Chapter 14- Ginny the Confronter
Here we go again! I didn't realise that people thought that maybe the last chapter was...well the last chapter but no, never fear we've got a way to go yet! This one is too dramatic but I really couldn't see any way round it.
Disclaimer: Although I'm a big Ginny/Draco fan in fanfiction I don't think I would understand if JK decided to have them get together in her books! There's a hint as to the authenticity of this story.
"Cheer up Ginny." Hermione slid into the big comfy chair next to Ginny and gave her shoulders a comforting squeeze.
It had been a week since the disastrous confrontation in the great hall and Ginny had been unable to pull herself out of a deep slump. She had moped around the common room sitting in a chair and gazing into the fire for inordinate amounts of time, much to the annoyance of other's wanting a spot near the heat!
Ginny gave Hermione a small, totally unconvincing smile and rested her head gently against her friend's shoulder.
"I'm fine, I guess I just feel a bit weird."
"It'll pass, I'm sure." Hermione said soothingly stroking her hair softly and making expressive movements with her eyes at Ron.
"What?" he mouthed shrugging at her. She rolled her eyes.
"Ron agrees, don't you Ron?" Hermione said in an exasperated tone
"I do?"
Hermione's eyes narrowed in anger and he hurried over, "Oh of course I do. Hermione's right."
Ginny giggled, "You've got him well trained, I'm proud of you." She said to Hermione. The smile soon left her face and she sighed.
"Ergh I'm so sick of moping about over this. I'm away from Malfoy, it's good, right?"
"Right!" Both Ron and Hermione said in unison.
"But…" Ginny began and Hermione clamped a hand over her mouth.
"No buts." She said firmly
"Ah!" Ron suddenly clamped his hands over his ears and shook his head as if trying to block out something horrible.
"What?" Hermione asked reaching out for him in concern, "What's wrong?"
"Malfoy and butt in the same conversation, wrong, wrong, wrong!" he said hysterically. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and burst out laughing. When they finally got themselves under control Hermione sent her boyfriend an exasperated look.
"Wrong but, if I meant butt as in bottom then…"
"Ah, ah, ah!" Ron yelled again storming out of the common room.
"It's been a week, why am I still brooding over this? I'm not like this usually, what's happened to me?" Ginny groaned once her laughter had once more subsided. Hermione gave her another hug and sighed,
"I don't know what to say, Gin." She said sadly, "I hate seeing you all upset about this, I don't even know what you're so sad about or else I'd help you out."
"I seem to have completely stuffed up three people in all of this. Me, Malfoy and Harry. Harry! Oh Hermione the whole thing is so awful!" Ginny wailed.
Hermione nodded sadly. Ginny had faced the inevitable talk with Harry the night after she was forcibly separated from Draco. "It was the worst thing…"
Flashback
"Harry?" Ginny knocked softly on the Seventh Year Boys' dormitory door and then poked her head round it.
Harry and Dean were swapping homework answers and looked up guiltily as she entered the room.
"Oh it's just you." Dean said, greatly relieved, "I was worried it would be Hermione come to scold us …again!"
Ginny shook her head with a smile.
"No, just me. I have no problem with your guys copying off each other, it's your funeral, but I do want to speak to Harry for a moment."
Dean shrugged, "Fine." He said getting off his bed, shooting Gin a wink then shutting the door behind him.
Harry got off the bed also and smiled nervously at her.
"Well…" he said awkwardly, "This is uncomfortable. You shot off yesterday after that whole big scene and it gave me the vague impression that you weren't as thrilled about the whole thing as I was."
Ginny smiled sadly and sank down on the nearest bed. After a moment Harry sat next to her and they both stared at the floor for a while.
"I'm right, aren't I?" he said quietly, "You've changed your mind."
Ginny clenched her eyes tightly shut for a moment then took a deep breath and opened them again.
"It's not so much a case of changing my mind." she said cautiously, "It's not like I suddenly realised that…ergh I don't know what to say Harry."
"Just tell me the truth." He said softly, "Don't drag it out and don't bother to spare my feelings, we're a bit beyond that now anyway."
