Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters.
Note: Bittersweet chapter here.
45: Even Weasleys Give Up
When we were finished and were dismissed I started to make my way toward Melinda's table again but spotted Draco first. Thinking it was a bit strange that he hadn't talked to me since, well, Christmas I thought it would make sense to talk to him, just so he wouldn't think the worst, or the best. "Hey" I said as a casually made my way into the group of Slytherins. At least they were Draco's age or younger, I thought to myself, it only meant I wouldn't have to worry about getting knocked unconscious. Then again, that also depended on how my conversation with Draco went. "Hey there" I said when I realized he hadn't answered.
"I didn't think you'd be talking to me" he said quietly as we stared toward the staircase.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked as we broke apart from the rest of the group.
"Uh, maybe because I showed up on Christmas with my psychotic aunt bearing presents we found in a garbage" he said in a matter of fact tone. I shrugged as I followed him to a more isolated part of the hallway.
"We're family, I told you, we're gonna have to learn how to make up quickly" I commented with a smile. It took him another second to return my smile with his half smile, attached with a sigh.
"Oliver's present must not have been that great then" he said, this time smiling a little wider.
"I just didn't want it" I reminded him as I remembered I didn't see Oliver's gift when we were leaving. Now where could it be? I thought feeling slightly annoyed about the whole gift. We fell silent as we walked slowly around a corridor and then up another staircase.
"What did you get Melinda for her birthday?" I asked, the question surprising me probably more than him. I hadn't thought about her present, since, her birthday. I had been meaning to ask her but then Christmas came and then we got back to school and everyone was back to being stressed.
"A picture" he answered.
"A what?" I asked, twirling my head to look at him.
"A picture" he repeated with a smile as he put his hands in his pocket. I looked at him again, but he didn't look back as he spoke. "Obviously a wizard developed picture, so it move and everything" he said with a shrug. "It's of the game, against the Slytherins. It's the shot of her catching the snitch. How happy she looked, how much fun she was having, you could see it in her eyes, I didn't want to take that away from her. I just wanted her to be happy like that with me, because of me for two minutes" he explained. I was practically holding my breath as I watched him. All the feelings he spoke of getting rid of, everything he said he was no longer doing was still showing up on his face.
"I'm sorry you felt that way" I said, the words basically falling out of my mouth. Draco looked at me in surprise, but he didn't say anything, not that he had to. He wasn't going to say what I wanted to him say anyway. Which was either stop or something to counter what I was saying. No, instead he nodded and continued walking. I looked after him, wondering why I was so determined to put Draco on the right track when indeed Melinda was happy and Draco supposedly didn't care. I shouldn't care. This was his own decision, he wanted to do this.
"Oh, Miss Allen again, and Mr Malfoy" a cheerful voice said as we turned another corridor. Draco stopped first, he looked embarrassed for some reason.
"Bloody hell…" I mumbled as I tried to walk around Madame Burnner but she merely blocked my way.
"What was that?" she asked but I shook my head.
"Nothing" I replied. She smiled and looked over at Draco who seemed to have recovered from whatever he was embarrassed about.
"I just wanted to say how quickly you left my office tonight and while I certainly don't find it so offensive that I need to take away house points I do think you need to be a little more considerate of other people's feelings" she explained. I was tempted to roll my eyes, I hated how sincere she sounded. Though I did wonder why she was putting on the act for Draco. I looked over at him but he seemed to be entirely focused on looking everywhere else except back at me.
"I was hungry" I said simply as I crossed my arms over my chest. She smiled again, this time, a much less pretend sweet smile.
"It will never cease to amaze me why Fred or Oliver would want you. You're just a selfish impulsive manipulative spoiled git. But, I suppose to each their own. And each will learn" she said and then started for the stairs. "Oh, and Tammie, I'm a little concerned about Oliver. I don't know much about students, but, I know the last year is the hardest year for some of them" she said before walking off. I stared after her, mainly in shock. But I quickly recovered, just as Draco grabbed my arm. It wasn't until he was dragging me in the opposite direction did I realize I was trying to follow her, my wand out.
"Did you hear what she said?" I hissed to Draco as he continued dragging me off in whatever direction he was going.
"Yes" he said simply.
"She called me a git, and said I was manipulative" I hissed. "That stupid harlot of a women" I continued hissing.
"What?" Draco asked as we finally came to stop. I started to repeat what I had just said but noticed he was smiling.
"Stop it" I mumbled to him but it only made him laugh. "Oh shut up" I grumbled as I turned away from him.
"Oh c'mon, don't let her get under your skin. You know nothing she says is true, you know it doesn't matter. You know what you are" he said with a gentle pat on my shoulder.
"Yeah, a Malfoy…" I said sourly but he only shook his head.
"I'm not gonna stand here and explain how you're not a Malfoy, and I'm certainly not going to explain why that Weasley twin or Quidditch Captain like you" he said as he finally stopped smiling.
"Do you do that on purpose, forget their names?" I asked, as he shrugged.
"I didn't forget their names, it's just easier to act dumb" he replied as we neared the familiar portrait of the Fat Lady.
"I come to think of you as not acting" I said sarcastically as he gave me a friendly punch in the arm. "Listen, I meant to talk to you about your letter. Melinda didn't read it" I started as he let out a relieved sigh. "George did" I added he huffed. "Anyway, she's my friend, she's with George, but I have no idea how long that will last. I know you're in denial and want to ignore your feelings, but you can't do that, you can't pretend this isn't happening. If for some reason her and George break up, you need to step up" I explained.
"If things turn around, if I get the girl, everyone will think you've been rooting for it from the start" he said. I looked at him in half admiration, it was the first response he said that didn't imply he was just thinking about himself.
