It's My Life
By: Rayven Blackwood
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters are copyrighted to JKR, And her numerous publishers around the world. The Song 'It's My Life belongs to Dido. The basic plot bunny belongs to me.
Ginny glared into the bottom of her glass.
Damn you Ronald Weasley, for sticking your big nose in where it isn't needed. She thought spitefully, throwing back the shot of amaretto.
It burned her throat on its way down, but not before she caught the taste on her tongue.
It was sweet and dark and mysterious, and reminded her so much of her lover…. She ordered another.
It was all because he couldn't let go of a silly childhood rivalry, she knew. For five and a half years, they felt this intrinsic need to throw barbs at each other.
Ginny doubted if Ron had even realized that after Narcissa's death, Draco had stopped. That after his mother's death, he'd become subdued, less arrogant, more thoughtful. No, Ginny highly doubted that.
It was all because of Ron that Ginny was sitting at a Muggle dance club, wearing a revealing outfit, trying to drown her sorrows in shots of amaretto. The day's events flashed before her eyes as she polished one off and slammed it on the counter. She called for a new one.
Sunlight streamed through the large windows of his flat as she sipped her morning tea. Ginny smiled as Draco stumbled out of his bedroom into the bathroom, mumbling a quiet 'morning'. He never was a morning person…
Later on, after she'd gotten dressed and Draco had cooked them both breakfast, they'd cuddled on the couch for a bit. Ginny was just relaxing, and Draco fiddled with her hair. It was calm, contented, and beautiful in its simplicity. Both were happy just to be with each other.
Until, of course, someone began pounding on the door.
Draco glowered, and Ginny had to smother a giggle. At the look on his face, Ginny was hard-pressed not to laugh outright. She gave him a slight shove towards the door. "Go on then. Open the door! Whoever it is sounds a mite bit angry."
After giving her one last withering glance, Draco moved to the front hall, and opened the door a crack. Then he jumped out of the way as Ron came barreling into the room. "Where is she, Malfoy?! Merlin's beard, if you've done something to her I'll-"
"Where is who, Weasley?" The silver-haired man asked coolly.
"Ginny! That's who! She wasn't at her apartment last night! Harry and I scoured all of London looking for her, and we couldn't find her anywhere! The clock at the Burrow was no help, it said she was 'Vacationing'. And as much as I hate it, she actually likes you. So maybe you'd know where the hell she is?"
Draco smirked. "I know where she is. I'm not sure I want to tell you, though. After all, you've been terribly rude…"
Ron growled. "Do not play games with me, Malfoy. You will tell me where she is. And then I will go find her. And then, Heaven hoping, I will never come here again. Now. Where. Is. She?"
"Such behaviour is typical of you male Weasleys. No, I don't think I'll tell you. Ginny will come out when she feels li-"
By this time Ginny had thrown on an housecoat and come down the hall.
"Oh honestly, you two. You can't stop bickering even for a moment. It's disappointing really." She admonished, shoving Draco out of the way.
"Now Ron, what was so important that you and Harry had to scour London to find me?"
Ron's mouth was agape, flapping uselessly. "Wha-wha-what on EARTH are you doing here, Virginia? At Malfoy's? This early in the morning?"
Draco moved towards her, placing a possessive arm around her waist. "Well, I think the answer's quite obvious, wouldn't you? After all, we've been seeing each other for quite some time." He said, in that oh-so-suave tone of his. "Although I suppose it wouldn't be to you, dear Ron. You probably haven't even thought about the same with Hermione…"
Ron snapped. He roared -a loud, wordless- roar and charged Draco. Ginny managed to spin out of harm's way, but Draco caught the full force of Ron's weight to his stomach. He doubled over, giving Ron the opportunity to clip him in the jaw. Draco's head snapped back, blood spurting from his nose. With surprising speed, he retaliated, swinging a strong left hook to Ron's cheekbone.
