Chapter ten
As summer ended, thing heated up even more between the death eaters and the rest of the wizarding world. Ginny found herself arguing with Draco more and more. Never once did he defend or agree with the death eater's tactics, but no matter how hard she tried, Ginny couldn't make Draco see that his general view on muggles was wrong. Just before school started, it all came to a head.
Dean Thomas, who had muggle parents, was attacked on the street. As he lay in St. Mungo's, Arthur had invited the Thomases to stay with them, it being much easier to get to St Mungo's from the burrow than their muggle home in London. Dean also had a muggle sister. Dana Thomas and Draco hated each other from the start. It all blew up when Draco had taken all he could stand of Dana's constant goading and hexed her.
Ginny had exploded at him, "How could you? She has no magic to fight back!"
"She was asking for it. Da-dada-dada-dada, constantly at me all day. Why are you so worried? Your father fixed it, didn't he? The bleeding heart muggle lover!" Draco spat, disgusted.
"Don't you start in on my father. We shan't talk about yours. He makes mine look positively angelic. There's nothing wrong with being nice to people who are different than you Draco. Its what makes the world go round. Sometimes I wonder if you're not more like your father than I thought."
She knew she shouldn't have said it, but her temper had taken over, and she couldn't abide it when Draco acted like this. It made her see Lucius in him, and she never wanted to look into the face of someone she loved and see someone she hated so much.
"You can say what you like about my father, at least he is proud of our heritage. He doesn't go round acting moronically obsessed with stupid muggle artifacts, making an embarrassment of himself. At least my father acknowledges your presence when you're in my house. Your's didn't even do that. It took you nearly getting kidnapped."
"Yes," said Ginny, rising from her seat. "Your father acknowledges my presence. Then, when you and your mother aren't around he tries to bribe me with money to leave you. He drops charmed diaries in my cauldrons. He tries to kidnap me on the street."
Draco looked horrified. "He did not!" he hissed at her.
"He did. I didn't want to tell you but it was him. I knew the minute he spoke as he dragged me into the alley."
"So you never saw him? You don't know for sure? You're just saying this to hurt me. He wouldn't do that. It's much too common. And besides, what could he possibly want you for?"
"Maybe Ron was right. Maybe you are responsible for what happened that day. Maybe you even knew about it beforehand. Maybe you are headed towards being a death eater like dear old dad after all." Ginny said, eyes narrowed at Draco.
Ginny knew she'd gone too far when she heard that silky tone to his voice. "And maybe he was right when he said we shouldn't be together. Maybe you should just forget about me and go back to your mudblood friends and your muggle lover boyfriend Potter! I can see now that my father was right. You are a waste of my time." He spat, striding away and out the door.
Ginny felt white-hot fury. It was always intense when she and Draco fought. Sometimes they didn't say half the nasty things they'd just said to each other, and it still seemed as though they'd like to kill one another. This time though, something had changed. The argument had hit a new level.
When Draco didn't owl her or come back for a week, Ginny knew it was over. She acknowledged it with tears in her bedroom, but in the end decided it was for the best. This difference between them never got any better and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life fighting over his morals. She tried to put Draco out of her mind and go on with her life.
It wasn't hard to do while she was in the burrow. Ron even began to talk to her again when he realized that she and Draco had ended things. He seemed to take some pity on her, and the trio included her more than usual in their plans. Then the day came to leave for Hogwarts. Ginny saw Draco's blond head on the platform and tried to hang back so he wouldn't notice her. He seemed to sense her presence though, and turned around to gaze at her. Then he turned his back on her, and even though Ginny had just gone for almost a month, it still made her heart sink. She sat miserably in the corner of the compartment she shared with Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Neville, saying little till they reached Hogwarts.
Ginny immersed herself in school work, making it through each day trying not to think of Draco, and pretending to ignore him when they passed in the halls. He seemed to be doing the same. He didn't try and talk to her, he didn't owl her, so Ginny assumed that he must feel the same as she did about the situation. Life seemed to be much easier for both of them without the relationship.
Harry and Ginny spent a lot of time together that fall. Harry had struck up a tentative relationship with Cho Chang again, after running into her in Hogsmeade at the first of the year. As they owled each other back and forth, a romance seemed to be blooming. Ginny was thrilled for him, even if she felt a little left out, with Harry wooing Cho by owl, and Ron and Hermione snogging in every corner they could find. But with Cho being a year ahead of Harry, graduating the year before, and Ron and Hermione spending more time together alone, Harry, like Ginny, was left alone a lot. He and Ginny took comfort in each other and this time it really was just friendship for Harry. But Draco didn't know that.
