Ginny Weasley quietly hummed to herself whilst dicing up a bezoar for the Cure-All Antidote she was working on. It was a bright and beautiful Saturday three weeks into the new school year. She had returned to her seventh year of schooling at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry with almost all of the previous year's seventh years who wanted to finish their education and most of all add a bit of normalcy back into their lives after the terror and chaos the war had imposed on the Wizarding World.
Ginny stopped dicing with her knife poised over the bezoar as she stood staring at the back corner of the dungeon classroom-still under construction from the last battle- in reminiscence of that fateful day last Spring. So many lives lost, so many turned upside down. Her heart went out to those whose families would be torn apart forever. She felt herself tear up at the thought of little Teddy Lupin never getting to know his parents. She also shuddered as the memory of Fred lying prone on the table in the Great Hall overtook her. The Weasley's, Hermione, Harry and Angelina all standing over him, too shocked to do anything. No one really wanting to believe that fate would be so cruel. Then Ginny remembered the unbridled joy and elation that swept over the group when a they saw his eyes open and a smile cover his features. Looking into George's eyes he whispered in a strong, serious manner "Don't cry Georgie, it would take a lot more than a ton a bricks to knock out one half of the world's greatest pranksters."
"That it would brother mine, that it would." Hardly believing that he was lucky enough to be having this conversation. Ginny remembered also the following moments where the shock of Fred's survival wore off and the dams broke. Everyone was crying and hugging and celebrating. Angelina never let go of Fred's hand and now with the healing process well underway, the Weasley's were planning their first post war wedding. To be held after graduation.
The memory flooded Ginny's mind and body with warmth and she had to wipe a small stream of tears from her face as she finished with the bezoar and continued with the next ingredient: lace-fly wings. She was currently in the dungeons working on an Advanced Potion's assignment and studying for her NEWTs. She realized that studying so early in the year was a very Hermione-esque thing to do, but after the battle and consequent months of healing not only the physical wounds, but the emotional ones as well, she discovered the joy and fulfillment of being a Healer. She wanted to help heal the scars of all of those who fought as her own personal contribution to the rebuilding effort. With this goal in mind Ginny knew that she would have to buckle down this year to pass NEWTs and the qualifying exams for the Healer program at St. Mungos. The best part of this plan was that she had always been a top student in her year and she really excelled in Potions. She had secretly been one of Snape's favorites, for her quick mind and respectful behavior in class...not to mention an uncanny resemblance to the mother of a certian scar-headed boy, he just never let favoritism of a non-Slytherin show in front of anyone. Now with Slughorn as Potions master, Ginny was not only the third best in the class- Hermione and Malfoy were way too tough and competitive to be worth beating- but now was proud that her accomplishments meant something.
In the back of her mind, she knew that she should have been outside, on the lawn playing with her friends and reveling in the freedom of the free world order, but upon waking that morning found herself ensnared in the shawl of melancholy that seemed to wrap itself around a handful of the students when they found themselves lost in their thoughts. With such a strong feeling of withdrawal about her, Ginny decided to spend the day alone with her thoughts and her cauldron. Potions was the perfect activity for such a day as it took as much or as little concentration as one wanted to give. But now, alone and nostalgic in the only dungeon classroom the war managed to touch, Ginny found herself thinking of the story of the Battle of Hogwarts they had only had painted out for them during the trials over the summer.
Apparently, Snape had not only been a double agent during the war, but also managed to recruit his top students as double agents as well. Effectively and inevitably helping the light side and saving the lives of the Slytherins everyone thought were already lost. In the months following Dumbledore's death, Snape was able to approach Draco Malfoy and convert him to his side. In the trial, willingly under the influence of Veritaserum, Draco told the jury, audience and the world about his involvement with the Death Eaters. How he only joined to protect his parent's lives. How he lowered his wand on Dumbledore and didn't want him to die. And most importantly, how Snape had approached him after that night and pulled him into the plan.
Snape and Draco came up with the idea to recruit those classmates of Draco's who, like him only joined up to protect a loved one who was threatened or were only loosely tied to the war and wanted to help end it. Malfoy, Zambini, Parkinson and just about every other Slytherin in their year and the ones above and below signed on. The plan was simple, there was to be two groups: those who stay at Hogwarts and help protect the younger Slytherins against all threat, and the ones who were either already branded or about to be branded who were to stay amongst the Death Eater ranks and pass information along to Snape and await instruction for the Battle. The plan hinged on Malfoy's participation and allegiance, and it wasn't until the Trio's incident at the Malfoy Manor that Snape truly knew he could count on Draco. The plan was then finished with the idea being that all those in the field would wait for the battle and enter with the Death Eaters and then attack from behind, while the older students in the dungeons, much like their counter parts from the other houses, were to protect the younger students at all costs. They were successful, with the forces being so well trained, the Death Eaters never made it past that first classroom and all but the outer wall was blown up. Ginny strongly suspected that, since the rest of the castle was already pretty much reconstructed that McGonagall was going to leave the wall as it was as a monument to the courage and bravery the Slytherin's showed that night. Ginny had to smile to herself. It was a bittersweet concept for the snakes, they helped saved the world in their own way, and yet were painted as Gryffindors for it.