Ginny could only watch in shock for a few moments, before drawing her wand and stunning them both.
"You're such children! I can't believe that you, both grown men, are brawling. Over nothing! Nothing! What has gotten into the two of you?" She yelled, hands on hips. "This has gone on long enough. Draco, you're going to go into the bathroom and deal with your nose. Ron, you're going to tell me what you're doing here, and then you're going to leave, is that clear?" She demanded. Both men nodded their ascent - or did as best they could while frozen. She released them both.
Ron fell forward, almost landing in Draco's lap. Draco just smirked, and stood with his arms crossed. Ginny poked him in the ribs, and gave him a push towards the inner part of the flat. Ginny stared at Ron expectantly.
"Ginny-" Ron started, then stopped. He sighed, ran his hands through his hair. "Ginny- Harry, the Twins and I have come to a decision."
A sinking feeling began to form in Ginny's stomach. "A decision. A decision about what, oh dearest brother mine?" She said, her voice ice-cold.
"We've decided that we don't want you seeing Malfoy anymore. I'm sure that-"
"You what?" To her credit, she kept her voice completely calm, quiet, and smooth. Much like a very dangerous patch of ice.
Ron stumbled over his words. "We uhh…we decided that it was not a good idea for you to keep dating Malfoy. We think he's a bad influence on you and…"
His voice died away when he recognized the very terrible look on Ginny's face. It was the same look she had worn when the Twins had turned her hair lime-green. The same look from when Hermione had found her non-responsive journal and had inadvertently read a few entries. The same look from when Ron had used her favourite shirt to clean off his broom. The tiny voice inside his head that usually told him what to do in such situations simply said 'uh-oh'.
"Get out. Get out right now. How dare you presume you have any control over whom I choose to date? I cannot stand to look at you right now. I can't believe that you would…get out. This instant."
.
The wand in her hand and the look on her face was enough to make Ron tuck his tail between his legs and run for cover. Ginny sighed, and closed her eyes. She could hear Draco walking towards her, and knew that he'd listened to every word. Instead of stopping next to her, as Ginny thought he would, he excused himself and went outside.
Ginny resisted the urge to bang her head against the wall as she heard her lover calling to her brother.
"Weasley!" He yelled. "Nice try. But did you really think that Ginny would just go with you, pretty as you please? Honestly. I know you don't like it, but face the facts man. We're in love. And you can't change that."
Ron snarled, but walked away, apparently still scared of Ginny's wrath should he attack Draco again. But Ginny wasn't just furious with him at the moment.
Draco stepped back into the flat, and Ginny glared at him. "You constantly have to do that, don't you? You are forever stirring it up! You can't ever let someone else have the last word. Why did you have to go out there and taunt him like that?"
He smirked. "Oh come now Gin, you couldn't possibly believe I would let such a golden opportunity slip through my fingers, could you?"
Ginny narrowed her eyes. "You could have tried! You could've proven yourself the better man! Just for once I wish the two of you would act like adults when forced to be in each other's company!"
Her eyes darted to the clock behind his head. The time read eight thirty-two. "Damn it!" she exclaimed, racing to his room, trying to gather up her clothing. "It's already half past, I'm going to be late for my interview at the Wizards Wireless Network, I won't get that job…"
After dressing hastily, she turned to face him. "I have to go. I don't know if I'll come back tonight. I'll probably have to go placate Mum. Ron'll have told her something completely blown out of proportion, I'm sure." She gave him a lingering kiss before stepping back. "Love you." Ginny said, and Disapparated to her own flat.
The lights in the club dimmed and the music slowed down. A dozen couples stepped onto the dance floor, moving sensuously against each other, or just enjoying being in each other's arms. Ginny scowled at them, and ordered another shot, her sixth in the hour.
The day was already bad, but it had gotten worse after that. She'd almost completely bombed her interview, the only saving grace being that her hopeful future boss had been an understanding young woman she'd known from Hogwarts, and had rescheduled her for another appointment, promising to completely forget about this particular interview.