At first when he saw Ginny and Harry walking together in the halls, or Harry drape his arm casually across her shoulders at mealtimes, he glowered at them. Then despite herself, she noticed him showing more and more attention to Pansy Parkinson. As hard as Ginny tried to shrug it off, it bothered her. Harry noticed.
"He's just trying to make you nutters, you know." He said to Ginny.
"I don't know what you're talking about", said Ginny.
"Come on Gin. You were all about Draco for a year. You haven't just stopped caring. It's not the way you Weasleys operate."
"Well, it doesn't matter if I care or not." Sniffed Ginny, eying Draco snuggled up to Pansy in the corridor. "Ron is talking to me again. I'm not constantly defending my ideals on muggles, and I don't have Lucius Malfoy out to get me. Life is much easier sans Draco Malfoy."
"Easier maybe, but is it happier?" Harry asked, studying her.
Ginny didn't answer.
Time passed, with nothing changing, and the ache in Ginny's heart didn't grow any smaller but it became familiar and almost comforting to her. Missing Draco was becoming a way of life for her. She managed to make it through the day without crying now and there were even blocks of time where she didn't think of Draco. She actually managed to get excited about the Slytherin-Gryffindor match.
As the teams clustered together on the field before the game, Harry's eyes glittered with excitement.
"We're going to win again this year Gin. I can feel it!"
Ginny laughed. "I hope so Harry!"
Madame Hooch blew the whistle for the players to mount their brooms and Harry suddenly grabbed her to him and kissed her soundly on the mouth.
"Harry! What-"Ginny gasped.
"For luck Gin!" and then he lowered his voice conspiringly, cutting his eyes to the side. "And because he's watching."
Ginny looked over to see Draco glaring at her. For once he didn't look away when he saw her looking back. He sneered, and then bowed low to her from across the field. How typically Draco, she thought as she mounted her broom and flew up to the other players.
The game was long and grueling this year. Slytherin played like it was life or death for them, keeping the score even with the Gryffindors. It was going to come down to Harry and Draco and whichever one of them could catch the snitch. As Ginny managed to steal the quaffle from one of the Slytherin chasers, she flew towards their basket. As she circled the field, dipping and twisting like a rollercoaster to avoid the other chasers Ginny suddenly saw her chance to slip the quaffle past the beater for Slytherin. She dove towards the basket full speed, when she looked up to see Draco coming straight at her. Ginny was confused for a moment, and hesitated. Looking down, she saw what Draco was going for. Just below her broom was the snitch. Draco was so intent upon the snitch, he didn't see her till it was much too late for him to stop. He slammed into Ginny full force. As she fell from the broom, she felt his hands reaching out to grab at her, but she only just brushed his fingers as she tumbled down to the ground.
All the air left her body when she landed on her back in the mud. For a moment she couldn't move. Pain shot through her body. Draco flew down and jumped off his broom, hurrying to her.
"Ginny, are you alright? I didn't see you!" he said looking worried when she didn't answer. She was thinking to herself as she tried to draw in enough breath to speak, 'so, all I have to do is fall 200 feet to make him stop ignoring me."
That was when Ron flew down, leapt off his broom, and tackled Draco.
Madame Hooch and Professor Snape ran over to pull the boys apart as they tumbled in the mud. Madame Pomfrey forced Ginny to lie back down when she tried to rise and stop them. She was shuttled off on a stretcher to the infirmary as the boys were dragged away towards Headmaster Dumbledore's office by the arm, both of them still straining to get at the other.
When Madame Pomfrey finally let Ginny go from the infirmary, warning Ginny not to overdo, Ginny took off at a dead run for the Headmasters office. She burst into the office to see Draco sitting on one side of the room with Professor Snape's hand on his shoulder, and Ron on the other, Professor McGonagall hovering nearby. Evidently, even twenty minutes later, the boys still couldn't be trusted not to attack each other. Dumbledore looked up from his desk and said, "Ah, Miss Weasley, we've been expecting you. I take it you have something to say that will shed some light on today's disturbing events?"
"Headmaster, please, it wasn't their fault. Its all just a misunderstanding. Ron thought Draco knocked me off my broom on purpose, because he's been angry with me. He was just defending me."
"And did Mr. Malfoy knock you off deliberately?" Dumbledore leaned forward and asked her.
