"No one can help me."
Ginny lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling unaware of everything around her. A piece of paper lay by the side of her with these few words scrawled on it. She closed her eyes and tried to remember a time when she had no cares in the world; a time when she could simply live her life the way she wanted to.
"Why am acting like this?"
The question rang in her ears as she recalled her early teen years when she'd had a major crush on Harry; yes, she'd been obsessed with him for years, but since the 5th year she'd realised he only liked her as a friend, and besides, he's with Hermione now, she thought to herself. What she couldn't work out was why she was so depressed. Draco Malfoy can't have had this big an effect on her after only a few kisses. But they were some kisses, she thought in wonderment, remembering the feel of his lips on her skin and the thrill that had shot through her. She also recollected how he'd suddenly pulled away with the words 'I can't.' What did he mean? She thought with disappointment as she realised she'd probably never find out since he'd been avoiding her ever since it happened. 'And what does Hermione want?' she thought on reflection. She'd received a note from her, asking to go to her office at 3:00pm today. 'Probably wants to know why I hadn't been to lessons much,' Ginny thought in annoyance. 'Well I can't tell her,' she told herself firmly, 'It'll only make things worse.'
******************************* 3:00pm that day.
"Come in," Hermione called as Ginny knocked on her office door.
"Harry, you're here too?" Ginny asked in surprise, she hadn't expected this.
"Actually no," he replied smiling, "I was just finishing off some details for the ball, which you know is only a couple of weeks away," he reminded her. Seeing the downcast expression on her face, he decided to leave them to it.
Hermione stood up to sit with Ginny on the couch; sometimes she hated being behind a desk to talk to someone, especially if they were a friend.
"You know why you're here?" she asked Ginny in a friendly voice. She didn't want to be too 'head girlish' with her because it might frighten her away from opening up.
"Because of my attendance I guess," Ginny replied shrugging.
"Well, yeah, but it's the reason behind it that I'm interested in."
"There's no reason," said replied simply, "I've just been really tired lately that's all."
"How come?"
"Don't know really, just am," Ginny told her vaguely. She couldn't tell her the real reason for her not going to classes; imagine it, a Weasley pinning after a Malfoy! Everyone in Gryffindor house would hate her, especially Ron, and she couldn't bear it if he got into another fight over her.
"Ginny, you know this is serious," Hermione said gravely, "You've only been to 40% of your classes in the past week, I need to know why."
"Well you can't!" Ginny exploded at her springing up and making for the door.
"Ginny come on," Hermione soothed, standing up as well, "This isn't like you, what's wrong, please tell me."
"I can't," she repeated, tears forming in her eyes, as she stood by the door "It's so pathetic, but I can't help it." Hermione stayed quiet, willing her to continue in her own time. Ginny looked at Hermione pleadingly, she couldn't tell her about Draco because she'd have to tell her the whole story; how she'd been missing lessons to follow him round; watching in on his classes to catch glimpses of him. It seemed so pitiable now, but at the time she'd just wanted to be near him; the danger of being caught had never crossed her mind; no one had ever had this affect on her and if truth were told, she was scared. Facing the door she leaned her head on it, the tears flowing freely now. Ginny felt Hermione's hands on her shoulders as she turned her round into a hug. The feeling of comfort was overwhelming as Ginny submitted to the embrace.
"Ginny, I only want to help," Hermione told her gently, pulling away to look her in the eye.
"No you can't," Ginny replied shaking her head, "That's just it, it's my problem." Hermione stood helpless as Ginny opened the door to leave.
"I will go back to my lessons though," she said quietly as she closed the door behind her, leaving Hermione perplexed and troubled for her friend.
*********************************************************************** Ginny stood outside the door, wondering if Hermione was going to stop her but there was no calling her back. She'd said she'd go back to her lessons, but that was all, 'I'll just have to deal with this stupid infatuation myself,' she told herself, heading back along to the Gryffindor tower. Walking past the prefect common room, Ginny paused for a moment to look in and recall the moment she had been kissed for the first time. The room was bathed in sunlight, unlike the night she remembered. It was empty, save for a few scattered chairs and tables, and Ginny allowed herself to enter and peer around.
"Now this could get you in serious trouble," a voice said behind her. Ginny spun round to see none other than the object of her affection standing there, leaning against the doorframe. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the way he was looking at her, wearing a mischievous grin, his eyes burning into her. Draco stepped forward into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. She was trapped, alone once more with the guy most people detested, yet all she could think about was wanting him to do to her what he'd done the last time they'd been together.