Then she'd gone to the Burrow, hoping to see her mother for a few minutes alone. Instead, she'd run into Harry…
She saw him standing there, ebony hair sticking every which way, as always. Ginny didn't even think, she just turned on her heel and began to march away.
"Ginny!" he called. She didn't turn around. "Ginny! Please, wait! Ginny!" he grabbed her arm hard, probably hard enough to bruise.
"What do you want, Harry? I'm not exactly in the mood to deal with you, or any of my three youngest brothers."
He seemed taken aback, but plunged in. "Gin, I– we, I talked to Ron. His approach was very untactful. What he was trying to say is, we think you should maybe…take a break from Malfoy for a bit. You know, don't write him off completely, and see other people. Slow down a bit. You understand?" The last part was said a little pleadingly.
"No, Harry. You don't understand. I love Draco. He loves me. We've been together for just under six months. Mum likes him. Dad doesn't have this burning desire to kill him. My brothers, barring Fred, George and Ron, are okay with him. Hell, even Hermione recognizes the fact that he's not the boy who used to call her Mudblood back at Hogwarts. So why don't the four of you get it through your thick-as-bricks skulls that I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK ANYMORE!"
After that little outburst, she'd stormed down the stairs and left the Burrow, her reason for visiting forgotten.
She'd gone home and cried after that. She loved her family dearly, and she knew she always would. But why couldn't her brothers get over the fact that she was in love with Draco? Why couldn't they just let go of the past?
Hermione had tried to visit, but Ginny had sent her away. Her cat, a gorgeous Siamese that Draco had given her for her twenty-first birthday two months ago, had curled herself around Ginny's shoulders. After a few hours of self-pity passed, Ginny had decided to go clubbing. Dancing always took her mind off her problems for a few hours. She went to most of the contemporary Magical clubs in London, but kept running into people she didn't want to see.
Oliver Wood and his girlfriend. Lee Jordan and his wife Alicia. Colin Creevey, Hannah Abbott. Finally, Ginny went to the last place she could think of. The Muggle club she and Draco had found together, the Wolves' Den.
The song ended, and another slow moving, jazz-styled song started up. Ginny scowled again, before the words caught her attention. She stopped and listened, amaretto halfway to her lips.
"What I choose to do is of no concern to you, and your friends. Where I lay my hat, may not be my home, but I will last on my own. 'Cause it's me. And my life. It's my life."
Ginny nodded. This woman knew what she was talking about! Obviously the writer had been in a similar position. Ginny downed her drink, toasting herself and the wonderful woman whose voice crooned from the speakers.
"Oh the world has sat, in the palm of my hand. Not that you'd see. And I'm tired and bored of waiting for you and all those things you never do. 'Cause it's me, and my life. It's my life. It's my life."
The song ended, and Ginny was a bit disappointed that there were no more lyrics of ultimate wisdom. She stood up, Amaretto in hand, and yelled at the top of her lungs.
"There you go Ron! Listen to the song, you bloody stupid ass!"
Maybe it was her anger at her siblings, or her confusion at their lack of understanding. Maybe it was the fact that she stood up too fast. Most likely it was the sheer amount of hard liquor she'd ingested over the past few hours. Whatever the reason, Ginny chose that moment to collapse. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her legs folded underneath her.
The bartender sighed and picked up a slender piece of cherry wood and pointed it at his throat. After whispering a spell, he said a few words, apparently to no one. Then he sat Ginny up, leaned her against the bar and waited.
A few moments later, a blond-haired man walked into the club and made a beeline for the bar. He picked Ginny up and held her possessively to his chest. He fished a few Muggle bills out of his pants pockets and dropped them on the bar. Then he turned to leave. Once at the door, Draco Malfoy turned around and nodded his thanks to Remus Lupin, who only nodded back.