And whilst pondering the heroic qualities of the Slytherins, Ginny's mind inevitably turned to the one Slytherin the whole thing started with. Draco Malfoy left the war a changed man, or perhaps was greatly changed because of it. It was perhaps the most startling change of all, but Ginny had thought it was probably mostly due to how public it was. But then, Ginny had witnessed it before anyone else. She had been in the same hallway as Malfoy when the Battle began. She had snuck out of the Room of Requirements and decided to position herself in one of the hallways leading to the Great Hall. She knew that Neville and the Patil twins were supposedly close by somewhere ahead and to the right of her, but she tried to remain focused on her immediate surroundings. Moments before the battle commenced, Ginny heard footsteps from the hallway behind her. Wheeling around she saw the ghostly pale form of Draco Malfoy. Tall, thin with determination the singular emotion etched on to face as he drew nearer. He was not ten feet in front of her and already drawing his wand. Too shocked to move at the thought of fighting a fellow school mate, Ginny was too slow to grab her wand and instead closed her eyes and waited for the curse she knew was coming. And yet, it never hit her. Opening her eyes, she saw Draco's tight, determined face and his wand pointed at some point over her shoulder. Turning around as if in a daze, Ginny saw the stunned and petrified body of a Death Eater, wand raised and ready. She remembers feeling the brush of fabric against her arm and looked up to see Draco striding past her as he said with a friendly smirk,"Keep your head in it Weaslette, I'll not always be around to save you!" before turning the corner and joining the fray. That was the last time she saw Malfoy before the end of the battle. However, she knew from Percy's first hand account that it was a shield charm from Draco's wand that ultimately saved his and Fred's lives.
It was this, his actions in the battle, the information he relayed to Snape and Narcissa's protection of Harry that cleared the Malfoy name and earned them the real respect and gratitude of the Wizarding world. The only punishment affecting Lucius for his crimes being a year's worth of House arrest (with the dementors being so easily swayed to Voldemort's side and Azkaban still in ruins, the Ministry felt that new guards were needed and construction finished before it could be opened again) and being forced to make a sizeable contribution to the rebuilding efforts.
What truly shocked Ginny, was Draco's behavior directly following the Battle. With no threat of death over his head, he felt he could finally live as he had always wanted to. However, Dumbledore's death and the truth about Snape's identity and his own actions at the end of the war gave him new perspective on life and convinced him to right his wrongs before moving on. Or at least thats how Draco phrased it when, two days following the battle he knocked on the door of the Burrow and asked to speak to everyone. Ginny giggled to herself as she added the lace-wing flies to her cauldron and started stirring the pot counter-clockwise remembering the looks on everyone's face- including Draco- when he fist began to speak.
Draco told them his story, which was verified in the weeks to come with the veritaserum, and then apologized to the Weasley's, all of them, for all of the things he and his family had said and done over the years and asked for the end of the feud. When he was received with blank stares and faces, he explained further that he really didn't want to be best friends or chummy (his exact words, said with disdain) he just simply wanted to stop a feud that lasted centuries too long, Arthur stood up and offered him a hand. With that settled, he turned and apologized to Hermione for every insult he ever threw against her about her blood status. He then promptly apparated out of the room and left the assorted members of the order and the Weasley family dumb struck. Ginny smiled to herself thinking that only Draco Malfoy could ever cause Ron to not eat. In fact, at dinner that night, Ron was so gobbsmacked that he didn't say a word the rest of the night, just sat there pensively. It was the following morning when Ron, Harry and Hermione left to tell the Ministry that they would willingly and gratefully testify on behalf of the Malfoy's.
As Ginny stirred her cauldron, she pondered the greatness of the old and beloved Headmaster. It was not the first time since the end of the war, and it certainly would not be the last, but sometimes she wondered how exactly he knew everything he did. For, it was Dumbledore's last letter to McGonagall, which magically appeared after the trials and one month before school that reminded her to extend the welcome of finishing school to the Slytherins and to offer Draco the position of Head Boy and one of the awards for special services to the school. Dumbledore had somehow known, or maybe he had had everything planned out with Snape, but either way, Dumbledore's genius mystified Ginny and made her proud that she had had the privilege of knowing such a great wizard.