Ginny looked over at Draco. His lip was bloody and there was a large bruise forming on his cheekbone. Of course, Ron looked no better. His eye would be black by morning, and there was a long cut on his forehead. Draco sneered at her then, probably expecting Ginny to say something to condemn him even more. Ginny saw Snape give her a stern look, as his hand tightening on Draco's shoulder, as if for moral support. Ginny cleared her throat and said, "No sir. It was an accident. He was going for the snitch and I got in the way. He tried to catch me but I couldn't hold on."
"I see." Said Dumbledore, leaning back in his chair, looking strangely satisfied. "Usually this sort of behavior warrants suspension or worse, but since this has all been explained as an unfortunate misunderstanding, I think we'll let it go with detention for a month. With Madame Hooch, since this incident happened on her quidditch field."
Both the boys groaned. Madame Hooch was particularly hard on her detentions. Both boys could look forward to miles of laps and hours of calistintics.
Dumbledore dismissed the boys but then said as Ginny went to follow them, "Miss Weasley, please stay a moment."
Ginny came back into the office and Dumbledore invited her to sit and offered her a lemon drop. Ginny declined and he popped the candy into his mouth and said, "Miss Weasley, I'd like to offer you a bit of wisdom, if you don't mind."
Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flew down to her knee and she stroked the beautiful bird, as she said, "Not at all Headmaster."
"I have learned over the years, that people don't always realize that opinions and ideas that have been pressed upon them aren't their own. And when something has been ingrained from birth, its very hard to combat. But you can't always throw out the potential of someone because you don't agree with their philosophy on some things. You have to dig down and determine if the person is valuable, despite it. And if they are, sometimes you have to ignore the bad ideal, and continue to care for them. Often, when someone accepts someone, flaws and all, and then continues to set an example by living their life the way they believe is correct, the person finds out for themselves that the view they have held may be incorrect and change it on their own."
"Sir, if you're referring to me and Draco-"Ginny started as Fawkes flew back to his perch.
"Miss Weasley, Professor Snape has informed me of yours and Mr. Malfoy's relationship, and it's not for me to comment on your personal life or decisions. You're quite old enough to manage without my help. I only want you to consider the whole of the value of a person before you cast them out. Think about it Miss Weasley, will you do that?"
Ginny looked at Dumbledore and he looked back. "Yes sir. I will."
"Very good Miss Weasley. You are dismissed. I would imagine your brother and Mr. Potter and Miss Granger will be waiting for you."
Ginny assured Hermione, Ron, and Harry that she was fine and then made her excuses to seclude herself in the bedroom to think about the things that Dumbledore said to her. She understood his subtle message clearly. He wanted her to reconsider giving up on Draco but Ginny didn't see what the point in trying to hang on to him was when he had obviously given up on her as well.
As Ginny mused over the situation, an owl pecked at the window. She opened it, and it flew in, struggling to carry a book. When it dropped on Ginny's bed, she knew what it was immediately. The music book. Ginny thought at first Draco was returning the gift, but then she opened it to see written on the cover page in Draco's ornate script, 'Ginny's Sonata'.
Her eyes welled up at the musical notes written on every page. She didn't know how to read music but it looked beautiful inked painstakingly on each page. Draco hadn't begun yet to write the music in the book when they last parted. He'd wanted to finish the sonata first. He must have done this since they'd returned to school. A sudden anger welled up in her. He'd been thinking of her all this time and hadn't said anything. She snatched up the book and hurried down the stairs. Ignoring Ron's questions about where she was going, she heard Harry tell Ron to sit down and let her alone as she slammed out of the common room.
She could hear the music, dark and brooding before she got to the music room. Striding purposefully, Ginny walked up to the stage and placed the book on the piano. "Play it for me."
And that was where they were now. Ginny sat down on the floor of the stage and rested her chin on her knees as Draco ran his hands through his hair. 'What the hell am I doing here with Draco Malfoy?' she thought. "Well, I'm here, which I am sure is just what you intended when you sent me that book. So play."
Draco's head snapped up, anger in his eyes. "If you only came because you thought that, then go away. I don't want you here."
"Fine, "said Ginny, rising from the stage, walking determinedly towards the door, even though her heart was breaking. Why, why, why, couldn't she just keep her mouth under control and at least try to fix this?
"This was a waste of time. I thought it might be. There's nothing more for us to say to each other. "
As she reached for the door handle, the music started. Ginny froze as she listened to the melody. She slowly felt herself drawn back into the room. The music went from cold and formal, to dark and brooding, then it seemed to become touching and intimate, almost loving. It suddenly changed back to stormy and violent, and then towards the end, it was just sad and melancholy.
Ginny felt the music grip her heart. It was them. He had composed them into music. It told their story from beginning to end. She felt the tears run down her cheeks as she felt Draco begging her through the music to stay.