Ginny continued to search for some words but she couldn't find them so she just shook her head and continued to avoid looking at him. There was another long silence.
"So just tell me. Did something happen between Malfoy and you?" he asked hopelessly clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Well I wouldn't call it a something it was more like…" Ginny trailed off again, "Yeah something happened." She said in defeat.
Harry nodded, "I sort of figured. So he…kissed you?"
Ginny nodded miserably.
"More than once?"
Ginny nodded.
"And you participated?"
Ginny nodded
"More than once?"
Ginny nodded
"Every time?"
Ginny nodded
"You were never forced?"
"No, okay? No!" Ginny finally snapped, "He kissed me, I kissed him, we kissed each other and I was just as much involved. I'm sorry but that's the truth."
"You're sorry?" Harry asked quietly, "You're sorry?! I thought you said you would never lie to me, Ginny and that is a bald faced lie. You're not sorry at all."
Ginny's draw dropped at the unfairness of this statement.
"I AM sorry!" she insisted, "Maybe not of the way things were with Malfoy but for the way I treated you. Of that I really am sorry."
Harry stood up and began pacing the length of the room.
"So when did things change? When did your friends of six years become unimportant in the face of your enemy of six years? Did you just trade us all in? Just like that?"
"No!" Ginny yelled, "No, nothing like that!" she jumped up and grabbed him by the arm, "Stop walking about and listen to me. It just kind of happened and I never replaced him with you guys."
Harry turned to face her his eyes narrowed.
"Okay so what were you planning on doing? Staying magically connected to him forever? That was your brilliant plan?!"
Ginny shrugged hopelessly, "I didn't have a plan, I knew that we couldn't keep it up forever but things just seemed to be coming round my way and I was happy. Do you know what it's like to have six brothers Harry?"
"No. Family isn't one of my strong points I don't even know what it's like to have parents and the only person I could consider family died in my fifth year." Harry reminded her bitterly.
Ginny flushed in mortification, "Alright excuse me whilst I remove the hypothetical foot out of my mouth," she said in frustration, "but just try and understand. Maybe you can't identify with me but can't you just listen? I have always been an outcast in my family. It wasn't intentional or even noticed by half of them but not only am I the youngest but I'm the only girl. My brothers all have a bond that I can't touch. My identity seems to come through my relationship with other people, no-one ever talks to me as just me. I'm either sister of the Weasley boys or I'm the friend of the famous Harry Potter or I'm the girl was controlled by Tom Riddle in my first year. I have a lot of baggage Harry but for once I was able to just be myself and someone saw me without the rest of my life tagging along. Can't you see how powerful that was?"
"Malfoy didn't see the real you, Gin." Harry stated calmly, "He saw the Ginny when she's taken out of her real life, he doesn't know you as you really are. You may not like your baggage Ginny but it isn't as if it's going anywhere and, like it or not, it's part of who you are." He caught at her hands and stared deeply into her eyes, "I'm not sorry that I pulled you out of that, I'm not! You couldn't live your life like that! Once I found out did you just expect me to sit back and do nothing?"
Ginny's mouth formed an 'o' shape and her eyes widened. In a jerky gesture which almost threw her off balance she yanked her hands out of his grip.
"Once you found out? What did you find out Harry?"
He looked at her mulishly and closed his mouth firmly. Ginny tapped her foot impatiently, "Well? I'm waiting for an answer."
Harry sighed, "I got a letter late last night."
"A letter?"
"Yeah somebody told me that I could break the bond by asking you out."
"Somebody?" Ginny suddenly felt like ice was being pumped through her veins, "Somebody who?"
"It wasn't signed." Harry replied edgily and she suddenly sat down on the nearest bed.
"But it was from him, wasn't it?" she asked dully, "Malfoy, he told you how to break the spell."
"Well I don't know anyone else at Hogwarts who has an owl like that." It was as close an admission as she was going to get from him. He rested a hand gently on her shoulder as she stared blankly at the wall.
