sighed, flexing her fingers lightly as she leaned back in the chair. The library was cold at night, but she was desperate enough to do anything to keep away from Ron, who had taken to watching her like a hawk.
"Hey, Ginny, you there?" came a low, gentle voice, and Ginny smiled.
"Yeah, Dean- I'm by the Herbology books," she told him, standing up to lean against the table.
The boy appeared from the other side of the bookcase, and she smiled as the came to kiss her gently on the cheek.
"How's the Trio?" she asked gently, and he shrugged.
"Ron's the same as always. Harry must be saving the world again soon, because he's gotten pretty... aloof. Hermione's still reading as if she'll die if she doesn't have a book in her hands," he told her, and she giggled.
"So, are we going to go down to the kitchens tonight or what?" he asked her, and she nodded fervently- grabbing her bag before allowing herself to be lead down to the kitchens.
44. - Butterbeer
He had never enjoyed parties much, so, after the embarrassing defeat handed to Hufflepuff by Slytherin, Draco had come down to the kitchens. He tickled the pear quickly and entered the kitchens, only to mentally curse.
Ginny Weasley sat, sipping her butterbeer with a light smile on her face, eyes on him, though her body was turned. He didn't know what to say, and he had forgotten what he had wanted, so he just stood there stiffly, giving a feeble attempt at a glare to her.
She tipped her butterbeer bottle towards him. "Want some?"
45. - Picnic
"Dean!" Ginny laughed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to go inside- it's too pretty a day out!"
"Aw, c'mon, Gin," he begged, and she smiled widely.
"Maybe later?" she offered. "I'm hoping the Giant Squid will surface soon."
She heard his sigh. "Whatever Ginny- see you later."
When she turned to look at him again, he was already a good ways towards the castle, and the remains of their pleasant picnic by the lake were left for her to take care of.
46. - Affection
He felt her cool fingers on his neck, and her lips on his ear, yet his eyes were on the redhead across the lake, who had just sent her boyfriend away and opted to stare at the lake.
"Get off of me, Pansy."
47. - Frustration
She marched up to her dormitory, ignoring Seamus and Dean as she strode past them. Dean had recently spoken up about Percy, and, though she disliked the boy...
Percy was family.
These days, Ginny found that she didn't know how she felt about people. Percy she loved, but disliked. Dean she cared for, but was beginning to dislike.
With a huff of frustration, she threw herself onto her bed and wished for a friend like Tom had pretended to be.
48. - Fear
He had failed again! The plan had fallen through again, and he would be forced to accept death as punishment!
He stood in the girl's loo on the second floor, shoulders shaking as he gripped the sides of a toilet with as much strength as he could muster. His eyes were wide and bloodshot from the tears, his throat ached from spilling the contents of his stomach, and he was scared.
"Such a nice girl, you are," the voice of Moaning Myrtle cooed. "You always visit me."
"You're not rude or overbearing, Myrtle," Ginny's voice responded, and Draco took a deep, silent breath.
"You're nothing like that boy- the one with the glasses," Myrtle hummed. "No, you're much more like the other boy who came in here once a few months ago. He was kind to me, and not in a mocking way, either. No, no, no- he was earnest."
Ginny sighed, and Draco could feel his ears heat up. That boy had been him.
"I wish I could meet a boy who was like that to me," Ginny spoke, and Draco listened closely. "I fear that Dean's hardly thrilled with me these days, and I could say the same about him.
"Boys," Myrtle sniffed. "They're insufferable."
49. - Repetition
An owl tapped on her window early one morning- long before the sun rose. It pulled her from her slumber, but the other, sillier girls in her dormitory had "Silencio"ed their beds to get their "beauty rest". Ginny moved slowly and noticed the owl almost immediately. With a shaky hand, she took the bird in from the biting wind and accepted the note it had for her.
Weasley,
Christmas vacation is coming up. Afterwards, however, I'm close to failing Divination. Again. I'll be needing you to meet me in the usual place three days after we return from break.
D.L.M.
50. - Response
Draco,
Fine, then. Have it your way. But I'll be having mine, as well. You'll be calling me Ginny- not Weasley, she-Weasel, Weaselette, Red (should you feel "creative"), and especially not Ginevra. I will, in return, call you Draco. You will not tease me, but you do not have to speak to me whatsoever outside of our little lessons. No negotiating.