When the final note of the song died, Draco said, "I left the last page blank. I wasn't sure if we were done yet. I didn't know if the song would end in a fairy tale way or as a tragedy."
"I don't know what to say to you Draco. We don't seem to be able to get past this thing. I can't seem to think of any way to fix it anymore. It might be easier on both of us to just end it now." Ginny said, cursing herself inside for every word that seemed to spill out of her mouth, of its own accord.
Draco looked at her pleadingly. "Gin, I'm sorry. I don't know how to make you believe that but its true. I'll do anything you ask, just please, please don't go."
He looked defeated. This made a red rage run though Ginny. She couldn't abide seeing Draco humble himself, even to her. "I've told you before, Draco. Humility doesn't suit you at all. Stop it. Don't beg to me. It only pisses me off." She snapped.
Draco bellowed in frustration. "What do you want me to do then? Months and months without sleeping, months and months of being miserable, trying to leave you alone, because I thought that's what you wanted. Watching you with Potter, it was like stabbing a knife in my heart every time I looked at you. It was like you had died, Ginny, it hurt that much. My heart ached so badly I seriously considered using Adava Kedavra on myself. Finally I give in and send you the book just to get you here, and you get mad because I try to apologize? What do you want from me Ginny? Just tell me what you want so I can give it to you and end this torture. What do you want?"
"What do I want?" ranted Ginny, closing in on him. "I'll show you what I want!"
She reached up and grabbed him round the neck and snatched him down to her. She covered his mouth, forcing her tongue in before he had a chance to react. He groaned and snatched her to him.
With no further ado, Ginny snatched the sweater he was wearing over his head and went for his belt buckle. He fumbled with her buttons, his hands shaking, till he grew impatient and popped half of them off as he ripped it open and away from her shoulders. He shoved her skirt off and backed her up against the wall. Ginny felt the sleekness of the silk drape behind her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Draco plunged into her, slamming her back against the wall, again and again. The bruise on her back from where she had fell earlier caused pain to shoot through her each time she hit the wall, but she ignored it, feeling only the pleasure of Draco inside her. His mouth was at her neck, and she grabbed a handful of blond hair in her fist and pulled harshly on it, raising his head back to her mouth. As he crushed her lips in a brutal kiss, she felt the desperation in it and ached to reassure him. When they both exploded simultaneously, Draco released her and they sank to the floor.
Draco put a hand under her chin and turned her face to his. "I love you Ginny. I've tried for months now to forget you, but it seems like I don't know how to not love you anymore. We have to find a way to work this out. I can't go on like this. I don't know if I can change the way I feel about things, I don't think I want to. But I can't live like this anymore. So tell me what to do."
Ginny leaned her head back against the cool wall and remembered what Dumbledore had said to her. She didn't like Draco's politics; she didn't like his nasty attitude towards muggle borns. But she loved him, and she knew that his value was infinitely more than the warped philosophy he'd been raised with.
She turned to him and smiled. "I don't think we'll ever be able to agree on some things. There will always be arguing. We're both too stubborn and opinionated to get along all the time. I guess we'll both have to learn not to forget that we love each other when our tempers get out of control."
"Ginny, are you saying-"
"I'm saying I love you Draco. And it will be alright." He swept her up in his arms again and beautiful music played in Ginny's head as he swept her back into the waves of passion.
When I find myself watchin' the time
I never think about all the funny things you said
I feel like it's dead
Where is it leading me now
I turn around in the still of the room
Knowin' this is when I'm gonna make my move
Can't wait any longer
And I'm feeling stronger but oh
Just as I walk (just a little more time) to the door
I can feel your emotion yeah it's pullin' me back
(Just a little more time) back to love you
Oh no caught up in the middle
I cry just a little when I think of lettin' go
Oh no gave up on the riddle
I cry just a little when he plays piano in the dark
He holds me close like a thief of the heart
He plays a melody born to tear me all apart
The silence is broken
And no words are spoken but oh
Just as I walk (just a little more time) to the door
I can feel your emotion yeah it's pullin' me back
(Just a little more time) back to love you
Oh the silence is broken
No words are spoken but oh
Just as I walk (just a little more time) to the door
I can feel your emotion (oh baby) oh baby hold me back
(Just a little more time) back to love you
Oh no caught up in the middle
I cry just a little when I think of lettin' go
Oh no gave up on the riddle
I cry just a little ooh I cry I cry I know
Oh no caught up in the middle
I cry just a little when I think of lettin' go
Oh no gave up on the riddle
I cry just a little when he plays piano in the dark
As summer ended, thing heated up even more between the death eaters and the rest of the wizarding world. Ginny found herself arguing with Draco more and more. Never once did he defend or agree with the death eater's tactics, but no matter how hard she tried, Ginny couldn't make Draco see that his general view on muggles was wrong. Just before school started, it all came to a head.