"He told you? He told you everything about it?" she muttered seemingly ignoring his presence, however he decided to answer her questions anyway.
"No all the letter said was 'ask Ginny out and the bond will be broken.' I didn't know whether I should trust it or not but what did I have to lose?"
At his last words Ginny abruptly stood up, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. "Me Harry." She snarled, "You had me to lose." She stalked out of the dormitory and slammed the door so hard one of Dean's WestHam posters fell off the wall.
End flashback
Draco had skilfully avoided Ginny for that whole long week. Of course he had been helped by the fact that Ginny spent a large amount of time sulking in her dormitory but when she had been out and about in the castle she had been desperately searching for him. He hadn't been there when she went to the infirmary to collect her stuff and no matter how she tried to time her meals to coincide with his he always managed to allude her. She never told any of her friends who she was desperately looking for but it was pretty obvious to everyone what was going on. They said nothing and hoped she would grow out of her obsession sooner or later.
But Ginny was resolute. She needed to see Draco, even if it was to determine that he wanted nothing more to do with her. She needed closure. So the next week when she came face to face with the subject of all her angst in a corridor she seized the opportunity.
"Malfoy!" She grabbed his arm
He turned to see her and his whole body rippled with tension. His face, previously fixed with a normal expression suddenly stilled into a frightening parody of neutrality. He froze for a moment as he adjusted himself to give nothing away and then he twisted away from her. She had been expecting this, however, and she held on tight until, realising he wasn't going to be able to shake her off, he looked down at her.
"What do you want?" he snapped. Ginny looked around the corridor at the other students and, without bothering to reply, she dragged him into an alcove nearby so they were hidden from prying eyes.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" she asked indignantly when they were safely tucked away.
"Why have you been trying to see me?" he countered and she sighed.
"Don't waste my time Draco, you know perfectly well why I've wanted to see you. And I hate it when people answer a question with a question." She grumbled as an afterthought
His eyes remained perfectly cold as he surveyed her disinterestedly.
"I'm at a loss, tell me why."
"I just wanted…damn Malfoy I don't have to explain myself to you!" she exploded, "Isn't it enough that I missed you and wanted to see you?"
He shook his head, "No." he answered shortly. "Tell me why you've been chasing me all over the school."
"I haven't!" she cried indignantly, "Chasing you indeed! I'm not sure this alcove was a good idea, there doesn't seem to be enough room for me, you and your ego! You have had a serious attitude readjustment since last time I talked to you, Malfoy. And I don't like it."
"I really couldn't give a damn what you do or don't like Weasley, now I have to go." He growled but Ginny saw that he didn't meet her eyes.
"Weasley now is it?" she sniped, "Not even Virginia, wow you must be feeling very threatened."
He whirled around and forced her back against the wall.
"What do you want?!" he snarled desperately. She shrugged, catching and holding his gaze.
"I don't know." She said trying to get through the veil he had put across his eyes, obscuring the emotion she had once been able to read so well, "Maybe, well…don't you miss me just a little?"
He laughed mirthlessly and released her.
"You are so bloody selfish." He said, "You've got your Harry now what do you want from me?"
"Why does it always have to be about taking?" Ginny asked exasperatedly, "Why can't it be that I'm willing to give you something?"
"In my experience that's not how it works." Draco went to move off then turned back around, "And anyway Virginia," he stressed her name, "didn't you know that you can't miss what you never had in the first place?"
His words sliced through Ginny's tough resolve and she stood for a moment not sure whether she should collapse against or slam his head into the wall behind her. To Draco's advantage she selected the former and she crumpled against the wall. Letting the cold stone support her where once Draco had been. "This isn't over." She whispered after him pulling herself together and heading for her next class "Plan b is going to kick you where it hurts Malfoy, believe me."
Yukky! Crumpling against a wall? So cliché and pathetic! Oh well she rallied a little at the end. I received so many reviews for the last chapter it was unbelievable so thank you to takes a deep breath…:
LovingFanfics: That's right no more goodnight snogging, it was a one off kind of deal. Well here's hoping I put you firmly back on the middle of your seat, I didn't know I could keep people in suspense, yay for me! Well I didn't take too long I don't think. Thank you for everything.