"I." she tried to say, but he was walking over to her, his eyes fixed on hers.
"You know why your here don't you," he said, stopping in front of her, their faces inches away from each other. She gulped and nodded, unable to say a word. "But you know this has to stop," he continued, the smile facing from his lips, but his eyes still not leaving hers. Again she nodded as he reached out to clutch a handful of her hair. "This damn red hair," he muttered, letting it run through his fingers.
"My hair?" she managed to say, confused by the way he was behaving.
"Yes," he replied, "If only." but his voice trailed off as he dropped the hair, turning away to walk over to the window. Ginny was totally confused now, and she didn't know if it was due lack of sleep or what, but her head started to swim as she clutched at the nearest chair to try and steady herself.
"We can't." Draco started to say turning to face her again, but seeing the ashen colour of Ginny's face and the way she was swaying on the spot he knew she was about to faint. Quickly stepping towards her he held his arms out to balance her and as he did so she fell forward into his grasp. For a moment he didn't quite realise that he was hugging her to him as she rested her head on his shoulder, but on realising what he was doing he pulled away, holding her at arms length. He couldn't afford to get any more involved with her; he'd had his fun getting at Ron and also gaining respect from his fellow Slytherin's, but since the last time he'd kissed her, when he'd felt his controlling force wavering, he'd decided the best thing would be to break off any further interaction with her.
"I heard you haven't been yourself lately," he was saying as she looked at him through bemused eyes, "and I know it's because of me, so I'm going to help you out by leaving you alone." Ginny stared at him, wondering how on earth that would help her.
"But.I."
"God Ginny! What do you want me to do?" he threw at her, letting go of her shoulders to walk back to the window. He could feel his barrier breaking down as he saw how hurt she was by his words, but he had no choice. "I can't offer you anything."
"Wait.please." she said as he turned to walk out of the room. She knew she was being weak and throwing herself at Draco Malfoy of all people, but she couldn't help it. "Draco.please," she said again, placing a hand on his arm. He shrugged her off without looking back as he went through the door back to his room. Ginny stared after him as the tears welled up in her eyes.
"Why?" she cried as she sat down in one of the armchairs, "Why me?" she whimpered, holding her head in her hands.
"Ginny?" a voice said from the door. "Ginny, what's wrong?"
"Oh Harry!" she said as she saw who it was standing there, and jumping up she threw her arms round his neck, sobbing into his chest. Harry held her, not knowing what else to do. He was genuinely worried for her and seeing her like this is definitely knew there was something seriously wrong. What he wanted to know was why Draco Malfoy had left the room he had just found Ginny crying in.
********************************************************************** "Ginny what's wrong?" he asked, trying to comfort her, but she continued to cry against him, her whole body shaking. Harry was distraught at what to do. 'What had Malfoy done to her?' he thought in puzzlement as well as anger. 'He must had said something pretty awful to make her this upset,' he told himself. "Ginny," he tried again, drawing her head back so he could look at her, "Tell me what's wrong, what did Malfoy do?" he asked gently.
"I can't.I can't tell you," she managed to reply between sobs.
"If he's hurt you,"
"Not, it's not like that," Ginny replied quickly, the last thing she wanted was Harry and the others thinking the worst.
"So what is it?" he asked again.
But she just couldn't tell him; Harry disliked Draco as much as Ron did, and she couldn't bear them knowing how she felt about him.
"Ginny it must be pretty bad for you to be so upset," Harry said, still holding onto her as she hung her head.
"I can't tell you," she repeated quietly as she removed Harry's hands from her shoulders, "I'm sorry, but I can't." Harry watched her go and couldn't believe what had just happened. He decided he'd better find Hermione, he knew she'd only just met with Ginny so maybe she knew more about this.
*************************************************************************
"Hermione, what did Ginny just say to you?" Harry asked as he found her working in their office.
"Ginny?" she asked looking up, "she said she'd go back to lessons, but wouldn't tell me why she'd missed them in the first place."
"Great," he sighed sitting down, "because I just found her crying in the common room, after Malfoy had just left it."
"What? Draco? But what happened, what did he do?"
"I don't know, she wouldn't say, but she was pretty upset whatever it was."
"What on earth could he have done?" Hermione thought aloud, "She didn't say anything?"