Ginny
Draco read over the small sheet of paper more than once before tossing it into the fire- not because he loathed it so, but, rather, because Crabbe and Goyle had taken to going through his things (most likely because of Zabini ordering them to do so). He went to sleep content in knowing that, even if he was failing, she hadn't noticed.
51. - Gifts
Christmas dawned, and Ginny was exhausted. She had opted to stay at Hogwarts over break to avoid Phlegm, and she had stayed up all night reading a book Hermione had lent her about a the Muggle idea of witches, and she had initially fallen asleep in the common room. Ron had found her, and he shook her awake before heading out to the kitchens.
At the foot of Ginny's bed was a pile of assorted gifts, but she felt no rush to open them, unlike the giggling mass of girls of girls in her room.
"Oh, bugger," one of them sighed, and Ginny sat up slowly as she did. "This one is for Ginny, not me. That's never happened before- wonder how it got mixed in? Hmm... It's so pretty, though..."
"It is! Look at that ribbon- oooh, I bet it's from Dean!" another girl giggled, and the other two began giggling.
"May I see my gift?" Ginny asked kindly, poking her head out from the four poster bed and earning surprised looks from the three girls, who were sitting cross-legged on the floor around a fairly large, rectangular package wrapped in green and silver with a gray ribbon.
"Sure, here you go," one of them said, picking the package up without much effort and handing the package up to her dorm-mate. "Who's it from?"
"Probably Dean," Ginny lied. The colors had given the package away immediately, but she suddenly felt cold- she hadn't gotten him a present!
"Well, go on! Open it!" one of the girls urged, and Ginny resisted to roll her eyes as she began to rip the paper.
52. - Gratitude
He hadn't expected anything for Christmas, but his mother had gotten him new robes (when he saw these, he resisted a sigh), Crabbe and Goyle had sent chocolates (kind enough- except for the fact that Draco despised sweets, as sugar gave him migraines), Pansy had sent a fox-fur hat (useful, but probably coated in some bizarre love potion that seeps through skin), and Zabini had sent him a book on Divination (which Draco promptly "Incendio"ed).
Yet, when a small, feathered ball of energy rammed itself against his window, and he let it in to find it carried a sheet of parchment that simply said "Thank You. - Ginny" on it, he was happy with his holiday.
53. - Returning
She waited patiently in the common room, and when Dean arrived, she promptly kissed him and began to ask how his holiday went. He replied warmly, and asked if she liked his gift (a book on Herbology), which she did.
"Oh, man, Ginny- I have to run, I'm sorry," Dean said after a few minutes of discussion. "Harry wants to talk to me about Quidditch. Hey, you want to come?"
Ginny shook her head. "No, you go right on ahead. I have a light headache, and I don't want to intrude."
Dean shrugged. "If you say so," he told her, kissing her quickly before leaving the common room.
Ginny sighed and sat down in one of the big armchairs before the hearth, Hermione's book in her hands.
54. - Beginning
"Hey, Wea- Ginny," Draco said stiffly, not used to the first name.
"Hello, Draco," Ginny responded warmly. "How was your break?"
His face darkened the slightest bit before he said, "Dull, and your own?"
"The same," she said with a smile; then she opened her bag and pulled out a large, very thick book that made Draco flinch when it hit the table before him. "Let's get to work then, right?"
He nodded. "Right."
55. - Laughter
She had been teaching him every night that week, as Harry was still working on Quidditch times. They often discussed the tarot cards, and the paradox that is time. She found that, deep, deep down within that Malfoy soul was a bizarrely normal person she had never seen before.
"Do you want to see me with it on?" she asked him, showing him an absolutely ridiculous outfit her Muggle Studies teacher had given her for the class's upcoming mini-production of Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet.
He smirked. "You know, were you any less of a Gryffindor, I would accuse you of coming onto me, Ginny."
She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Shut up, Draco."
56. - Pain
He had fallen off of his broom during a leisurely flying lesson, he remembered. He had just returned from the Room of Requirement with two very-feminine cronies, and he had been quite pleased with himself, when his mind had begun to wander to red hair and freckles. He had run into a tree after that, and had fallen several feet before hitting the ground on his back.
Now he sat up, ignoring all the complaints his body offered.
On the foot board to his bed perched a school owl, who held a note in its beak. Clucking his tongue lightly, he called the owl to him and withdrew the note. Opening it up, he read it hastily.
