Ginny lay on her back beneath the endless blue bowl of the sky. Her eyes were closed, but a smile lingered around her lips, as though she was dreaming of something pleasant. In reality she was just enjoying the feel of the sun warming her skin, making her feel light and alive. It was one of those April days that makes you feel as though summer is just around the corner, and Ginny intended to enjoy it.
"Ginny!" called her favorite voice in the universe. Her eyelids flickered open, and she sat up. Draco was striding towards her, wearing what she liked to call his lottery grin. It was the sort of smile you would wear upon finding out you'd just won a large sum of money, and he wore it a lot when he looked at her. This simple fact made her happier than she ever thought she could be, but that happiness was marred by the unwelcome question that haunted her late at night: what would his face look like if he knew? Ginny pushed the errant thought away, not wanting her past to spoil today.
"Hey," she called back to him, excitement making her voice squeak. Then, unable to restrain herself, she sprang up blithely and skipped over to jump into his arms. He laughed and lifted her off her feet, burying his face in her hair and spinning her around. Ginny giggled, then her face grew serious.
"Did anyone follow you here?"
Draco shook his head, his smile never wavering. "No, my love. All clear." A shiver of delight went through her at the sound of "my love", but then he leaned in to kiss her, and for a moment Ginny lost her train of thought completely as his arms tightened around her and his lips brushed hers, anchoring her to him, holding her there…
– holding her to him. His grip tightened, she couldn't get away, but she didn't want this, why didn't he understand, WHY WOULDN'T HE STOP HURTING HER –
Panicked, gasping, Ginny broke the kiss, struggled to get out of Draco's grasp. At first his arms were nonresponsive, but then she shoved him, and he got the message pretty quick. Stumbling backward, his expression cycled from hurt to confusion and back to hurt again. His pain was like a stab wound to Ginny's chest, but she was distracted from it by the fire in her veins, the terrible memories that overwhelmed her…
"Ginny?" His voice was careful, his face composed once more. "Ginny, what's wrong?" He sounded worried now.
Shaking her head violently, Ginny held up a hand for him to be quiet. Then she swayed like she was about to faint. Draco caught her in a moment, lowering her to the ground with ease. Tenderly he supported her shoulders, falling onto his knees so that her head was in his lap. "Ginny!" he cried, his voice panicked. His hands were frantic, stroking her hair gently but much too quickly to be soothing. "Ginny, wake up!"
Her eyelids fluttered, she came awake with a moan. And then she was sobbing as Draco rocked her back and forth in his sturdy, safe arms, and the whole terrible story, the events of more than a year ago now, came flooding out of her in broken pieces. At some point during the telling Draco's arms grew stiff, and he let out a wordless scream of fury and pain. Although he didn't stop rocking her, Ginny was afraid to look at his face. At last, when it was done, she gathered her courage and looked up.
She wasn't prepared for the rage that transformed his features, the murder in his eyes, and at first it scared her. When at last she was calm enough to speak, she asked, in the smallest voice possible, "What are you going to do, Draco?"
He looked down at her, and by some miracle he managed to smile, though it did not reach his eyes. She could see the effort it cost him, and it hurt her so deeply that if she'd ever doubted that she loved him before, she knew it now. He pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead before answering.
"I'm going to make you safe," he promised, his eyes never leaving her face. "And then I'm going to kill him."