"No, only that it wasn't what we thought," Harry replied equally confused.
"But what are we supposed to have thought?" she asked.
"That's just it, I have no idea," Harry said shaking his head in bewilderment.
***********************************************************************
Ginny walked away in a daze. Having no more lessons that day she decided to hide herself away in the dormitory, not wishing to see or speak to anyone. She knew what Draco had said to her, that he couldn't offer her anything, but then why had he kissed her in the first place? 'He must have felt something,' she reasoned, 'otherwise why did he do it?' Unless.Ginny stopped in her tracks as it finally dawned on her- what if it had been a joke? What If someone had dared Draco to kiss her? She didn't want to imagine what they would be saying about her; laughing at her for the way she'd been taken in so easily.
"How can I be so stupid!" she cried angrily, tears starting to flow. She brushed them away furiously, as she ran in the direction of no-where in particular. She found herself in a deserted corridor that she'd never come across before, but seeing an empty room she went inside and closed the door behind her. She needed to think, to be alone. After realising Draco's true intentions, did she still want him? Asking herself this question, Ginny knew there was only one way she could know for sure; she'd have to confront him.
"Draco?" she whispered quickly, stopping him from walking into the Great hall. Everyone else had already gone in for dinner, so she only had a few minutes.
"What do you want now?" he asked, slightly unbalanced by the fact she'd spoken to him after what he'd said.
"I need to talk to you," she replied quickly.
"There's nothing to talk about," he snapped at her, "Just leave it alone ok."
"No!" she almost shouted at him, "I will talk to you later, so meet me outside the prefect tower after dinner, ok?" she said, determined to make him agree.
"Ginny," he started to say, his voice softening a little.
"No excuses, be there," she said before walking away. She couldn't face eating after what she'd just said; it took all of her courage not to back down or start crying, and now that she'd made him meet her, she knew she had to go through with it.
Draco sat through dinner, not speaking or looking at anyone. He kept glancing up at the Gryffindor table to see if Ginny was there, but she never appeared. He knew he shouldn't go to meet her, but she'd been so determined and he was afraid at what she might say to anyone. 'Me, afraid!' he thought in disgust, 'I can control myself, I'm a Malfoy,' he told himself with pride, but deep down he knew when it came to Ginny he didn't know if he'd to keep up the pretence of refusing her, so it was with reluctance and a slightly scared mind that Draco made his way to the door outside the prefect tower to listen to whatever Ginny Weasley had to say.
************************************************************************** "Well, you've got me here, what do you want?" he asked in a bored voice as he found Ginny waiting for him. She was shivering through her robes as she clutched her arms around herself. 'God she must have been here ages,' he thought to himself, resisting the urge to offer her his cloak.
"I need.I need to ask you something," she replied almost inaudibly.
"You'll have to speak up then," he replied nastily; he knew he was being cruel but it was the only way to make her forget him.
"I.I want to know why you kissed me?" she asked, amazed that she'd actually been able to say it.
"Why I.?" Draco asked, thrown off guard by her question, "I don't know I just did."
"That's not a reason," she threw at him, her strength coming back to her; she was determined to make him say why he'd done it.
"Why do you care anyway," he threw back at him, "It's not like it'll happen again."
"But it did, 3 times!" she yelled at him, "and all because of some stupid dare!" She said it, her anger had taken over and instead of making him admit to it, she'd gone and accused him first.
"Does it matter?" he snarled at her, "So what if I did, I won didn't I?" he couldn't believe how cruel he was being, he was his old self, yet instead of feeling triumphant all he could think about was how much she was hurting because of him.
"Why?" she cried at him, not caring that anyone passing would hear them, or that she was crying almost hysterically. "Why did you?" He didn't answer, merely stared at her, trying in vain not to pull her to him; but with one arm he reached out and pulled her body close to his, the other hand going up to cradle her head. Ginny continued to cry, not knowing why she wasn't puling away from him; he was stroking her hair, soothing her to stop crying as she looked up at him. His facade was shattered as she looked imploringly at him.
"Why?" she asked again as he bought his hand down from her hair to her face. With one finger he stroked down her cheek, smiling at her. He forgot about everything that his actions would cause; he knew only that with Ginny in his arms he felt himself, not the malicious, unpleasant guy that everyone knew him as, but himself.
"It doesn't matter why," he told her, looking into her eyes, "I'm with you now," he said as he bent his kiss her.
