Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nuff said. LOL
A/N: I can't believe the reviews I've gotten. I am soooo grateful for every one of them. I'm going to try and keep everyone in character this time but it's gonna be hard. Draco has told me that he really does like Ginny but he can't bring himself to show it. Please bear with me… Draco is a sexy character to write but the way I see him is definitely not how he is in the books. Again… read and review. Thanks for being patient with me. I've got a few stories cooking up right now.
CHAPTER ELEVENWHY DOES LOVE HAVE TO HURT?
Ginny cried herself to sleep that night, thinking only of Draco and how he could never really be hers. She didn't dream that night and for that, she was thankful. She probably would still be asleep if it weren't for Demelza Robbins screaming for her to get something to eat and head out to the Quidditch pitch for practice. So there she was, in the Great Hall at 6 o'clock, trying to eat breakfast but failing miserably. She managed to get one slice of plain toast down but seemed to push the rest of her contents around the plate. She sighed, for what seemed like the hundredth time, and put her head in one of her hands, closing her eyes. If I can get just a few more minutes worth of sleep, I'll be fine. She was stunned awake by a hand shaking her shoulder.
"Ginny? You in there?"
She opened her eyes and saw Ron sitting next to her. "Yeah, just didn't sleep very well last night." She yawned, emphasizing her point.
"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine once you get up in the air again," he replied, stuffing his plate with loads of food.
At last, the team got up and started heading out the door. Ginny sighed, stood up, stretched, and caught the silver eyes of the very person she tried to get away from the previous day. Without even acknowledging his presence, she flipped her hair over her shoulders and walked to catch up to her team. She had to suppress the urge to just run away again, but she knew it would do no good to let him see her like this. She had to just chalk it up to lust and be done with him. Yeah, that's what it was… just lust and nothing more. Oh, who was she kidding? She was never any good at lying. Sighing, she trudged up to the pitch and into the girls' locker room. At least there were no memories for her in here.
When she entered the room, Demelza and Madison (Stone was her last name and one of the new chasers this year as Katie Bell had graduated) were waiting for her, already dressed for practice. "Are you sure you're ok?" Madison asked.
Ginny quickly dressed in a pair of sweats and pulled her long hair into a simple ponytail. She sighed as she closed the locker door. "Yeah, I'm fine." She turned around, grabbed a hold of her broom, and walked past the other two just to get away from the unasked questions in their eyes. When she reached the pitch she realized, suddenly, that she had an even bigger problem than that of the blonde haired Slytherin. There, standing in the mid morning sun, was Harry. He was currently talking to Ron and pointing up towards the three hoops. She guessed he was giving some instructions about defensive moves so Ginny waited nervously for him to get done.
After a few more minutes, Ron had mounted his broom and took off towards the hoops. He did a few rounds on his broom and Ginny just stood there and watched. She longed to just jump on her broom and fly around for a while, and was contemplating doing just that, when Harry called for the chasers. Demelza and Madison walked around Ginny and headed off towards Harry. Sighing, Ginny grabbed her broom handle a little tighter and followed suit. She hung back a little from the other two girls and kept her eyes towards the ground. She barely heard Harry as he told them some of the drills he wanted to see and only raised her eyes when the others took off to the air. She quickly mounted her broom and was about to kick off when Harry spoke her name. She mentally kicked herself for not acting faster and slowly opened her eyes. "Yes?" she asked.
"Did you even hear anything I said?" he asked. His voice sounded accusatory to her and she tried, in vain, to not get angry. She merely shrugged her shoulders… not trusting her voice at that moment. "Ginny, you need to pay attention."
Ginny narrowed her eyes at her ex-boyfriend. "Sorry," was all she could force herself to say because if she said anything else, she was sure she would blow up at him in front of the team.
"Just get up there." Harry had dismissed her without so much as a wave as he made his way over to his beaters.
Ginny huffed, mounted her broom, and took off into the air. As soon as the cold breeze hit her face, she felt all her troubles start to melt away. She took a few laps around the pitch to get back into the swing of things before she flew over to the other chasers. "Well, we might as well get on with it," Madison stated as she threw the ball to Demelza. The two chasers took off towards the goals, where Ron was waiting, and Ginny got low on her broom and zoomed up to catch them. They tossed the ball back and forth to each other and Ginny made the first shot, whizzing the ball right past Ron's left ear. Yes, it was good getting back up here. She smiled as she made the goal and flew off after the other girls. After a few more shots, the beaters joined in. Ginny ducked the first bludger as it flew by her, picking up her ponytail slightly.
"Watch it, Gin," Ron called out to her. She merely waved back to him and caught the quaffle again. Ron successfully blocked her shot. "Come on, Ginny… put some more effort into it."