Julia: No definitely not the end, I'm glad you like my story, thank you.
Jessiebear: chill it isn't over! Here's some more for you. Take deep breaths and realise that there is still a little way to go.
Dracoluver2009: Why? Because otherwise there wouldn't be a story! Don't be sad I'm sure it will be okay in the long-run. Thank you for reviewing!
Iced Faerie: No I can't just end it there, you're right. Calm down I'm back and everything is okay! Thank you for reviewing in such a panic!
KuTiExAzNxAnGeL: YES, YES throws things back YES! Thank you for your review, sorry things don't seem to be going your way!
Kawaii Ryu: Everybody hates Harry, it's not really his fault. Come on would you enjoy this story at all if there was no dramatic ending? If they just stayed together and were boring? Here is some more for you, thank you for being so melodramatic over my little ol' story.
Dracomio: who's sneaky? Me? Harry? You? I'm glad you thought that bit was sad, I thought I might have over or under done it. Thank you for reviewing.
Salazar's Heir: Who's this anonymous geek person?! Being all the way across a country is no excuse! JK, so I'm glad you were able to enjoy the warm, fuzzy feelings together with the sadness and sobbing, what a nice range of emotions for you. Poor Draco? What did he do to deserve your pity? You can just keep your nasty snake to yourself thank you! But here's your chapter anyway, oh mighty master!
Very evil daughter of lord Vol: Why does everyone keep thinking it was the end? Calm down it's all okay :) Thank you so much for saying that you love my story, you're so sweet! I can't believe you like my plot, bless! Well here's some more for you.
Icy Lullaby: Well that seems to be an okay rhythm for your heart beat. Leave Harry alone, it kinda wasn't his fault! I should stop writing nasty things about poor Harry, everyone hates him! Thank you for your review, you are brilliant at making those things up.
SarkLover: No review is ever submitted too late, I love and appreciate them all! No I'm not trying to kill you, why would I endanger one of my favourite reviewers? I have written more, no need to be so impatient! NO don't bring up the Mardi Gras! I thought we'd agreed to let that go? Cough Sydney is best cough Okay now onto your other review yeah it was a bit angsty. I've been trying to avoid it but I think there needed to be just a little bit there. Well we will just have to wait and see. Yeah right you all know the outcome really :)
Anuri-Chan: Oi, no losing privileges when I want reviews! No I'm just kidding, you don't have to apologise for not reviewing every chapter! Oi, leave Harry alone! Draco is the baddie at the moment in my books! Although I have to agree that it is easier to like Draco especially since I deliberately wrote Harry to be annoying in this story. Blimey you are a marathon girl! I loved Peter Pan, it was so cute :) Thank you for reviewing and be good so you maintain your computer rights!
lilblondeiy214: Yes, let's rid the world of sugar coating of everything bar doughnuts! I am in the process of being taught how to surf by my bf's obsessed friends! They take it so seriously and I just laugh at them. I think it's pretty awesome here but I'm biased :) Well my friend here is the definitive answer. Our toilets flush spin to the left so I can attest to that being true! Congratulations on coming first in the choir contest, you rock! Don't worry, no sappy Draco here if I can help it. I can't believe you call me your favourite author from Australia, that makes me ridiculously happy! Although I think most countries do it the Australian way so it isn't my brilliant idea or anything! No need to be teary eyed or sad I'm sure it'll all come right in the end. Thank you for reviewing.
Mereschino: Well that just about sums that up! Thank you for being angry at Draco when a lot of people see it as all Harry's fault! You think Draco is hot? Yay! Thank you.
Sil3nt Death: Yet another person who thinks it is poor Draco. As you will have seen in this chapter there is nothing poor about it! Thank you for reviewing, good luck with your story.
Wizzabee: Yay someone who realises Draco is being a prat. Well I don't want you going insane so I hope this helped. Thank you for reviewing.