Ginny lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling unaware of everything around her. A piece of paper lay by the side of her with these few words scrawled on it. She closed her eyes and tried to remember a time when she had no cares in the world; a time when she could simply live her life the way she wanted to.
"Why am acting like this?"
The question rang in her ears as she recalled her early teen years when she'd had a major crush on Harry; yes, she'd been obsessed with him for years, but since the 5th year she'd realised he only liked her as a friend, and besides, he's with Hermione now, she thought to herself. What she couldn't work out was why she was so depressed. Draco Malfoy can't have had this big an effect on her after only a few kisses. But they were some kisses, she thought in wonderment, remembering the feel of his lips on her skin and the thrill that had shot through her. She also recollected how he'd suddenly pulled away with the words 'I can't.' What did he mean? She thought with disappointment as she realised she'd probably never find out since he'd been avoiding her ever since it happened. 'And what does Hermione want?' she thought on reflection. She'd received a note from her, asking to go to her office at 3:00pm today. 'Probably wants to know why I hadn't been to lessons much,' Ginny thought in annoyance. 'Well I can't tell her,' she told herself firmly, 'It'll only make things worse.'
******************************* 3:00pm that day.
"Come in," Hermione called as Ginny knocked on her office door.
"Harry, you're here too?" Ginny asked in surprise, she hadn't expected this.
"Actually no," he replied smiling, "I was just finishing off some details for the ball, which you know is only a couple of weeks away," he reminded her. Seeing the downcast expression on her face, he decided to leave them to it.
Hermione stood up to sit with Ginny on the couch; sometimes she hated being behind a desk to talk to someone, especially if they were a friend.
"You know why you're here?" she asked Ginny in a friendly voice. She didn't want to be too 'head girlish' with her because it might frighten her away from opening up.
"Because of my attendance I guess," Ginny replied shrugging.
"Well, yeah, but it's the reason behind it that I'm interested in."
"There's no reason," said replied simply, "I've just been really tired lately that's all."
"How come?"
"Don't know really, just am," Ginny told her vaguely. She couldn't tell her the real reason for her not going to classes; imagine it, a Weasley pinning after a Malfoy! Everyone in Gryffindor house would hate her, especially Ron, and she couldn't bear it if he got into another fight over her.
"Ginny, you know this is serious," Hermione said gravely, "You've only been to 40% of your classes in the past week, I need to know why."
"Well you can't!" Ginny exploded at her springing up and making for the door.
"Ginny come on," Hermione soothed, standing up as well, "This isn't like you, what's wrong, please tell me."
"I can't," she repeated, tears forming in her eyes, as she stood by the door "It's so pathetic, but I can't help it." Hermione stayed quiet, willing her to continue in her own time. Ginny looked at Hermione pleadingly, she couldn't tell her about Draco because she'd have to tell her the whole story; how she'd been missing lessons to follow him round; watching in on his classes to catch glimpses of him. It seemed so pitiable now, but at the time she'd just wanted to be near him; the danger of being caught had never crossed her mind; no one had ever had this affect on her and if truth were told, she was scared. Facing the door she leaned her head on it, the tears flowing freely now. Ginny felt Hermione's hands on her shoulders as she turned her round into a hug. The feeling of comfort was overwhelming as Ginny submitted to the embrace.
"Ginny, I only want to help," Hermione told her gently, pulling away to look her in the eye.
"No you can't," Ginny replied shaking her head, "That's just it, it's my problem." Hermione stood helpless as Ginny opened the door to leave.
"I will go back to my lessons though," she said quietly as she closed the door behind her, leaving Hermione perplexed and troubled for her friend.
*********************************************************************** Ginny stood outside the door, wondering if Hermione was going to stop her but there was no calling her back. She'd said she'd go back to her lessons, but that was all, 'I'll just have to deal with this stupid infatuation myself,' she told herself, heading back along to the Gryffindor tower. Walking past the prefect common room, Ginny paused for a moment to look in and recall the moment she had been kissed for the first time. The room was bathed in sunlight, unlike the night she remembered. It was empty, save for a few scattered chairs and tables, and Ginny allowed herself to enter and peer around.
"Now this could get you in serious trouble," a voice said behind her. Ginny spun round to see none other than the object of her affection standing there, leaning against the doorframe. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the way he was looking at her, wearing a mischievous grin, his eyes burning into her. Draco stepped forward into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. She was trapped, alone once more with the guy most people detested, yet all she could think about was wanting him to do to her what he'd done the last time they'd been together.