Dean Thomas, who had muggle parents, was attacked on the street. As he lay in St. Mungo's, Arthur had invited the Thomases to stay with them, it being much easier to get to St Mungo's from the burrow than their muggle home in London. Dean also had a muggle sister. Dana Thomas and Draco hated each other from the start. It all blew up when Draco had taken all he could stand of Dana's constant goading and hexed her.
Ginny had exploded at him, "How could you? She has no magic to fight back!"
"She was asking for it. Da-dada-dada-dada, constantly at me all day. Why are you so worried? Your father fixed it, didn't he? The bleeding heart muggle lover!" Draco spat, disgusted.
"Don't you start in on my father. We shan't talk about yours. He makes mine look positively angelic. There's nothing wrong with being nice to people who are different than you Draco. Its what makes the world go round. Sometimes I wonder if you're not more like your father than I thought."
She knew she shouldn't have said it, but her temper had taken over, and she couldn't abide it when Draco acted like this. It made her see Lucius in him, and she never wanted to look into the face of someone she loved and see someone she hated so much.
"You can say what you like about my father, at least he is proud of our heritage. He doesn't go round acting moronically obsessed with stupid muggle artifacts, making an embarrassment of himself. At least my father acknowledges your presence when you're in my house. Your's didn't even do that. It took you nearly getting kidnapped."
"Yes," said Ginny, rising from her seat. "Your father acknowledges my presence. Then, when you and your mother aren't around he tries to bribe me with money to leave you. He drops charmed diaries in my cauldrons. He tries to kidnap me on the street."
Draco looked horrified. "He did not!" he hissed at her.
"He did. I didn't want to tell you but it was him. I knew the minute he spoke as he dragged me into the alley."
"So you never saw him? You don't know for sure? You're just saying this to hurt me. He wouldn't do that. It's much too common. And besides, what could he possibly want you for?"
"Maybe Ron was right. Maybe you are responsible for what happened that day. Maybe you even knew about it beforehand. Maybe you are headed towards being a death eater like dear old dad after all." Ginny said, eyes narrowed at Draco.
Ginny knew she'd gone too far when she heard that silky tone to his voice. "And maybe he was right when he said we shouldn't be together. Maybe you should just forget about me and go back to your mudblood friends and your muggle lover boyfriend Potter! I can see now that my father was right. You are a waste of my time." He spat, striding away and out the door.
Ginny felt white-hot fury. It was always intense when she and Draco fought. Sometimes they didn't say half the nasty things they'd just said to each other, and it still seemed as though they'd like to kill one another. This time though, something had changed. The argument had hit a new level.
When Draco didn't owl her or come back for a week, Ginny knew it was over. She acknowledged it with tears in her bedroom, but in the end decided it was for the best. This difference between them never got any better and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life fighting over his morals. She tried to put Draco out of her mind and go on with her life.
It wasn't hard to do while she was in the burrow. Ron even began to talk to her again when he realized that she and Draco had ended things. He seemed to take some pity on her, and the trio included her more than usual in their plans. Then the day came to leave for Hogwarts. Ginny saw Draco's blond head on the platform and tried to hang back so he wouldn't notice her. He seemed to sense her presence though, and turned around to gaze at her. Then he turned his back on her, and even though Ginny had just gone for almost a month, it still made her heart sink. She sat miserably in the corner of the compartment she shared with Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Neville, saying little till they reached Hogwarts.
Ginny immersed herself in school work, making it through each day trying not to think of Draco, and pretending to ignore him when they passed in the halls. He seemed to be doing the same. He didn't try and talk to her, he didn't owl her, so Ginny assumed that he must feel the same as she did about the situation. Life seemed to be much easier for both of them without the relationship.
Harry and Ginny spent a lot of time together that fall. Harry had struck up a tentative relationship with Cho Chang again, after running into her in Hogsmeade at the first of the year. As they owled each other back and forth, a romance seemed to be blooming. Ginny was thrilled for him, even if she felt a little left out, with Harry wooing Cho by owl, and Ron and Hermione snogging in every corner they could find. But with Cho being a year ahead of Harry, graduating the year before, and Ron and Hermione spending more time together alone, Harry, like Ginny, was left alone a lot. He and Ginny took comfort in each other and this time it really was just friendship for Harry. But Draco didn't know that.