Ayumi-dono: EEEK ducks the confetti bomb wow love and hate mixed up so close together. Hugs and bombs in one fell swoop. I'm not sure exactly how many chapters there are to go but I'd make an estimate of about ummm six? Don't quote me, it might change but that seems a fairly close number. As for the hospital wing thing I didn't mean for it to be too significant. I only meant that he didn't want to go to the area where Draco kind of reigned. That was where Draco and Ginny had their moments and Harry sensed that he didn't want to enter that area again. Here is an update for you. Thank you for reviewing with so much confetti.
Writerofthefuture: don't cry, it'll be okay! I think I have had about five "poor Draco's" by now. Well really I wanted you all to see that he still had to deal with the prat within and you still all love him! Well you did have to wait a little while but not too long. Thank you for reviewing.
RomanceFaerie16: Thank you for saying I am at the perfect level of fluff. That makes me feel a whole lot better about my writing. Thanks again.
Elvencherry07: go the fluff. Thank you for recognising Ginny, everybody else seems to think it is Draco who needs the sympathy! Thank you for reviewing also.
Francis Flute: Come on it isn't really Harry's fault. Give the poor guy a break! Thanks for reviewing.
Starrynight12312: Ah random visits can sometimes yield the best results. How am I going to get them back together? You'll see. It won't be as easy as Ginny sending him a note and snogging him, believe me it's a bit more complicated! Isn't my heart good enough real estate for you? Lol! Thank you for reviewing instead of doing your homework but you'd better run along and do it now, I don't want you failing over a story, even thought it could be considered the best compliment there is! Thanks.
JSaintG7: Yeah I hope it is fun, even through all the angsty rubbish I'm going to try and keep it a little light-hearted. I certainly will keep writing and thank you for your review.
Angelbear: I'm really happy you love my story. Well Ginny doesn't really tell him…but you know! Thank you for reviewing
Pawzz: it's my story I can do whatever I like and you can't do a thing about it, mwahhahaha! Okay sorry about that but I do love to leave people hanging. You got the "Draco making an ass of himself" bit right! Thank you for reviewing
Dragonsprincess: believe me I understand, I've been too busy to write! I told Ben that you said hello and thought blushing boys were cute and he threw a pillow at me! Bloody cheek! I'm blaming you for the fact that it took me unawares and I toppled off the bed making him laugh at me when I was the one who was supposed to be laughing at him. Grrr, I'll have my revenge! Your predictions were pretty good. She hasn't gotten around to telling Harry about the ultimatum yet, when she does the know-you-what is really going to hit the fan! Anyway thank you for reviewing, even if it was technically your fault I fell off the bed!
Rose Petel: Oh well she still has the love of two good men, that's gotta count for something! Thank you for identifying with one of my characters!
DP: Ah yes I did it just to annoy you, no really I did! I will continue soon and thank you for saying I am doing an awesome job. That makes you awesome in my books!
Ash Night: Don't you shrug your shoulders at me young lady, I'll feel bad for whoever I want to feel bad for! Don't trivialise something so obviously important. Wow I almost made you cry? Yay! Whoopee for deliberately going to the library to create havoc! I can't believe you hugged that guy and told him about Draco hating Ginny. That is so unbelievably awesome, you're my hero! I hope you're wearing your comfy jeans for this chapter! Thank you for reviewing and getting so into my story. Say hi to the guy in your science class for me!
MelissaAdams: Poor Harry, he's a bit of an innocent in all this and you want Ginny to beat him up? Meanie! Don't stress about the dialogue, your reviews are excellent whether or not we have a power struggle in them! Thank you for always reviewing and saying just the right thing!
Bigreader: he had to so there would be a plot, I know it's kind of a side issue but there actually needs to be something holding the snogging scenes together! Thank you for reviewing, you always add a bit of "Hate Harry" spice!
NiteStar: I didn't even realise it was a cliffie but a few people have been complaining about it so I guess it was! I won't be too mean to him I promise! Thank you for reviewing.