"Yeah, I know" I said with a shrug. "And well, I kinda was" I added, smiling a little. Draco looked at me in surprise but finally changed his expression to happy.
"Well, whatever happens, I have your back" he said giving me another pat on the shoulder and a warm smile.
"Yeah, unfortunately that won't help me at all" I told him but smiled to show I didn't mean it as an insult.
"Alright, well, I'm gonna go get some sleep before I start hugging you" he said with a small chuckle.
"Like that would be such a bad thing? Really, maybe all you need is a hug?" I called out as he started walking backwards so he could still see me.
"Here? Yeah right" he joked as he waved his arms indicting anywhere near the Gryffindor Tower would be out of bounds for any kind of physical relative appreciation. I waved him off as I said the password I overheard one of the older Gryffindors telling someone during dinner. I wasn't surprised to see none of my friends in the room, or the twins or Lee. It wasn't empty though, a few students were scattered through the common room. I sighed and plopped down on the couch, it felt good to sit on something comfortable.
"Where have you been, Fred was looking for you." I nearly jumped off the couch at the surprise voice.
"Why did you do that?" I hissed at Oliver who looked a little amused.
"It's not like I just popped out of nowhere" he said, his tone going back to the saddened one. I shifted in my seat.
"If you want me to leave I can" I offered but he merely shook his head.
"Won't stop me from thinking about you" he said with a little smile. I rolled my tongue inside my mouth, I didn't want to say anything, I didn't want to engage in a conversation on that topic with him, that would only make things worse, I told myself as I looked at the burning fireplace.
"Madame Burnner said you were having trouble?" I asked, hoping somehow his troubles were not connected to me in any way.
"I was thinking about not joining the Quidditch Team we found during the summer" he said. I continued looking into the fire, it was a stupid idea to think it was just about Quidditch.
"What team?" I asked.
"Woodley Spikes" he said with a little smile.
"Huh, Oliver Wood, Quidditch Keeper for the Woodley Spikes" I joked. "Has a nice ring to it you know" I added as he nodded. "What are their colors?"
"Orange and brown" he said as I finally looked over at him.
"Not bad, you'd look nice" I commented.
"I'll look like a pumpkin" he said with a laugh.
"Yeah, but you'll look like a cute pumpkin" I replied. Even before the last word came out I knew I had already done myself in. That wasn't what I was supposed to say. Not to him. This was the exact situation I was hoping to avoid. "I um, have to go do something" I said as quickly got up and ran over to the door.
"Can't we talk about this?" Oliver asked. I shifted as I looked at his hurt expression. Okay, maybe Burnner was partially right. I was cold.
"No, there is nothing to talk about" I replied before making my way out. I hurried down the stairs, this was awful. I left school for break on these same terms. Confronted by Oliver and I let my guard down. Why did this keep happening? I asked myself. The kiss everyone could understand, but telling him he was cute, and him twisting it around as he saw fit, no, now I was absolutely ruined. I stopped just outside a classroom, the door was partly opened. I took a deep breath, maybe Oliver wouldn't tell. He knew if he didn't, I wouldn't and then he'd only push for something. I couldn't tell Fred about this. How would I even begin to tell him? I asked myself as I started to move away from the door but heard voices. I turned back to look, listen, that was definitely Melinda's voice. I thought to myself as I leaned closer to listen.
"I still don't understand what possessed you to read the letter; you knew it wasn't going to say he hated me. It wasn't even for you." I heard Melinda hiss. I moved so I could see through the small opening, she was talking to George.
"Beats me Liny, I guess it just bothers me when some mean git hits on my girlfriend" George replied sarcastically.
"But it doesn't mean anything" Melinda told him, her tone annoyed.
"Yes, because I'm sure everyone else thinks that too" George said bitterly.
"Since when did everyone else matter?" Melinda asked, her voice dropping a little as I saw her slide off the desk and walk over to George.
"Since we Weasleys let you and your friend into our lives" he said quietly as he sat on the closest desk "Liny, we don't have anything, I have nothing to give you; I don't even know how much affection I can give you. I don't do this, I don't get involved with girls, not like this" he said, his voice still quiet.
"And I thank you for letting me in" Melinda replied after a second.
"We won't last, and I don't want this end later, when we're both at risk for getting seriously hurt. I don't to hurt you and you don't want to hurt me" he said, the silence falling again.
"Why don't you think we won't last?" Melinda asked, her voice back to annoyed. I didn't blame her, George was giving up.
"Because you're not my type. I'm not your type; we don't belong together. You're a Felton, I'm a Weasley" he said in a matter of fact tone. "And your closest friend is a Malfoy, come on, what kind of disaster do you think this will turn out be?" he asked though got up and moved to the other side of the room, out of view. I could only imagine why he was acting so mean, I felt bad that he was in his current situation but he didn't have to be a jerk and close himself off so it would hurt less.
"That's not fair. First of all, my family has nothing to do with me. Just because my grandma married a Slytherin doesn't mean I'm destined for the same thing. And Tammie told Fred, she's trying" Melinda said, sounding like she truly meant it. I started to smile but heard George snort.
"Like her and my brother are going to last? She doesn't care about him, she never will, you know her better than me. Tell me she'll make to March" George snorted. I waited to hear Melinda say confidently that I would but it remained silent. "So why should I be with someone who knows my brother is in a bound to fail relationship with a twisted Malfoy?" Again, silence.
"I guess you shouldn't…" Melinda said after what seemed like forever. I jerked my head up to look at her, I imagined George was surprised too.
"Guess not" he said, his voice flat. Again, an uncomfortable silence fell. I wanted to say something, to run in and apologize but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew Melinda wanted this, for whatever reason. "Well, that was easy" George said after a few seconds passed.
"Good night George" Melinda said quietly, and then suddenly the door was opened, both of them staring at me.