It also amazed Ginny just how much of a different person Draco was without the stress of the war, of the expectation of becoming a Death Eater above his head. He was carefree, could actually be seen laughing and joking with his friends, which now extended into almost every house. His apology to Hermione and their positions as Heads allowed them to form a type of loose friendly rivalry. Both were vying for the top spot in every class and both wanted their house to win the Cup that year. But despite their awkward friendship and his apology, Ron and Harry and him almost refused to get along. The insults might have stopped reflecting family ties or status, but they were still acerbic and tense. But Ginny mused to herself that somethings just could not change no matter how good things were.
Thinking of Harry, a small smile on her lips, Ginny went back to the week after the battle. Harry, Ron and Hermione, still in shock over the events of the year and what they had accomplished, pulled away and spent most of that first week - with the exception of Draco's visit - holed up in Ron and Harry's room grieving and celebrating and healing in their own way. It was during this time that Ron and Hermione supposedly figured out that they were at their best just being best friends and siblings.
Ginny saw this coming of course. This was the same reason her and Harry, merely hours after the battle, decided to not continue their relationship. War changes people. Ginny loved Harry, had fought with him, for him and her family and when it was all said and done, she celebrated with Harry as if he was a member of her family. He was an older brother and what made Ginny happy was that their relationship was strongest in this capacity and even now months later the two of them found themselves in the same easy friendship they had formed in the DA and quidditch practice. She knew Ron and Hermione felt the same. And she didn't worry too much about Harry as probably the biggest post-war shocker came one hour into the train ride back to Hogwarts. Just as the trio, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Fred and George(who decided to finish off their seventh year and get their NEWTs, but most likely just wanted to spend the year testing products on first years) settled into two compartments directly across from each other, none other than Pansy Parkinson walked into Harry's compartment and gave him a long kiss to the lips before apologizing for her past behavior and expressed a heartfelt thank you for saving the world. Harry took two seconds to recover before pulling Pansy into a long snog and telling her he'd see her at the feast. It has been three weeks and the new Hogwarts power couple was going strong much to the absolute astonishment of the wizarding world. Hermione was okay too, and although Ginny could not get a single word from Hermione's mouth, knew that the older girl had a secret and that all would be revealed in due time. Ginny was also savvy to the plan Hermione and Lavender had cooked up to get Lavender and Ron back together thanks to late night gossip sessions in the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dorm and expected the common room to witness the reunion of Won-won and Lav-lav before Halloween.
As for the youngest Weasley, Ginny couldn't keep one particular young double agent and war hero out of her mind. She of course knew that this was silly. All of the girls were in love with Draco and even though Harry was dating one of his close friends, the two groups had not yet reached a level of friendly contact suitable enough for Ginny to make a move. No, she had destined her self to watching Draco and hoping that none of the fan girls that had taken to following him every where, had caught his eye.
It was with these musing in her head that Ginny felt a presence in the room and turned to see the tall, lithe, devilishly handsome figure of the Head Boy casually leaning against the open door to the classroom. He was wearing the same smirk that graced his lips back in the hallway during the battle.
"Sweet Salazar's balls, Weaslette! You are not wasting this beautiful day working on an assignment that not due until Christmas! Are you trying to be like Granger? Why not just take a sip of Polyjuice, it'd be more effective!" He said this in a playful way that would have been odd of him six months ago, but was now usual of the manner he spoke to those non-slytherins he like (basically everyone not Ron or Harry).
"No, I just wanted time to myself, this felt like the right thing to do." Ginny responded seriously, the melancholy of the morning remaining like the dusty rays of sunlight after dusk.
"Well, as your Head Boy and your superior I command you to go frolic and play in the sun with the rest of your annoying little Gryffindorks before you turn pasty and moldy in this dank dungeon." All of this he said with an amused expression and although not taken as a serious insult, it did its job of bringing about Ginny's playful mood.
"Why don't you get your head out of your arse before your inflating ego causes you to explode." Ginny gave back half heartedly.
"Really? That's all you have for me Weaslette? That didn't even make sense." Draco said with a goading tone. " But seriously Weaslette, in times such as these, it is important for all of us to help each other heal and the best way to do that is if you leave your depression behind you and take to living each day fully in honor of those we have lost."
After a full minute of staring at him in disbelief, Ginny burst into peals of laughter not regaining composure for a few minutes. Draco meanwhile was watching her with dissatisfaction and indignation. "What pray tell is so amusing Weaslette? I was trying to be serious."
