Fallin' Out Of Love
"Ginny?"
Ginny carefully marked her page in the heavy book of poems and looked up, and expectant look on her pixie-like freckled face.
Draco Malfoy was standing on the other side of the tiny café table, hands shoved into the pockets of his robes, rocking back and forth on his heels. Almost instantly Ginny knew that whatever he had to say, it wasn't good. He had that odd shifty look about him she'd learned meant he was nervous about something.
"Hi, Draco. Have a seat."
Draco delicately sat in the chair at his left. He folded his hands on the table and stared at them, silvery hair falling into his equally silvery eyes.
"Ginny… there's something I need to tell you…"
Ginny felt a tinge of fear trickle into her stomach. Something wasn't right here.
"What's wrong?"
Draco looked up; gray eyes filled with… guilt? Ginny shoved away the impossible thought.
He looked her square in the eyes, and Ginny knew, somehow, that this was very, very bad.
"I've been seeing someone else."
Ginny's breath caught in her throat. "W-What?" she stammered. "You're kidding, right?"
Draco slowly shook his head.
Ginny let out the breath she hadn't known she been holding. "Who?"
"Alyssa DePalmo," Draco said hesitantly. Ah. The brunette girl he worked with.
Ginny suddenly had the crazy urge to yank Draco's lungs out through his ears. She pushed it down, utilizing her almost legendary self-control. "What's this got to do with me?" she asked coolly.
"I… I think I love her," admitted Draco. "And I can't string you along like that."
Ginny stood and grabbed her book. "You've done a smashing job so far," she snapped. She swung her bag over her shoulder. "I've got to go, Malfoy. Later."
He says he loves her… what can you say to that
He's made up his mind and there ain't nothin' you can do
Ginny Apparated away, leaving nothing behind her.
But taking her heartbreak along for the ride.
She appeared in her own bedroom, in her own loft. She dumped her things on ground and flung herself onto the bed, tears trickling silently down her face. She curled her arms a fluffy white stuffed bunny and buried her face in the fake fur.
Then she recoiled and stared at the toy as if seeing it for the first time. A fierce scowl twisted her delicate features.
Draco—no, Malfoy—had given her that rabbit.
She threw it against the far wall, knocking a photograph of her parents off the alabaster wall. Ginny grabbed her wand and pointed it at the rabbit.
"Incendio," she hissed wrathfully. The little bunny burst into flames.
"Good riddance," Ginny muttered. She fell back onto the bed.
"Why'd he do this to me?" she whispered to the empty room. She felt a sob coming on, but she swallowed it.
She stood and marched into the living room. She seized her broom from the hall closet and jetted off into the evening sky through an open window, robes and crimson curls flapping around her.
And so you swallow hard… maybe you drive all night
Tryin' to figure out where the whole started goin' wrong
Night fell quickly. Ginny soon found herself soaring through empty air, black as she fancied her ex-lover's heart to be.
What had gone so wrong? Ginny couldn't figure it out. They'd spent a year and a half as couple. True, lately they hadn't been able to see that much of each other, but Draco had his Auror career to worry about, with all the Death Eaters still running around, and Ginny had been tied up in trying to get her tiny theater on its feet.
She closed her eyes, not caring if she ran into a airplane, and turned her mind back over their relationship.
She still remembered the day they'd run into each other, in the Daily Prophet offices. She'd been trying to get an ad placed for the play she'd arranged at her little theater and he'd been looking for information about some reporter-gone-felon. They'd struck up a conversation and Draco—not having any idea who she was, as she gave him the name Virginia—had asked her if she'd like to go out sometime.
For a while they'd had a very casual relationship. Then, over the course of two months, they'd gone from good friends to something very different.
No, Ginny mused, it wasn't during that time that he'd been driven off, she was sure. He had been the one coming after her, not the other way around.
About four months ago, Ginny realized, they'd gotten into a horrendous row, she couldn't really remember over what. They'd both said some things that hurt.
For a few weeks after that they'd both been distant, but they'd grown back together. And then Ginny's theater had taken off and Draco had run off after a bunch of Azkaban escapees.
That was probably when he'd gone after Alyssa. She hadn't seen him for almost three weeks. Who knew what had happened?
Ginny opened her eyes and shook off the memories and speculations. It didn't matter. She was never going to go back to him. Ever.
And in the silence something begins to unravel
You never knew him like you'll be knowing him now
Ginny marched down the crowded street, dodging people and pets as she walked.
