Valentine's Day was fast approaching and the female population at Hogwarts was abuzz while the male population seemed to shrink over time as they ducked into the shadows and began taking slower, emptier hallways to avoid the giggling girl packs. For Ginny this meant quite simply that her rendezvous with Seamus had to be carefully planned.
"I suppose Terry will be taking you to Madame Puddifoot's for Valentine's Day then?" he said one day as they were alone in a hallway between classes,
"Actually he hasn't said anything yet, I suppose he assumes we'll be going together," Ginny sighed and put her hand on Seamus's cheek as he frowned; this was so hard on him. Sneaking around wasn't in his nature.
"Well if he doesn't ask you, this is me asking you so if the day arrives and he isn't there you can tell him that someone else got there first," he gave her a quick kiss before dashing off to his next class. Ginny was lucky enough to have a spare class that period and she lazily walked towards the common room thinking gloomily about all the homework she had yet to complete – Hermione would have a fit if she knew.
She trudged up to the room she shared with the girls and dumped her school bag on her bed. Accidently she looked at the vase of flowers that still stood at her bedside. Originally she had wanted to burn them by Jess had insisted that the flowers were pretty and worth keeping so Ginny had simply made up her mind not to look at them.
Shoved under the vase was the note that Draco kept changing. Ginny assumed that it had changed many times since she had arrived back at school but she refused to look at it. Sitting on the edge of her bed Ginny pulled a feather off of the nearest flower; it was a black rose with streaks of red coming up from the center. Slowly she tore it into tiny velvety pieces and scattered them out of the window. She missed him, there was no denying it; she missed him terribly and wished beyond all else to be with him again. It was only her morals that prevented her; he was married now, married to a girl she had made peace with.
With a heavy sigh Ginny tugged the note out from beneath the flowers; it was torture to even look at it and think of all the memories that belonged to it but at that moment Ginny was in a self-hating mood. The parchment felt heavy in her hand and she flipped it open. There lay his familiar handwriting, swirly and spiky at the same time.
I miss you Red. Always I shall miss you. I could kill Boot and Finnigan out of jealously the only thing that stops me is knowing that you care for them.
A tear landed on the parchment and smudged the ink. Quickly Ginny wiped the others from her cheeks and shoved the note away. It was cruel, all too cruel. He knew that she would never come back to him and yet he begged and pleaded. He took all the criticism that Fred and George that thrown his way, he took it because he knew that he deserved it and yet he wanted her back. Well Ginny wasn't one to fold under pressure; in fact, she was going to remind him exactly why she couldn't go back to him.
Pulling out a fresh piece of parchment Ginny began to write a quick letter. When she had finished she took a walk to the Owlery and tied the letter quickly to Esme's leg and whispered in her ear the name of the one person who could fix everything.
xxx
That evening as Ginny walked down the marble staircase she found Terry waiting for her outside the doors to the Great Hall. She smiled at him before running the rest of the way down the stairs and jumping into his arms. He spun her around quickly before setting her back on the ground. Over his shoulder Ginny could just make out Seamus's frowning face.
"Ginny, I probably should have said something earlier, I guess I just assumed and took it for granted but, will you Ginny Weasley go to Hogsmeade with me this Valentines?" he took her hands and looked at her seriously; it was an act, but an adorable one.
"Well Terry Boot, as I am not otherwise engaged I can't imagine a reason why I shouldn't be able to do just that," she said in her best imitation of Ernie's pompous tone.
"Thank you very much Miss. Weasley, shall we meet in the entrance hall on the day of then?" he turned her towards the Great Hall and took her arms,
"I suppose that I could do such a thing," Ginny's voice broke in the middle as she started giggling,
"I shall see you then, and may I say that I look forward to it with every inch of my being," he gave a small, mocking bow and headed off to his own table. Ginny tipped back her head and laughed aloud before joining the girls for dinner.
She had managed to serve herself before Lindy started talking,
"You two seem as happy as ever," she commented blandly,
"Yes, yes we are," Ginny replied in the same bland tone Lindy was using,
"Is there a secret to getting along perfectly?" there was a smidge more curiosity in her voice this time that made Ginny wonder about how life in paradise was going,
"Have you and Blaise had a disagreement?" she tried to be nonchalant but her question attracted the attention of the nearby Natalie and Jess; who had been discussing their own plans for Valentines.
"I wouldn't call it a disagreement, more of an agreement that something is wrong," Lindy tipped her head and looked over towards the Slytherin table where Blaise was sitting with his head on his hand looking very drab.
"You're bored aren't you" it wasn't a question.
"Dreadfully so, how on earth do you and Terry keep each other on your toes?" Lindy looked at her with wide eyes, as if hoping to glean information from Ginny's skin. Ginny lost focus for a moment, at Lindy's last question she had felt Seamus shift beside her and she knew that he was now listening intently to her conversation.
"Terry never fails to surprise me, he knows what I like and works things out along those lines, he is also completely honest with me which helps because then if something is wrong we can just talk about it," she felt very hypocritical saying this to Lindy, seeing as even though Terry was honest with her, she was anything but honest with Terry.
"Is that the trick then Ginny, honesty?" Seamus's voice was harsher and colder than usual. She turned to look at him with fire in her eyes,
"Honest to goodness honesty," she said with a tight smile, daring him to argue,
"So sneaking around with someone just because you're scared of what others might say is a bad idea, because being honest about that fact that you are in a relationship is the best thing to do?" his expression matched her, Lindy was looking at Jess and Natalie with confusion.