"I made the first shot, didn't I?" she retorted.
"I let you," Ron shouted back.
Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and flew away towards the other end of the pitch. After about 15 minutes of catching and throwing the quaffle and dodging bludgers, Ginny's arms started to grow tired. Her shots were getting lazy and the bludgers were barely missing her. Harry flew up towards her and stopped her in mid-flight.
"Ginny, concentrate," he hollered over the loud gush of wind.
"I am!" she yelled back.
"No, you're not. Those last two shots were easy ones. Ron wasn't even paying attention." Frustrated, Ginny flew back to the ground and hopped off her broom. Harry followed. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked as he caught up to her retreating form.
"Where does it look like I'm going?" she yelled back. She didn't have to yell, for the wind wasn't as loud down on the ground, but she couldn't hold it back anymore.
"Get back up there. Practice isn't over yet." Ginny kept walking as though she didn't hear him. He reached out, grabbed her arm, and forced her to turn around and look at him. "I said practice isn't over yet."
"Get off me," she said through clenched teeth, yanking her arm out of his grasp.
"Ginny, what is your problem?" Harry clearly had no idea why she was so angry.
"Just leave me alone," she replied as she started to walk away again.
"One more step, Ginny, and you're…" he started.
"I'm what?" Ginny reeled around again and glared at him.
"You'll be off the team," he stated as he placed his hands on his hips. By this time, the rest of the team had landed and were staring at the two.
"What????" she exclaimed. She couldn't believe what he had just said.
"You heard me. If you leave now, I'll have no choice but to kick you off the team."
Ron came running up and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Mate, listen… maybe we can talk about this…" Ron began.
"Who's the captain here?" Harry asked.
Ron dropped his hand and looked at the ground. So much for family support, Ginny thought to herself. "Fine! You wanna kick me off, go ahead," Ginny retorted. She had had enough of Harry and started her walk back to the locker room. She could hear Harry yelling at the rest of the team to keep practicing. She didn't look back as she stormed into the locker room and threw her broom against the lockers. She ripped out her ponytail and sat down, roughly, on the bench. How dare he threaten her with expulsion from the team. She hadn't been sleeping well lately and all she needed was to get back to her room, lie down, and relax. Sure, being up in the air was refreshing, but she couldn't help but think about all her problems.
She trudged up to the school after safely stowing her broom away in her locker. She continued her march to Gryffindor Tower, more by routine than actually looking where she was going. She muttered the password, climbed into the common room, walked past some students, and made her way to her room. She didn't look up until she came up to her bed and flopped down. It was then that she realized she wasn't alone.
"Ginny?" her friend April said from the shadows.
"Oh, sorry, April. I didn't know you were here."
April sat down on Ginny's bed and looked at her friend. Ginny had lay down and just stared at the canopy… her eyes obviously not focused on anything in particular. April sighed. "Gin, what's wrong? You've been moping around for the past day and I'm getting a little scared. Did something happen with Harry?"
Ginny sighed. She knew that her friend was concerned but she didn't want to disclose what had happened between her and Draco. Ginny turned her back to April, signifying that she did not want to really talk. "I'm fine," she replied at last, hoping that it was sufficient enough for April to just leave her alone.
April reached out and lightly placed her hand on Ginny's shoulder. "It's ok, you know. Things seem bad now, but I'm sure they will get better."
"Please, just drop it." Ginny shut her eyes to force the tears back but all that did was make them rush out faster.
April retracted her hand. "Well, when you decide it's time to talk, I'll be down in the common room." April really wanted to help Ginny but knew when the stubborn redhead set herself there was no way to get through to her. She brushed Ginny's hair away from her face, hugged her lightly, stood up, and exited the room.
Ginny let out the breath she had been holding and her body shook with a silent sob. She knew that her friend meant well, but she was not ready to talk… yet. As she heard the door click behind April, she rolled over to the other side of the bed and reached for the bedside table drawer. She reached in and found the chain that held Draco's ring. She pulled it out and looked at it. The candlelight made the serpent on the ring seem alive and Ginny's body was racked with new sobs. Deciding that she would go and see him later that night, if only to prove that he didn't want her and it was all just one big major fluke, she fell into a deep sleep as the ring she had clutched in her hand fell onto the floor with a tiny clink.
Author's Note: I know it's a short chapter but I wanted to get something out for all my faithful readers. I'm sorry it's taken a while for this but I'm trying to get my thoughts straightened out.
A/N2: And to Malfoy's Granger: I am done with Draco so I'm returning him to you… unharmed. Although Snape interrupted, he didn't hurt him. LOL But I would like to borrow Malfoy again… if you don't mind. I promise to behave.