No preface needed, enjoy Part Seven.

Try to Love Again: Part Seven

Sirius never got to take me on that second date the next day, because my mum arrived to take me back to Hogwarts. There were a few weeks until final exams, and I really did have to go back… as mum pointed out, the longer I waited the harder it would be.

But that didn't make it easy. I didn't even get to say a real goodbye to Sirius- I mean, I got to say goodbye, but it was in front of mum so I couldn't say the kind of goodbye I really wanted to. I knew I'd see him in only a month, as we were all staying at Grimmauld Place with him for the summer holidays, but I knew that we'd have little time to be together then, and I felt like I hadn't savored the time we had had as much as I should have.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear as he gave me a farewell hug, promising to write and saying that I might see him sooner than I expected. I grinned in return, but had to break the hug before my mum got suspicious.

It was, of course, lunchtime when I arrived. I told my mom I had eaten a big breakfast with Sirius, that I wasn't hungry, but she insisted that I go in and "see my friends." So I kissed her goodbye and walked as inconspicuously as possible into the Great Hall.

So much for inconspicuous. Everyone in the hall turned toward me, and there was that same awkward silence that Harry tends to experience once and a while. They knew.

As I walked towards the Gryffindor table, Neville sprang up and ran to meet me. He whispered in my ear nervously.

"I'm sorry Ginny! It's all my fault, I accidentally told Parvati and now everyone knows!" he looked about to cry. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"It's alright Neville," I reassured him, "they'd find out sometime anyway. Now at least I won't have to lie to people about where I was." I walked back to the table with Neville and took a seat between him and Harry.

"Hi Gin," Harry whispered to me, "want something to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry."

"Okay." he understood. He put an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head protectively, and I relaxed a bit.

Later that night, when I was sitting on the common room couch reading silently with Harry just like I had with Sirius two nights before, I wondered if he'd accept me and Sirius. Sirius was his godfather, after all. What if he hated me when he found out? What if he was absolutely disgusted?

I got through the next two days, and by then the shock of it all was starting to wear off. Draco was back, but as he was in Slytherin and a year older than me, it was relatively easy to avoid him. That is, until the third day.

It was completely unexpected. I was on my way to send a letter to Sirius, telling him that I was alright and how much I missed him. I found Draco curled into a ball in the corner of the owlery, his head in his hands.

When I saw that telltale platinum hair, I turned to leave the room. Unfortunately, he had heard me come up the stairs and he looked up. I could see that he had been crying.

"Ginny! Please, Ginny, talk to me… don't leave me!"

I just looked at him in shock, my eyes opened wide.

"Please, Gin, please… all my friends have left me, all I have is you…"

"You do not have me, Draco Malfoy. You once did, maybe, but you don't now," I said sadly.

He broke into fresh sobs, practically kneeling at my feet. He looked so pathetic; I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Draco," I whispered, "what we had is long gone. I just can't trust you, I can't…"

He got up, now standing at least six inches taller than me at his full height. He reached out and grabbed my arm.

I could barely hear his pleading voice, his begging for me to forgive him, to come back to him, to love him again. All I could hear were the flashbacks in my head, memories of him grabbing my arm like he was now; hitting me with his other hand, throwing me against the wall… my instincts quickly took over. I twisted sharply out of his grip (it was easy, for he wasn't actually holding me as tightly as I thought he was) and ran, sobbing, from the room.

When I had calmed down enough to think rationally, I realized that going to the common room in this state would only lead to questions and make the whole situation worse. I headed over to the hallway of the room of requirement, pacing up and down and thinking of a place where I could be alone and at peace. When the door appeared and I walked in, I was surprised to see a perfect replica of the library at Grimmauld Place.

I collapsed on a couch that looked and felt just like the one upon which Sirius and I had shared our first kisses, willing myself not to cry as I curled up into a ball. It felt like hours that I sat there, before I heard a tapping on the window and looked up to see that it had gotten dark outside and that it was raining. I opened the window to let in Sirius's owl, Chouette, looking disgruntled with a letter tied to her leg.

"It must have taken you a while to find me, Chou. I'm sorry. But I'm sure you'll feel right at home resting here for a while." I conjured up a small hand towel and brushed the owl's feathers dry as much as she would let me. Then I let her keep to herself for a minute while I opened Sirius's letter.

My Lovely Ginevra-

I hope this letter finds you okay. I've told Chou not to deliver it if you're with Harry, as he'll recognize her, and I sent it long after the morning post, so hopefully if there are any unwanted questions you can say it's from your mum.

I miss you so much, Ginevra, I feel like I got cheated out of the time we could have spent together. Tell me when your next Hogsmeade weekend is, and I'll meet you there. We obviously can't walk around the village together, but I'll bring food and we can spend the day in the shrieking shack. It isn't such a terrible place once you've dusted it off a bit.

I do hope that you aren't having too much trouble, being back at school after so long. Has Malfoy dared to approach you? If he has, I swear I'll… oh, right- you didn't want death threats.

Always,

Sirius

P.S. Enclosed please find something to keep you thinking of me while I'm not there. I hope you like it.

I smiled at Sirius's words and then shook out the envelope into my hand. Out fell an incredibly fine gold chain. The pendant that dangled from it was a lily, just barely blossoming, so that it hung upside down like a bluebell. A delicate golden leaf dangled from the same loop as the lily.

I fingered the thin leaf and then clasped the delicate chain around my neck. I admired it briefly in the weathered old mirror (well, replica of it) above the mantle before tucking it into my shirt. The last thing I needed was people wondering where I had gotten it.

I felt much better as I discarded the letter I was planning to send to Sirius and took out a quill and parchment to start a new one.

A/N: The next part will begin with several short letters between Ginny and Sirius, and their date in Hogsmeade will either be at the end of that one or the start of the next, depending on how many good ideas I have for their correspondence by owl.

So what did you all think of this one, hmm?