"Stupid Muggles," she muttered under her breath. "Can't even Apparate, I'd get in-in-"
About thirty feet off, back to her, was a tall man with hair so pale blonde it was almost white, wearing a black suede jacket. Ginny's breath caught in her throat.
"It can't be him… he wouldn't be caught dead out here," she whispered. But still, insane hope sent her stomach dancing. She pushed it back.
The man turned. He had a tan, and he most definitely wasn't Draco. He had brown eyes.
Ginny let out a self-deprecating laugh. Of course it wasn't him. She'd never see him again, if she was lucky. She resumed her trudge and pushed through a crowd of teenagers, turning her mind to the meeting with the ballet company.
Falling out of love and back into your life
Pulling your heart out from under the knife
Closing the door on all those dreams you used to know
"Hey Ginny! What's up!" Fred gripped his little sister in a bone-crunching hug.
"Uh, Fred, I can't breathe here," Ginny choked. Fred released her and grinned apologetically.
"Sorry, Gin. Hey, George! Ginny's here!"
George appeared out of the back room, fiery hair standing up in every direction and looking rather singed. A smudge of soot ran up his left cheekbone.
Ginny stifled laughter as George vaulted over the counter and swung her up in air.
"George you freak, lemme go!" she shrieked. George dropped her back on the floor.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" said George, surveying his sister.
"We missed our sis," Fred added.
"You missed your test subject, you mean," retorted Ginny amiably. "Please tell me you don't have any Serpent Sherbet on you."
"All right, we won't then," said George cheekily. Ginny lightly smacked his arm.
A tiny rocket came hurtling out of the back room.
"Daddy, Daddy, the birdie's gonna get me!" the midget shrieked, latching onto George's leg. Another blur came running out of the back room, this one covered in yellow feathers.
"Ethan, I told you not to eat any of that stuff!" said George, grabbing at the yellow blur. It skidded to a stop. There was a sudden explosion of feathers and five-year-old Ethan looked sheepishly up at his father.
George sent his siblings martyred look and pried the still-squealing little girl off his leg. "Lego, Amy."
The redheaded three-year-old girl who was obviously Amy let go of George's leg and glared at her older brother.
"You're a meanie," she said, sticking out her lip. Ethan stuck his tongue out in reply.
"I told you not to leave them in there alone," said Fred scoldingly. George made a face at his twin.
Fred turned sharply at looked at Ginny. "How are you, anyway?"
"All right, I suppose."
"You haven't heard from Malfoy, have you?" asked George, scowling slightly. His words plunged Ginny back into memories. She shook it off.
Falling out of love and back on your feet
Turning away from that dead end street
"No. And I hope I never do."
This apparently satisfied the twins, but before either could say anything little Ethan took off on a long-winded explanation of what he'd been doing that weekend at his Uncle Charlie's.
"We saw the baby dragon! I got to feed him!" cried Ethan excitedly. "His name's Gandalf, and he's blue an' gray!"
When Ethan was finally coaxed into silence, Fred took her on a tour of the shop. Trick candies and other sweets took up a large portion of the shop, of course, with the rest taken up by the likes of trick wands and explosives that smelled of rubber tires or marigolds, and some other things that Ginny didn't understand in the least.
Afterwards school let out and hoards of teenaged wizards bombarded the shop, so Ginny watched her niece and nephew (their mother was out of town on some reporting assignment, so George got to play Mr. Mommy) in the back room, occasionally getting things for her brothers.
Then closing time came at them. Fred locked the door and they started cleaning up.
"How's the theater doing?" asked George.
"Awfully well," said Ginny. "For being such a harebrained idea, it's doing pretty good." She pointed her wand at a jumbled shelf and the merchandise rearranged itself.
"You're a Weasley. Our harebrained ideas always work out," said George, levitating Amy away from a display of Acid Pops.
"All but one," muttered Ginny, thinking back on Draco.
Fred caught her statement and faced her. "Look, stop getting so wound up over a long-dead relationship," he said fiercely. "It's been two and a half months, Gin. Forget him."
He was right. Ginny hated to admit that tiny fact, but he was right.
Late that night, as Ginny flipped through her photo album, she realized something.
She didn't care anymore. She really didn't. When she thought of Draco, she thought of a blonde-haired man who had a problem with real commitment. Nothing more.
Ginny grinned. It felt wonderful.