Rutupatel: Hey don't apologise! Thank you for saying that I am unpredictable but surely you had all guessed that it couldn't be clear sailing for the two of them?! Yeah I kind of got that you wanted Gin to end up with Draco and we'll see about that! I'm more than glad that you spend more time reviewing my story than anyone elses it makes me feel very special! Ha, ha you fell into my web of being hooked, yay. Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews.
Zarahelma: one little thing, thank you!
Meena2: addicting is how I planned it. Wow you wrote more than usual! Thanks :)
Chimerical: sorry if I gave that impression but no, it isn't all over that's just what my stupid characters think! Thank you.
Mo the Deatheater: I love your name, it made me laugh when I first saw it. Thank you for saying my story is original and also for asking after Ben. He's much better and that means that I want to get back into everything including this story. I've told other people and I'm telling you, Harry is not going to die! Honestly, you people….thanks for your review, I'm glad you finally found time to read my story.
GothicSorceressRikku15: thank you for saying my story is one of the best you've read. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside. I love the character Rikku in FFX and FFX2, my best friend plays the games and I watch, Rikku was my favourite character. Anyway I'm not sure whether your name refers to her or somebody else so I'll just shut up now. Thank you for reviewing.
Soccerstarz: Michael Owen is my soccer star…oh and Emilie Heskey! Sorry anyway this story is far from over, never fear. Thank you for saying my story is great, you're a great reviewer.
Joco94: I'm so glad you think it makes sense, it is hard to write Draco in a romance fic!
FNP: but I hope it was a good kind of sadness. Yay for sticking up for writing to my reviewers, what you said made it all worthwhile, if people like it, I'll continue doing it, I have to say that I enjoy it even though it does take a while!
Padfootedmoony: wow I actually got an emotion out of you, I made you sad? Yippee! Here's the next chapter for you I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing so wonderfully all the time.
BubblyFizz03: you read it twice? You read it twice??!? Wow, you are amazing! I can't believe you changed your opinion on D/G fics because of me pause whilst I wipe away a tear thank you! Why did you read my story in the first place if you hate the pairing? Of course I don't mind that you put my story on a disc. It's hardly important to anyone but me that you took the time to do that! That you even wanted to is a huge burst of confidence for me. Wow a virtual pat on the back for my kissy, kissy scenes, that makes me feel a lot better about them. Thank you for understanding the necessity of someone of the OCC moments in my fic. I'm glad you still like it anyway. My other two stories Voldemort and the death eaters were involved and this time I really wanted to veer away from the serious stuff this time. I know a fully rounded HP story should really incorporate all aspects but I really wanted to stay totally fluffy and have the only disasters come from the internal affairs of the students. I vaguely mentioned the war earlier on but that's really as far as I want to go with that. Sorry if it annoys you but if you think about it, it would be a bit ridiculous to introduce another plot so far into the story. Argh Hagrid was hard! Never again, I'm never writing him again! Thank you for appreciating that and for your amazing review. I don't feel I've done it justice but I hope you take this as a small offering of my appreciation…hugs and cakes!
Riotgirl-gc: no need to apologise, you're back now with two absolutely sensational reviews! Wow, still dancing? You must be tired by now. I'm glad I've made this story addictive for you. No 12 steps until after I've finished, okay! Yeah Ben's accident and the subsequent weeks in hospital scared me to the very core but I'm getting over it now he's getting better. Well I couldn't continue for a while but once he started to recover then I was really happy and wanted to show my happiness through this story. Weirdly enough it has all gotten sad and angsty, whoops! Thank you for your two excellent reviews they rocked!
Noire1: Everybody keeps apologising for missing a chapter, seriously although I love your reviews please don't feel bad if you can't! I hope your exams have been going well, good luck with your results although I'm sure you don't need it. This story is going to end moderately happily. It will seem happy but the epilogue will have a sting in the tail, I have already figured that out because I'm going to write a sequel and I've pretty much planned that already! Thank you so much for asking, Ben is feeling heaps better and is able to spend more and more time out of bed each day. Your reviews always make me feel better, so keep 'em coming! Thanks
That took forever, I'm exhausted! And now to bed, hooray!
Smiles,
Jess/star123