"I know..(peal of laughter)..its just..(big breath).. its just that right then, you sounded just like Dumbledore during a Welcome Feast. If you keep spewing words of wisdom like that Malfoy, people will start to think that you are turning into a Gryffindor!" Ginny finished this fully refreshed from the laughter and shorn of her cloak of melancholy.
"I will NEVER be a Gryffindork, Weaslette. How dare you make such slanderous assumptions!" Draco snapped in mock horror and contempt.
"Whatever you say Malfoy. But it looks like to me that all of this new hero-worship is turning you nice. I bet you don't even know how to be sneaky and underhanded anymore." Ginny said with and amused grin on her face while she turned her attention back to her cauldron. Before she could even process what was happening she found herself up against the wall pinned between two very sculpted and toned arms. She looked up into his silvery eyes and tried to get her breathing under control.
"Still think I'm not sneaky Weaslette?" He asked with his face so close to hers that she could taste the sweet mint of of his breath.
"Um...yes. All you proved here Malfoy was that you have the agility to corner someone unsuspecting-very sneaky to me." Ginny said in an unaffected manner after taking a few seconds to collect her breath.
Smirking, all she heard was a whispered "well then," before his lips found hers in a long lingering kiss. The kiss was firm but pleasant. Not demanding, just enough to take Ginny's breath away and make her head fuzzy. When he pulled away, once again with a smirk on his face, all she could do was stare up at him. "would you call that sneaky?"
"No, not really, just kinda seemed like you wanted a reason to do that." Ginny said with a bit of a smirk and her wit coming back to her. "What...Malfoy..."
"Draco, call me Draco."
"What was that Draco?" she asked still staring up at him semi-confused and expectantly. His forehead came to rest upon hers as she stared into his eyes and waited. She did not allow herself to imagine the kiss as meaning anything to Draco. It confused and excited her. Maybe all of her waiting for him would come to fruition, but that was almost too good to be true.
"I don't know," Draco said a look of confusion darkening his eyes. "I only know that I have wanted to do that for a long time."
"Was it what you expected?" Ginny asked watching his eyes closely.
"Better." he said still staring into her eyes. "Would yo-" The sudden sound of the door opening behind them made them jump apart.
"Ginny? What the-" "Whoops! Wrong door." The voices belonging to a confused and disheveled George Weasley who had an equally unkempt, looking like she was just thoroughly snogged, Hermione by the hand. Hermione, being quick enough to pull out of the astonishment, threw a wink to Draco and Ginny and started pushing George away while closing the door behind her. As the couple left the dungeon, Draco and Ginny could hear Hermione coaxing a still distraught George to calm down.
"Did you see the Ferret with my sister?"
"Yes, I did and its about time, why don't we go relax and absorb this all in that nice little broom closet?" And with that there was the sound of a door closing and silence filled the dungeon.
"I am not sure of what just happened, but I believe your brothers will now make it their purpose in life to kill me." Draco said taking step closer to a smiling Ginny.
"I knew it!" Ginny said more to herself than to Draco. "And don't worry, Hermione will make sure that he forgets what he just saw."
"Ew. I did not need that image in my head."
"Well," Ginny said returning her attention to Draco. "What were you trying to say before they came in?"
"Oh." Draco turned slightly pink at this and took a moment to collect his thoughts before meeting her eyes. "Ginny...uum.."
"I didn't know Malfoy were allowed to stutter." She said with a playful grin trying to break the tension.
"Your humor is not helping." Draco responded, pinching the bridge of his nose in concentration. "Dammit, Ginny. Go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend."
"What?" Ginny responded, not totally prepared for the question.
"Will you go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?" This time looking her in the eyes. "I don't know what this is," gesturing between the two of them. "But I want to find out." His eyes pleading hers in an unusual display of vulnerability.
Ginny simply responded with a brilliant smile and a nod. Draco smiling and nodding back turned to leave the room as if he needed to go convince himself that it had really just happened. Ginny, recovering quickly, stopped him before he could leave. "Wait...Draco, wait," she called out hesitantly.
Draco smiled and looked at her expectantly.
"Thanks," she said smiling up at him. Upon seeing his confusion added, "you know, for everything. For saving me, um... for saving Fred."
With a small but genuine smile, Draco nodded and simply said, " Anytime Weaslette." And coming up to where she was standing, dropped a kiss to her lips and left the room humming to himself. Ginny couldn't stop the smile from lighting up her face as she watched him go. This would be a good year, she thought to her self, and the future looked bright.