"I." she tried to say, but he was walking over to her, his eyes fixed on hers.
"You know why your here don't you," he said, stopping in front of her, their faces inches away from each other. She gulped and nodded, unable to say a word. "But you know this has to stop," he continued, the smile facing from his lips, but his eyes still not leaving hers. Again she nodded as he reached out to clutch a handful of her hair. "This damn red hair," he muttered, letting it run through his fingers.
"My hair?" she managed to say, confused by the way he was behaving.
"Yes," he replied, "If only." but his voice trailed off as he dropped the hair, turning away to walk over to the window. Ginny was totally confused now, and she didn't know if it was due lack of sleep or what, but her head started to swim as she clutched at the nearest chair to try and steady herself.
"We can't." Draco started to say turning to face her again, but seeing the ashen colour of Ginny's face and the way she was swaying on the spot he knew she was about to faint. Quickly stepping towards her he held his arms out to balance her and as he did so she fell forward into his grasp. For a moment he didn't quite realise that he was hugging her to him as she rested her head on his shoulder, but on realising what he was doing he pulled away, holding her at arms length. He couldn't afford to get any more involved with her; he'd had his fun getting at Ron and also gaining respect from his fellow Slytherin's, but since the last time he'd kissed her, when he'd felt his controlling force wavering, he'd decided the best thing would be to break off any further interaction with her.
"I heard you haven't been yourself lately," he was saying as she looked at him through bemused eyes, "and I know it's because of me, so I'm going to help you out by leaving you alone." Ginny stared at him, wondering how on earth that would help her.
"But.I."
"God Ginny! What do you want me to do?" he threw at her, letting go of her shoulders to walk back to the window. He could feel his barrier breaking down as he saw how hurt she was by his words, but he had no choice. "I can't offer you anything."
"Wait.please." she said as he turned to walk out of the room. She knew she was being weak and throwing herself at Draco Malfoy of all people, but she couldn't help it. "Draco.please," she said again, placing a hand on his arm. He shrugged her off without looking back as he went through the door back to his room. Ginny stared after him as the tears welled up in her eyes.
"Why?" she cried as she sat down in one of the armchairs, "Why me?" she whimpered, holding her head in her hands.
"Ginny?" a voice said from the door. "Ginny, what's wrong?"
"Oh Harry!" she said as she saw who it was standing there, and jumping up she threw her arms round his neck, sobbing into his chest. Harry held her, not knowing what else to do. He was genuinely worried for her and seeing her like this is definitely knew there was something seriously wrong. What he wanted to know was why Draco Malfoy had left the room he had just found Ginny crying in.
********************************************************************** "Ginny what's wrong?" he asked, trying to comfort her, but she continued to cry against him, her whole body shaking. Harry was distraught at what to do. 'What had Malfoy done to her?' he thought in puzzlement as well as anger. 'He must had said something pretty awful to make her this upset,' he told himself. "Ginny," he tried again, drawing her head back so he could look at her, "Tell me what's wrong, what did Malfoy do?" he asked gently.
"I can't.I can't tell you," she managed to reply between sobs.
"If he's hurt you,"
"Not, it's not like that," Ginny replied quickly, the last thing she wanted was Harry and the others thinking the worst.
"So what is it?" he asked again.
But she just couldn't tell him; Harry disliked Draco as much as Ron did, and she couldn't bear them knowing how she felt about him.
"Ginny it must be pretty bad for you to be so upset," Harry said, still holding onto her as she hung her head.
"I can't tell you," she repeated quietly as she removed Harry's hands from her shoulders, "I'm sorry, but I can't." Harry watched her go and couldn't believe what had just happened. He decided he'd better find Hermione, he knew she'd only just met with Ginny so maybe she knew more about this.
*************************************************************************
"Hermione, what did Ginny just say to you?" Harry asked as he found her working in their office.
"Ginny?" she asked looking up, "she said she'd go back to lessons, but wouldn't tell me why she'd missed them in the first place."
"Great," he sighed sitting down, "because I just found her crying in the common room, after Malfoy had just left it."
"What? Draco? But what happened, what did he do?"
"I don't know, she wouldn't say, but she was pretty upset whatever it was."
"What on earth could he have done?" Hermione thought aloud, "She didn't say anything?"