Draco,
You're most likely the stupidest person I've ever met. Be ready for lessons on Tuesday, or else.
G.M.W.
57. - Thoughtfulness
She was sitting in the common room with Dean, bored out of her mind when said mind began to wonder. Draco had been in the Hospital Wing for a full day now, she realized. He would be released the next day, and she still owed him for the gift he got her at Christmas time. Before she even thought much of it, she was excusing herself from Dean and Seamus, and then she was heading down the corridors to the kitchens, recipes for cakes in her mind.
58. - Loss
He entered their abandoned classroom to find her already there. His eyes widened somewhat, as such a thing had never happened before, but, when she turned to him, a small, round cake was revealed to be sitting behind her. Though he was pleasantly surprised, she seemed angry.
"Ginny," he said warily, "what happened?"
"Dean and I broke up," she told him, sighing. "But that's nothing," she smiled, "I made you a cake, so go on- eat it and get your health back."
Draco raised an eyebrow. He couldn't handle sweets, but it seemed rude to not at least thank her. Even if she was a Weasley.
"Draco?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
And yet, he couldn't find a way to tell this giddy, vivacious redhead that he didn't want what was probably the first cake she'd ever made. With a mental note stating that he had, in fact, lost all control of the situation, Draco snatched up one of the forks she had and took one of the already-cut pieces of cake from the others.
59. - Debate
She tried to keep her eyes away from him as he ate, but something was wrong. He looked almost pained to eat it!
"Draco," she said slowly, "what's wrong?"
He winced, and set down the plate he had with a sigh.
"What is it?" she asked again, worried.
"Ginny... I can't eat sweets," he admitted, and she gaped. "They make me sick."
"What? Why didn't you just say so? Don't eat something that makes you sick- that's just ridiculous!"
"I couldn't just say so!"
"Why not?" she demanded, hands on her hips as she glared at him.
He hesitated. "I just couldn't."
She sighed and moved closer to him, so that she had to lean her head back to make eye contact with the tall young man. "Listen, Draco- I won't break down if you tell me that I've done something stupid. Just be honest, but not brutally so. I'll find some way to get over it- promise. I really don't want you to get sick, so---"
She didn't really know what happened. One second she was kindly lecturing him, and then, the next, she was sitting on the table next to the cake being snogged senseless.
60. - Reasoning
It wasn't like he didn't try to stop. He really did. And yet, somehow, every time he pulled away, she'd look at him with those big, brown eyes, and she looked as though she was about to say something, and he just couldn't- wouldn't- let her do so. Finally, he pulled away and stepped back, speaking before she could.
"We can't do this," he told her obviously.
"True," she said, sliding off of the table. She dusted her skirt off, and didn't look at him. "It would just lead to problems."
"Exactly," he agreed, nodding once. "It wouldn't end well."
"What with our families and everything," she added, and he agreed.
"And our Houses. And those who are sworn to protect your honor," he pointed out.
And then, just like that, she looked at him and offered a smile, and he mentally groaned in frustration. Faster than he believed he could move, he had her half-sitting on the table again, and he was kissing her as though she was about to disappear.
He pulled away quickly, cursing a bit. He reminded her out loud again of all the people in the way of them doing anything more than studying, and she smirked in a way that was too Slytherin for his liking.
"They're not here now, are they?"
61. - Bargaining
Somewhere between studying and pulling, she spoke to him, and he spoke to her, and the two came to an agreement.
"No one can know," Draco told her, and Ginny immediately agreed.
"Do anything to throw them off," she ordered, and he nodded, but didn't know what she meant by that.
It wasn't long before talking turned into kissing, though, and any questions he had left his head.
62. - Jealousy
"Potter?" he bellowed, fists clenched. "Potter?!"
"Draco, it's not like I kissed him," Ginny told him, her voice a bit louder than usual. "Besides, we're hardly exclusive-"
"And yet you don't see me giving Pansy a pull in the commons, now do you?" Draco growled.
"It wasn't like that!" Ginny insisted. "I swear, Draco- just listen to me!"
"Couldn't you have just told him to shove off?" Draco asked fiercely, and she shook her head.
"Draco, I wanted to, but if I had done that, Ron-"
"I don't care about what your brother says!" Draco bit out. "I don't care what any of them say- you snogged Potter!"
"If you really don't care about what they think," Ginny hissed, "why did we keep it a secret in the first place?"
