These Past Shadows
Chapter 10
Trouble Seems To Hunt Me Down
I walk into the Leaky Cauldron and immediately search for Ginny. I am so excited to finally be able to talk to her again, especially since all of these things centered on me have randomly started to happen. I am going to need someone to talk to in the future. I just know it.
I find her sitting in a corner. I walk over to her, and when she finally looks up from her butterbeer, she smiles at me.
"Astoria!" She exclaims.
"Ginny!"
I sit down across from her at the table.
"So. Tell me about your life recently," she says. I nod.
"A bunch of things happened to me today, actually," I tell her. She smiles.
"Do tell."
"They aren't happy," I warn her, knowing how her imagination is. Her face falls slightly, but she nods. I take a deep breath and tell her everything that has been happening to me recently.
"Trouble seems to hunt me down," I finish. She nods, looking dazed. I am about to ask her if she is okay before she starts talking,
"That," she begins. "Was not what I was expecting."
I burst out laughing at that comment, and even she cracks a smile.
"That boy was obviously not worth your time to begin with. You should have known. I thought that I had taught you better than that," she scolds. I look down, refusing to meet her eyes. She's right. She did teach me better than that.
"You're right," I mutter, feeling really bad.
"Oh, by the way, I'm so sorry about Daphne. How are you holding up?" She asks. I sigh.
"Not good. I don't know how I can live without my sister, and now I promised Draco that I'd find his mother, and I can't be two places at once. Oh, Ginny, what am I going to do?" I am in tears by the end of that. I want to stay by my sister's side, but a promise is a promise. I intend to keep it. She sends me a sympathetic look before waving over the waiter.
"Can I get a firewhiskey for my friend here?" She asks. He nods and disappears. I look at her incredulously.
"You know I can't stand firewhiskey!" I say. She just looks at me.
"Trust me. You need it," she says. "Nothing heals a broken heart like getting drunk off your arse."
I have to smile at that.
"I can't believe he cheated on you. You should hex him." Ginny advices, sipping her butterbeer.
"Sorry, but no can do. I've worked too hard to get suspended from training just when my sister needs me."
"How are you going to help Draco and your sister?" She asks. I shrug.
"He knows that she is in the hospital. I made sure to tell him so that he would not expect too much. He seemed sympathetic enough, but you never really know with him," I say. She nods.
The waiter returns with my firewhiskey and I take a sip, shuddering at the awful taste.
"Do you think that Evan will give you time off?" She asks. "Like emergency leave?"
I snort. "Evan? No. Never. He hates me too much. He takes a sick joy in my pain."
"That sucks."
"Understatement of the century," I mutter, taking another small sip of the firewhiskey.
"So what are you going to do?" She asks.
"Leave the country," I mutter. Then I look at her. "No, I'm actually probably going to ask for some sort of vacation time off. Maybe Evan will take pity on me, but it is not likely. No, I'll probably end up working."
"I have a few nasty things to say to this Evan," Ginny mutters.
"As long as you use your bat-bogey hex on him," I reply with a sardonic smile.
"Of course. I was getting there."
"How do you think Draco is going to be? Do you think he'll at least attempt understanding of my situation?" I ask. She shrugs.
"Honestly? I think that by the time you find his mum, you'll be so angry with him that you will never speak to him again." She responds. I laugh.
"That bad?" I ask.
"Worse, most likely," a voice says. I look up and see Hermione Granger standing over us.
"Mione!" Ginny greets. Hermione smiles.
"Hey, Gin," she says.
"Has Ron finally proposed?" Ginny asks. Hermione blushes and looks quickly in my direction before giving Ginny a scathing look.
"Yes, Ginny. He has," she snaps. Ginny frowns.
"If you sounded any more excited, I would worry that you were depressed."
"Yeah, well. I'll call you later," she says, walking away.
"Sorry about her," Ginny says. I shrug.
"With what we do to each his own," I mutter. She nods.
"So are you really going to help Draco? You've hated him your whole life," she says.
"It's my fault that his mum was abducted. You should know that I feel terrible."
"Still. He's such a prat."
"He's a slytherin," I say with a shrug.
"True."
"You know what really sucks about the whole thing?" I ask.
"What?"
"Daphne's engagement party was last night. She has a whole life ahead of her. I should be the one in the hospital. I have no clear future, and all I've done since I was a baby is disgrace my family and muck up everyone else's life."
"Don't say that," she chides.
"Why? It's true."
"And you wonder why you can't get a guy. Maybe if you had some self-respect you would be able to get a guy."
"I don't see why it matters," I tell her.
"Guys like confident women. You definitely do not fall under that category."
"Is that a crime?" I snap.
"And you never let anyone in. Relationships are built on a mutual trust. No man wants a woman who doesn't trust them."
"I don't want a man," I say. She arches an eyebrow. I sigh.
"Fine. Maybe I do," I mutter. She smiles.
"Told you."
"But I can't find anyone worth being with. All men are scum. You got the only good guy on the planet," I explain. She sends me a sympathetic glance.
"I'll help you find someone," she promises. I groan.
"No. I want to find my soul mate all by myself," I disagree. She sighs but doesn't fight me. She knows that fighting would be futile.
"If that is your decision," she mutters in agreement. I smile.
"It is," I respond. She looks up.
"You need someone in your life, Tori. Find someone. Even if you end up with Malfoy. I don't care. Just find someone you love. You need someone that you can trust. You need a relationship in your life."
"I did not come here so that you could lecture me on my nonexistent love life," I snap. She winces.
"Fine." With that she gets up and walks away, leaving money on the table.
Nice going Tori, I think. You just pushed away your best friend. You have some serious emotional baggage and need help.
With those pleasant thoughts, I return to my apartment and cry myself to sleep.
Why am I such an arse? I wonder. That is my last thought before I fall asleep.