"No, only that it wasn't what we thought," Harry replied equally confused.
"But what are we supposed to have thought?" she asked.
"That's just it, I have no idea," Harry said shaking his head in bewilderment.
***********************************************************************
Ginny walked away in a daze. Having no more lessons that day she decided to hide herself away in the dormitory, not wishing to see or speak to anyone. She knew what Draco had said to her, that he couldn't offer her anything, but then why had he kissed her in the first place? 'He must have felt something,' she reasoned, 'otherwise why did he do it?' Unless.Ginny stopped in her tracks as it finally dawned on her- what if it had been a joke? What If someone had dared Draco to kiss her? She didn't want to imagine what they would be saying about her; laughing at her for the way she'd been taken in so easily.
"How can I be so stupid!" she cried angrily, tears starting to flow. She brushed them away furiously, as she ran in the direction of no-where in particular. She found herself in a deserted corridor that she'd never come across before, but seeing an empty room she went inside and closed the door behind her. She needed to think, to be alone. After realising Draco's true intentions, did she still want him? Asking herself this question, Ginny knew there was only one way she could know for sure; she'd have to confront him.
"Draco?" she whispered quickly, stopping him from walking into the Great hall. Everyone else had already gone in for dinner, so she only had a few minutes.
"What do you want now?" he asked, slightly unbalanced by the fact she'd spoken to him after what he'd said.
"I need to talk to you," she replied quickly.
"There's nothing to talk about," he snapped at her, "Just leave it alone ok."
"No!" she almost shouted at him, "I will talk to you later, so meet me outside the prefect tower after dinner, ok?" she said, determined to make him agree.
"Ginny," he started to say, his voice softening a little.
"No excuses, be there," she said before walking away. She couldn't face eating after what she'd just said; it took all of her courage not to back down or start crying, and now that she'd made him meet her, she knew she had to go through with it.
Draco sat through dinner, not speaking or looking at anyone. He kept glancing up at the Gryffindor table to see if Ginny was there, but she never appeared. He knew he shouldn't go to meet her, but she'd been so determined and he was afraid at what she might say to anyone. 'Me, afraid!' he thought in disgust, 'I can control myself, I'm a Malfoy,' he told himself with pride, but deep down he knew when it came to Ginny he didn't know if he'd to keep up the pretence of refusing her, so it was with reluctance and a slightly scared mind that Draco made his way to the door outside the prefect tower to listen to whatever Ginny Weasley had to say.
************************************************************************** "Well, you've got me here, what do you want?" he asked in a bored voice as he found Ginny waiting for him. She was shivering through her robes as she clutched her arms around herself. 'God she must have been here ages,' he thought to himself, resisting the urge to offer her his cloak.
"I need.I need to ask you something," she replied almost inaudibly.
"You'll have to speak up then," he replied nastily; he knew he was being cruel but it was the only way to make her forget him.
"I.I want to know why you kissed me?" she asked, amazed that she'd actually been able to say it.
"Why I.?" Draco asked, thrown off guard by her question, "I don't know I just did."
"That's not a reason," she threw at him, her strength coming back to her; she was determined to make him say why he'd done it.
"Why do you care anyway," he threw back at him, "It's not like it'll happen again."
"But it did, 3 times!" she yelled at him, "and all because of some stupid dare!" She said it, her anger had taken over and instead of making him admit to it, she'd gone and accused him first.
"Does it matter?" he snarled at her, "So what if I did, I won didn't I?" he couldn't believe how cruel he was being, he was his old self, yet instead of feeling triumphant all he could think about was how much she was hurting because of him.
"Why?" she cried at him, not caring that anyone passing would hear them, or that she was crying almost hysterically. "Why did you?" He didn't answer, merely stared at her, trying in vain not to pull her to him; but with one arm he reached out and pulled her body close to his, the other hand going up to cradle her head. Ginny continued to cry, not knowing why she wasn't puling away from him; he was stroking her hair, soothing her to stop crying as she looked up at him. His facade was shattered as she looked imploringly at him.
"Why?" she asked again as he bought his hand down from her hair to her face. With one finger he stroked down her cheek, smiling at her. He forgot about everything that his actions would cause; he knew only that with Ginny in his arms he felt himself, not the malicious, unpleasant guy that everyone knew him as, but himself.
"It doesn't matter why," he told her, looking into her eyes, "I'm with you now," he said as he bent his kiss her.