At first when he saw Ginny and Harry walking together in the halls, or Harry drape his arm casually across her shoulders at mealtimes, he glowered at them. Then despite herself, she noticed him showing more and more attention to Pansy Parkinson. As hard as Ginny tried to shrug it off, it bothered her. Harry noticed.
"He's just trying to make you nutters, you know." He said to Ginny.
"I don't know what you're talking about", said Ginny.
"Come on Gin. You were all about Draco for a year. You haven't just stopped caring. It's not the way you Weasleys operate."
"Well, it doesn't matter if I care or not." Sniffed Ginny, eying Draco snuggled up to Pansy in the corridor. "Ron is talking to me again. I'm not constantly defending my ideals on muggles, and I don't have Lucius Malfoy out to get me. Life is much easier sans Draco Malfoy."
"Easier maybe, but is it happier?" Harry asked, studying her.
Ginny didn't answer.
Time passed, with nothing changing, and the ache in Ginny's heart didn't grow any smaller but it became familiar and almost comforting to her. Missing Draco was becoming a way of life for her. She managed to make it through the day without crying now and there were even blocks of time where she didn't think of Draco. She actually managed to get excited about the Slytherin-Gryffindor match.
As the teams clustered together on the field before the game, Harry's eyes glittered with excitement.
"We're going to win again this year Gin. I can feel it!"
Ginny laughed. "I hope so Harry!"
Madame Hooch blew the whistle for the players to mount their brooms and Harry suddenly grabbed her to him and kissed her soundly on the mouth.
"Harry! What-"Ginny gasped.
"For luck Gin!" and then he lowered his voice conspiringly, cutting his eyes to the side. "And because he's watching."
Ginny looked over to see Draco glaring at her. For once he didn't look away when he saw her looking back. He sneered, and then bowed low to her from across the field. How typically Draco, she thought as she mounted her broom and flew up to the other players.
The game was long and grueling this year. Slytherin played like it was life or death for them, keeping the score even with the Gryffindors. It was going to come down to Harry and Draco and whichever one of them could catch the snitch. As Ginny managed to steal the quaffle from one of the Slytherin chasers, she flew towards their basket. As she circled the field, dipping and twisting like a rollercoaster to avoid the other chasers Ginny suddenly saw her chance to slip the quaffle past the beater for Slytherin. She dove towards the basket full speed, when she looked up to see Draco coming straight at her. Ginny was confused for a moment, and hesitated. Looking down, she saw what Draco was going for. Just below her broom was the snitch. Draco was so intent upon the snitch, he didn't see her till it was much too late for him to stop. He slammed into Ginny full force. As she fell from the broom, she felt his hands reaching out to grab at her, but she only just brushed his fingers as she tumbled down to the ground.
All the air left her body when she landed on her back in the mud. For a moment she couldn't move. Pain shot through her body. Draco flew down and jumped off his broom, hurrying to her.
"Ginny, are you alright? I didn't see you!" he said looking worried when she didn't answer. She was thinking to herself as she tried to draw in enough breath to speak, 'so, all I have to do is fall 200 feet to make him stop ignoring me."
That was when Ron flew down, leapt off his broom, and tackled Draco.
Madame Hooch and Professor Snape ran over to pull the boys apart as they tumbled in the mud. Madame Pomfrey forced Ginny to lie back down when she tried to rise and stop them. She was shuttled off on a stretcher to the infirmary as the boys were dragged away towards Headmaster Dumbledore's office by the arm, both of them still straining to get at the other.
When Madame Pomfrey finally let Ginny go from the infirmary, warning Ginny not to overdo, Ginny took off at a dead run for the Headmasters office. She burst into the office to see Draco sitting on one side of the room with Professor Snape's hand on his shoulder, and Ron on the other, Professor McGonagall hovering nearby. Evidently, even twenty minutes later, the boys still couldn't be trusted not to attack each other. Dumbledore looked up from his desk and said, "Ah, Miss Weasley, we've been expecting you. I take it you have something to say that will shed some light on today's disturbing events?"
"Headmaster, please, it wasn't their fault. Its all just a misunderstanding. Ron thought Draco knocked me off my broom on purpose, because he's been angry with me. He was just defending me."
"And did Mr. Malfoy knock you off deliberately?" Dumbledore leaned forward and asked her.