And finding out that nothing feels as good as letting go
"You're not still attached to that Malfoy boy, are you?"
Ginny looked up in surprise. Penelope was looking shrewdly at her. Ginny laughed.
"I haven't thought about him in a while, Penny. Honestly. He's old news."
"Have you been out with anyone else?"
Ginny shrugged. "One or twice. I'm going out with Seamus Finnigan this weekend."
"Good." Penelope eyed Ginny oddly, as if expecting her to break out in tears. Then she shrugged indifferently.
"So, how's the ballet deal coming?"
That's when he calls you up out of the blue one day
And you know he thinks he's talking to the girl that you used to be
"Is Miss Weasley here?"
"She's in her office, sir. Third door on the left."
"Thank you."
Ginny heard voices down the hall, but she didn't really register them. She was knee-deep in a contract that would solidify the deal between the Scarlet Witch Theater and the Diagon Alley Ballet Company.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in, it's unlocked," called Ginny absently, flipping to the next page.
The door opened with a slight squeaking sound. She heard footsteps, but didn't look up.
"Hi, Ginny."
Ginny froze. She knew that voice. That voice had swirled through her memories for almost four months.
She looked up. There, standing before her desk and looking a little uncomfortable, with a light sunburn and hair askew, was Draco Malfoy.
"Hello, Draco," said Ginny amiably, surprising even herself. "May I help you? Please, have a seat."
Draco looked slightly stunned. He'd probably expected her to curse him and have his body dumped in the Thames. He sat slowly, cautiously.
"Can we talk?"
"By all means," replied Ginny. She brushed a stray strand of hair back—the chopstick thrust through her hair didn't hold it all back in its messy bun—and looked at him expectantly.
"Well…" Draco took a deep breath, apparently bringing his slightly scattered wits about him. "Alyssa and I broke up."
"That's nice," said Ginny coolly, now knowing exactly where this conversation was going.
"And I think that maybe we could, I don't know, fix what happened between us."
Ginny's face hardened. "You left me for some girl, and now that it's over, you come running back to me. I'm not your security blanket, Malfoy."
Draco winced at the usage of his last name.
"To tell you the truth, it's been almost two months since I even thought about you. You lost your chance a long time ago. Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do."
Ginny picked up the contract and began reading it again.
Draco sat there, stunned, then slowly nodded. He stood.
"Well, it's been nice knowing you," he said weakly.
"Likewise," replied Ginny, not even looking up.
Draco left.
So when you tell him he's just a memory
Ain't it funny how his voice cracks when you're saying goodbye
And in the silence something begins to unravel
He never knew you like he'll be knowing you now
Ginny sat in the back row, watching as the dancers gracefully turned and pirouetted to the music, performing the legendary ballet Swan Lake.
"They're awfully good," Seamus said softly in the seat beside her. "No wonder you had such a hard time getting that contract."
"You have no idea," replied Ginny. The girl in the seat in front of her turned and shushed her reprovingly before turning back to the performance.
The performance, though it was well over two hours long, went by swiftly for Ginny. Soon they were going out into the lobby and mingling with the other ballet-goers.
"You've really pulled this place onto its feet," commented her brother Ron, who had gone from Harry Potter's sidekick to Junior Minister of Magic. "Just magic."
He noticed that Ginny and Seamus were holding hands and gave Ginny an impish wink, to which she replied with a hard poke in the side as she passed.
"It's late, maybe we should get going," said Seamus after a half-hour of this. "Let everyone else take care of everything backstage," he added as Ginny moved to go backstage. She sighed and nodded.
"All right, let's go."
Then she spotted a once-familiar blonde man. He was approaching quickly.
"Oh, hello Draco! You remember Seamus Finnigan. How are you?"
Draco glanced at Seamus. "Hello," he said coolly. He bowed slightly to Ginny. "It's nice to see you again, Ginny, but I'd best be going."
Ginny saw a haunted look in his eyes, but didn't say anything as he hurried off.
Falling out of love and back into your life
Pulling your heart out from under the knife
Closing the door on all those dreams you used to know
Falling out of love and back on your feet
Turning away from that dead end street
And finding out that nothing feels as good as letting go
"Let's go," said Ginny. Seamus nodded and they Apparated away.
Draco watched from a far corner of the room. "I've lost her, all right," he murmured to himself.
Oh and nothing feels as good as letting go
He turned and walked out into the dark street, wandering off into the blackness.
He said he loved her…