Author's Notes: The basis for this fic came completely from the song Burn from the musical Hamilton. I highly recommend listening to the song while reading. The fic is based in an alternate universe I've created with a friend, Ali (Stained Glass Rose) where Draco and Ginny are in a relationship post-Hogwarts which Ginny believes to be authentic but Draco first initiated to try to get Lucius out of Azkaban and heighten the Malfoy reputation. I can't tell you enough to go check out Ali's fics, they're wonderfully written and she has the best characterization of Draco I've seen. Thanks for reading and please feel free to review or PM me directly to leave any comments / criticisms!
They had once joked about how Draco knew he was a vital part to his previous relationship and Ginny admitted she had been, too, at the time. Until it all fell apart. They had reflected on their old partners, not realizing that they'd become them – or some semblance of them. Vital at the time, but no longer. She thought Draco was hers, would have said she knew it. She kept each of the letters as proof to herself that she was his, too. Now she just wanted them to burn.
-
They were sitting up late in Ginny's kitchen, having wine, when the first letter arrived. Angelina took one look at the handwriting and said, "Be careful with that one, love. He will do what it takes to survive." Ginny waved off her comments and look, tucking the note away neatly until the woman left. It was a struggle to not read the words on the spot, but she was so nervous about what it might hold that she didn't dare unfold the letter until she was tucked away in her room.
She knew Angelina was right, though. Before she even opened the letter, she reflected on Draco's past. He was a Slytherin to the core: He protected himself and his family at all costs. Blood wasn't just thicker than water to him. It meant more than just survival for himself. It went further than that. To their family name and beyond.
The thoughts didn't keep her from curling up near the fire to see what he'd written.
-
The detail and honesty with which he wrote caused her insides to burn. She grew to crave them; she stayed up too late, too often. He liked to write late at night the most and she always laid awake, nearly holding her breath as she waited for the tap on the window of his owl. More often than she'd admit or ever tell him, his words left tears pricking her eyes and her heart feeling more open and raw than it ever had. He spoke of the war, his choices, his rationale. He wrote about the Dark Lord, Dumbledore, and even the Order. He wrote of his loneliness, his despair. His newfound happiness with her in his life. All of it.
Draco wrote of a future that they longed to share, set up scenarios where they could be together despite the world that didn't seem to want to allow it. He built a foundation for them with his words that she didn't imagine would ever be broken.
-
The news wasn't broken in a letter – but then, how could it have been? The letters were pure, full of lust, love, and dreams. This was a nightmare. A series of facts that made every letter – every sentence, every word – null and void.
He'd done this for his father and his legacy. A tainted legacy that she would never be a part of. It was all to clear a name. Everything was done to attempt to repay a debt, and she was the cost.
No one would've been surprised that Draco broke her heart. Everyone could see it coming except for Ginny herself.
-
Once she decided to burn them, the shock finally set in that he'd allowed himself to write them at all. To put his feelings into words that could be used against him. Words that he might not even recall the full extent of after they'd left his palms.
She goes to burn the letters, but Draco stops her.