Ginny looked over at Draco. His lip was bloody and there was a large bruise forming on his cheekbone. Of course, Ron looked no better. His eye would be black by morning, and there was a long cut on his forehead. Draco sneered at her then, probably expecting Ginny to say something to condemn him even more. Ginny saw Snape give her a stern look, as his hand tightening on Draco's shoulder, as if for moral support. Ginny cleared her throat and said, "No sir. It was an accident. He was going for the snitch and I got in the way. He tried to catch me but I couldn't hold on."
"I see." Said Dumbledore, leaning back in his chair, looking strangely satisfied. "Usually this sort of behavior warrants suspension or worse, but since this has all been explained as an unfortunate misunderstanding, I think we'll let it go with detention for a month. With Madame Hooch, since this incident happened on her quidditch field."
Both the boys groaned. Madame Hooch was particularly hard on her detentions. Both boys could look forward to miles of laps and hours of calistintics.
Dumbledore dismissed the boys but then said as Ginny went to follow them, "Miss Weasley, please stay a moment."
Ginny came back into the office and Dumbledore invited her to sit and offered her a lemon drop. Ginny declined and he popped the candy into his mouth and said, "Miss Weasley, I'd like to offer you a bit of wisdom, if you don't mind."
Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, flew down to her knee and she stroked the beautiful bird, as she said, "Not at all Headmaster."
"I have learned over the years, that people don't always realize that opinions and ideas that have been pressed upon them aren't their own. And when something has been ingrained from birth, its very hard to combat. But you can't always throw out the potential of someone because you don't agree with their philosophy on some things. You have to dig down and determine if the person is valuable, despite it. And if they are, sometimes you have to ignore the bad ideal, and continue to care for them. Often, when someone accepts someone, flaws and all, and then continues to set an example by living their life the way they believe is correct, the person finds out for themselves that the view they have held may be incorrect and change it on their own."
"Sir, if you're referring to me and Draco-"Ginny started as Fawkes flew back to his perch.
"Miss Weasley, Professor Snape has informed me of yours and Mr. Malfoy's relationship, and it's not for me to comment on your personal life or decisions. You're quite old enough to manage without my help. I only want you to consider the whole of the value of a person before you cast them out. Think about it Miss Weasley, will you do that?"
Ginny looked at Dumbledore and he looked back. "Yes sir. I will."
"Very good Miss Weasley. You are dismissed. I would imagine your brother and Mr. Potter and Miss Granger will be waiting for you."
Ginny assured Hermione, Ron, and Harry that she was fine and then made her excuses to seclude herself in the bedroom to think about the things that Dumbledore said to her. She understood his subtle message clearly. He wanted her to reconsider giving up on Draco but Ginny didn't see what the point in trying to hang on to him was when he had obviously given up on her as well.
As Ginny mused over the situation, an owl pecked at the window. She opened it, and it flew in, struggling to carry a book. When it dropped on Ginny's bed, she knew what it was immediately. The music book. Ginny thought at first Draco was returning the gift, but then she opened it to see written on the cover page in Draco's ornate script, 'Ginny's Sonata'.
Her eyes welled up at the musical notes written on every page. She didn't know how to read music but it looked beautiful inked painstakingly on each page. Draco hadn't begun yet to write the music in the book when they last parted. He'd wanted to finish the sonata first. He must have done this since they'd returned to school. A sudden anger welled up in her. He'd been thinking of her all this time and hadn't said anything. She snatched up the book and hurried down the stairs. Ignoring Ron's questions about where she was going, she heard Harry tell Ron to sit down and let her alone as she slammed out of the common room.
She could hear the music, dark and brooding before she got to the music room. Striding purposefully, Ginny walked up to the stage and placed the book on the piano. "Play it for me."
And that was where they were now. Ginny sat down on the floor of the stage and rested her chin on her knees as Draco ran his hands through his hair. 'What the hell am I doing here with Draco Malfoy?' she thought. "Well, I'm here, which I am sure is just what you intended when you sent me that book. So play."
Draco's head snapped up, anger in his eyes. "If you only came because you thought that, then go away. I don't want you here."
"Fine, "said Ginny, rising from the stage, walking determinedly towards the door, even though her heart was breaking. Why, why, why, couldn't she just keep her mouth under control and at least try to fix this?
"This was a waste of time. I thought it might be. There's nothing more for us to say to each other. "
As she reached for the door handle, the music started. Ginny froze as she listened to the melody. She slowly felt herself drawn back into the room. The music went from cold and formal, to dark and brooding, then it seemed to become touching and intimate, almost loving. It suddenly changed back to stormy and violent, and then towards the end, it was just sad and melancholy.
Ginny felt the music grip her heart. It was them. He had composed them into music. It told their story from beginning to end. She felt the tears run down her cheeks as she felt Draco begging her through the music to stay.