He didn't respond, and she didn't wait for him- she turned heel and marched out the door, leaving him silent once again.
63. - Forgetting
Ginny threw herself into two things over the months following her argument with Draco: school work and Harry. Although she often felt bad about not telling Harry that she once had the urge, and numerous chances, to snog one of his greatest enemies, she didn't see any way to bring it up. What could she say? There was no reason or way to tell Harry of her past feelings for Draco, and so she learned to suppress them.
She learned to forget, and, more importantly, she came to love Harry even more.
64. - Reminder
He found her in the library, reading some Herbology book or another. She jumped at his touch, and the instant she turned around, he leaned in to kiss her deeply. She responded instantly, but pulled away after only a moment.
"Get away from me," she hissed at him, standing.
"No," he said plainly. "I can't go before I tell you something. Merlin knows why I have to tell you- I wouldn't if I had control anymore when it comes to you."
"Get on with it, Malfoy, and leave me alone."
"Ginny, you have to stay in your dormitory tomorrow night. Hide in any hiding spot you know of- just... hide," he insisted.
She was silent for a long while, just staring into his eyes. "Why?" she finally asked.
"I can't say," he breathed.
"Why not?" she demanded, seeming to grow angry, if not scared. "Why can't I know, Draco?"
He just looked at her, and his eyes were sad. She bit her lip, and her eyes fell to the floor. He felt her small hand slip into his, and she pulled him towards her lithe form in a hug. Her arms were wrapped around his waist, and her head was buried in his shoulder. He was stiff for a moment before he reached his other arm around her to hold her gently. It was awkward, but she didn't say anything.
"Be careful," she breathed.
He stayed silent.
65. - Death
The white tomb shimmered beneath the sun, and sobs came from her left. To her right, Harry was stiff, and, before her was the final resting place of the Greatest Wizard to Ever Live.
'Goodbye,' she thought simply. 'I never knew you all that well, and yet you let me stay here even after what Tom did. You were a great man, Dumbledore. I'll believe in you for that.'
Though she had heard the story Harry had told her, she found that she felt no hatred for Draco. She missed him, she realized. She had realized it the night she hugged him in the library, when his purely masculine scent surrounded her and she was left without anything to say as he held her awkwardly. It had been awkward, and yet she still missed him.
'Please be careful,' she thought, biting her lip as arrows rained from the sky.
66. - Hiding
The house he hid in was small- barely large enough for both himself and his mother. While she whimpered and sobbed day and night for the loss of her freedom, he found that his only tie to sanity was red hair, freckles, and memories of soft lips against his own.
67. - Hope
She was on the rooftop when her mother came.
"Ginny, dear- we have Yorkshire pudding tonight. I know it's your favorite, so come get it before the boys do," Molly said gently.
"Okay, Mum," Ginny said, standing and brushing herself off. They both moved to go back inside before she spoke again. "Wait, Mum?"
"Yes, dear?" Molly asked.
"How do you know if Charlie and Bill are doing okay when they're so far away, and we don't even know exactly where they are?"
Molly smiled. "I don't know, Ginny. All I can do is hope."
68. - Battle
Ginny had only just graduated when it stopped ended.
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger had stopped Voldemort their first year at Hogwarts and come out with very few bruises. This time, they were not so fortunate.
Harry defeated Voldemort, yes, but Ron- hot-tempered, ever-reddening Ron Weasley- had taken an Avada Kedavra for Hermione, the girl he had fallen in love with ages before the battle itself, and that was it for him.
He was the seventh person from Ginny's generation to die because of the War. Lavender Brown was murdered in an attack on Hogsmeade, Terry Boot's home had been raided and turned upside down, leaving him and his parents dead, Colin Creevy was sought out and murdered for his bloodline, Hannah Abbott had died with her mother, who had told the Ministry about two undercover Death Eaters, and Seamus and Dean had died fighting twice as many Death Eaters.
Battle had taken many from her life, and she still lived on. She cried every night, and she longed to forget, but she kept living. And she kept baking. She was always baking. And, within her, a battle was raging.
69. - Certainty
His mother died one night after the war was done. She just gave up- as if there was nothing left to live for. The only person who had ever stood up for him against his father... she was gone. It ate him up from the inside, but he buried her late one night within the ground of the place he had been hiding in for years.