"I should say so Seamus, why? Have you been sneaking around with someone?" her glare would have turned a lesser man to stone but Seamus was fed up with being put second just because Ginny had been with Terry first. He still felt chosen and happy to be with her, none of that had changed, it was just that now he wished that everyone else knew so that he could do something about it, stand up for her when other guys flirted.
"I should say so," he hissed before looking directly across the hall and into Terry's eyes before turning back to Ginny, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close,
"Seamus don't do this," she whispered, from the corner of her eye Ginny could see Terry who was now standing as well as Ron and Harry who looked beyond disgusted.
"You don't get it do you Ginny," Seamus shook his head sadly before leaning in and kissing her soundly.
"OI!" the call came from four different people all at once. Terry was striding across the hall with a frozen expression of anger while Ron had food half way to his mouth; Harry was looking at Seamus with wide eyes. The last sound of protest had come from the Slytherin table where Draco was currently standing; fists held tightly at his sides. At the staff table, the teachers continued with their regular conversations, for in truth the shouts had not made as great a disturbance as Ginny had imagined.
"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing Seamus?" that was Ron,
"I'd like to ask the same question," Terry's quiet voice was like ice and it made Ginny's entire body freeze over with fear.
"Me?" Seamus looked around innocently, "I'm giving my girl a kiss, is that a crime?" he continued eating casually,
"It is if she's not your girl," Terry's voice was getting steadily louder. Ginny took the opportunity to look over at Draco, she felt relieved up seeing that he was sitting again and merely looking as grumpy and depressed and Blaise.
Terry was looking between Seamus and Ginny with increasing frustration,
"Ginny, what's going on?" Harry finally butted in when it became apparent that Terry, Ron, and Seamus would be happy to glare at each other for all eternity.
"Well Harry, it appears that Terry is angry because Seamus kissed me right after I agreed to spend Valentines with Terry, Ron looks shocked that his sister actually gets kissed by human beings, and I'm left sitting here watching it all play out," she smiled at Harry and watched him roll his eyes; Jessica was good for him, or at least she had taken his romantic focus away from Ginny herself. Terry unfroze as Ginny spoke and fixed his gaze on her,
"Ginny why does he think you're his girl? And why didn't you slap him?" he sounded so sad that Ginny almost got up and hugged him,
"Yes Ginny, do tell?" Seamus looked at her with a cheeky grin,
"Shut up Finnigan," Terry hissed, "Ginny?"
"Frankly I was in shock that I was being kissed at the dinner table, so that's why I didn't slap him, and Seamus must be delusional is he imagines that I belong to anyone," she put enough emphasis on the last words to make Seamus remember what she kept telling him about not belonging to people.
"You're a right little bitch sometimes you know that Ginny," Seamus spat, shoving back his chair he made to storm out of the hall, just before leaving he turned back and shouted at Terry, "You might want to ask her for the truth one of these days Boot," then he turned on his heel and fled. Terry turned his attention back to Ginny,
"What does he mean by that?" he wasn't sad anymore, he was angry; at her.
"I'm going to go ask him that," Ginny stood up quickly and made to follow Seamus, "You just stay put and finish dinner, I'll see you later," she bit her lip before dashing out of the hall. Everything was falling apart, I had been so perfect for a few short weeks and then Seamus had to go and get all jealous. The prat.
"Seamus, Oi Seamus," he was halfway up the staircase and didn't look back as she called him, "Oh for pities sake," Ginny huffed before sprinting up the stairs and grabbing his arms. He tried to tug out of her grasp but nothing was stronger than a Weasley woman scored.
"What on earth did you mean by that?" she said under her breath. Seamus made one last attempt to pull away before turning and looking at her.
"I'm sick of it Ginny, sick of not being able to stand up for you because someone else might get mad, why should he get special treatment just because you picked him earlier, hmm?" his accent got heavier as he got angrier and more fed up,
"Listen to me Seamus, I need you, I need you more than you know, I was falling apart and you put me all back together don't you dare leave me now," she was in torment, how much could she tell him before he killed her.
"Oh yeah? And why couldn't Terry do that for you? Or better yet, what was Terry doing that made you want to stay with him?" Her silence destroyed him, "Were neither of us man enough for you after the great Draco Malfoy, is that it, did you need both of us to feel the way he made you feel?" he didn't even believe was he was saying, he just wanted to hurt her.
"At least he didn't fly off the handle when I asked him to keep quiet about it," Ginny spat back, "He knew that doing something stupid like that would cost him, and yes by the way, he made me feel wanted and mysterious and dangerous and taken care of, Terry makes me feel wanted and cared for but he can't give me mystery because he isn't that kind of guy and frankly I'm kind of addicted to it at this point that why I need you because you give me the feeling that I need," tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now,
"And what, I couldn't make you feel wanted and cared for?" Seamus wasn't angry anymore; he was tired and confused,
"Of course you could Seamus, it's just that," she couldn't finish.
"It's just that what?" it wasn't Seamus who had spoken. At the bottom of the stairs stood a livid looking Terry accompanied by a depleted Draco.
(A/N – Reviews are good for the writer's soul…..)