When the final note of the song died, Draco said, "I left the last page blank. I wasn't sure if we were done yet. I didn't know if the song would end in a fairy tale way or as a tragedy."
"I don't know what to say to you Draco. We don't seem to be able to get past this thing. I can't seem to think of any way to fix it anymore. It might be easier on both of us to just end it now." Ginny said, cursing herself inside for every word that seemed to spill out of her mouth, of its own accord.
Draco looked at her pleadingly. "Gin, I'm sorry. I don't know how to make you believe that but its true. I'll do anything you ask, just please, please don't go."
He looked defeated. This made a red rage run though Ginny. She couldn't abide seeing Draco humble himself, even to her. "I've told you before, Draco. Humility doesn't suit you at all. Stop it. Don't beg to me. It only pisses me off." She snapped.
Draco bellowed in frustration. "What do you want me to do then? Months and months without sleeping, months and months of being miserable, trying to leave you alone, because I thought that's what you wanted. Watching you with Potter, it was like stabbing a knife in my heart every time I looked at you. It was like you had died, Ginny, it hurt that much. My heart ached so badly I seriously considered using Adava Kedavra on myself. Finally I give in and send you the book just to get you here, and you get mad because I try to apologize? What do you want from me Ginny? Just tell me what you want so I can give it to you and end this torture. What do you want?"
"What do I want?" ranted Ginny, closing in on him. "I'll show you what I want!"
She reached up and grabbed him round the neck and snatched him down to her. She covered his mouth, forcing her tongue in before he had a chance to react. He groaned and snatched her to him.
With no further ado, Ginny snatched the sweater he was wearing over his head and went for his belt buckle. He fumbled with her buttons, his hands shaking, till he grew impatient and popped half of them off as he ripped it open and away from her shoulders. He shoved her skirt off and backed her up against the wall. Ginny felt the sleekness of the silk drape behind her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Draco plunged into her, slamming her back against the wall, again and again. The bruise on her back from where she had fell earlier caused pain to shoot through her each time she hit the wall, but she ignored it, feeling only the pleasure of Draco inside her. His mouth was at her neck, and she grabbed a handful of blond hair in her fist and pulled harshly on it, raising his head back to her mouth. As he crushed her lips in a brutal kiss, she felt the desperation in it and ached to reassure him. When they both exploded simultaneously, Draco released her and they sank to the floor.
Draco put a hand under her chin and turned her face to his. "I love you Ginny. I've tried for months now to forget you, but it seems like I don't know how to not love you anymore. We have to find a way to work this out. I can't go on like this. I don't know if I can change the way I feel about things, I don't think I want to. But I can't live like this anymore. So tell me what to do."
Ginny leaned her head back against the cool wall and remembered what Dumbledore had said to her. She didn't like Draco's politics; she didn't like his nasty attitude towards muggle borns. But she loved him, and she knew that his value was infinitely more than the warped philosophy he'd been raised with.
She turned to him and smiled. "I don't think we'll ever be able to agree on some things. There will always be arguing. We're both too stubborn and opinionated to get along all the time. I guess we'll both have to learn not to forget that we love each other when our tempers get out of control."
"Ginny, are you saying-"
"I'm saying I love you Draco. And it will be alright." He swept her up in his arms again and beautiful music played in Ginny's head as he swept her back into the waves of passion.
When I find myself watchin' the time
I never think about all the funny things you said
I feel like it's dead
Where is it leading me now
I turn around in the still of the room
Knowin' this is when I'm gonna make my move
Can't wait any longer
And I'm feeling stronger but oh
Just as I walk (just a little more time) to the door
I can feel your emotion yeah it's pullin' me back
(Just a little more time) back to love you
Oh no caught up in the middle
I cry just a little when I think of lettin' go
Oh no gave up on the riddle
I cry just a little when he plays piano in the dark
He holds me close like a thief of the heart
He plays a melody born to tear me all apart
The silence is broken
And no words are spoken but oh
Just as I walk (just a little more time) to the door
I can feel your emotion yeah it's pullin' me back
(Just a little more time) back to love you
Oh the silence is broken
No words are spoken but oh
Just as I walk (just a little more time) to the door
I can feel your emotion (oh baby) oh baby hold me back
(Just a little more time) back to love you
Oh no caught up in the middle
I cry just a little when I think of lettin' go
Oh no gave up on the riddle
I cry just a little ooh I cry I cry I know
Oh no caught up in the middle
I cry just a little when I think of lettin' go
Oh no gave up on the riddle
I cry just a little when he plays piano in the dark