He still thought of red hair and freckles, but the memory was scratched. It was blurry, and he had to struggle sometimes to remember whether or not there was a single freckle on either of her eyelids. There wasn't, if his memory was to be trusted.
Voldemort's death freed him. He was free to go out into the world, but he didn't know if he wanted to. He had lost her, of that he was sure. Either to the War or to the Boy Who Lived, it didn't matter. She was gone. He knew that.
But he had to find out. He had to be sure.
70. - Dreams
She saw him every night. He saved her from a family that was broken by loss, and he took her away and replaced all of the bad memories with new ones that he would make with her. They ran away together- the serpent and the lion. They ran from their pasts- from people who held them back, who separated them. They ran, and they ran together.
She would awake to cold, immobile sheets and such an extreme feeling of loneliness that she fought the urge to cry.
She didn't love him at all, but she missed him every morning.
71. - Information
The Daily Prophets had stacked up upon his doorstep when he arrived at the Manor. He kicked at them, and they fell in all directions. One of the rolls sat picture-up, then, and the heading caught his eye and made his stomach clinch.
Ronald Bilius Weasley Dead- Family in Shock
He didn't know why it happened, or how, but he was suddenly turning and walking back towards the street, mind fixed on getting some answers.
72. - Reunion
When she first heard the taps on her window, she thought them to be an owl's, or perhaps just rain. When Ginny sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes lightly, she gasped and could do little more but stare.
'You're dreaming,' she thought to herself. And yet... 'Okay, just get up, and see if it disappears.'
She moved slowly, her eyes locked on something she didn't actually believe to be there. The window was soon close enough for her to open, and she did so enthusiastically.
"Merlin," she breathed, and, the next thing she new, she was being hugged tighter than she could ever remember having been, and she was sobbing into a shirt that smelled entirely of male. He didn't seem to mind.
"I can't believe you're alive," he whispered, and she looked up.
Her breath caught in her throat. "Ron-"
"I know," he whispered, running his fingers through her long crimson locks. She leaned into his shoulder and began to cry again. "I read about it in the Prophet."
They stayed like that for an untold amount of time, and, if only for those moments, they were content.
73. - Comfort
He didn't know why, but the moment was perfect. He was there, and he had a friend. It wasn't spoken, but they were friends, and they were both alive. They were alive. They were alive. The words kept spinning around in his head, and he was content. In Ginny's arms, he had the comfort his parents had failed to give him.
He almost wanted to stay there forever. But nothing is forever. So, instead, he just held on.
74. - Asking
"Take me away," she whispered. "I don't want to be here anymore."
"Where would I take you away to?"
"Anywhere. I just can't take it here anymore. Mum's always crying, Dad never eats... I just... I want to get away for a while. I can't stay here now. I don't want to. It... it hurts. He's gone, and I'm still here. You're here now, though. Take me away?" she pleaded with him, and pulled out of the hug just enough to look him in the eye.
The word was out before he could stop it.
"Okay."
75. - Happiness
New York was a busy place, with busy people who did busy things. Everyone was too busy to notice or care about the couple who was unloading their things into an apartment that rested above a Chinese Take-Out restaurant. They didn't know who this couple was, but they didn't stop. Everything kept moving.
To Ginny, it was a reminder that life was always going to continue. To Draco, it was evidence that the busier things were, the happier everyone was.
They took the stairs within the building to their apartment that they decided to share. Tomorrow, Ginny would go and get a job, and Draco would begin settling his father's will from his home in America. In six months, Ginny would return to her family, and Draco would either go with her or stay behind, but, for now, they were together, and they were focusing on forgetting the past. Just for now.
She turned to him after she locked the door behind her, and she smiled the lightest smiles.
"Thank you, Draco. You've done so much for me," she told him, taking his hand. "I'm so happy. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Draco said, staring at their hands. "Why America, Ginny?" he asked. "Your family, Potter, Granger- everyone... they're not here now. We're alone."
He had meant his last words in relation to their being in America, yet Ginny seemed to take it a different way, judging by the smile on her face.
"I know."
Author's Note: This is pretty long. I'll be AMAZED if anyone reads this. xD Whatever. I just had to get it out. It's a cute little ficlet that I hope to get some reviews on. Reviews do keep me writing, but I'm pretty sure that the length of this will inhibit most people. Oh well, whatever. Happy April Fool's Day, even though this doesn't have ANYTHING to do with that. xD
I love you all.