Gutterflower

"It's Over"



Draco glared at the Great Horned owl that tapped on his window. He knew who the owl belonged to, and he just didn't care what Ginny had to say at the moment. As a matter of fact, he didn't care what anyone had to say at that precise moment in his life. Ignoring the insistent tapping on his window, Draco rolled onto his side on his rather large bed and burned his head into the pillows.


The owl, however, would not stop tapping on the window. Draco's head was already pounding from the after-effects of his drinking, and the tapping sound only made it worse. He grit his teeth together and climbed out of bed, going toward the window to let the damned creature inside.


He could've sworn that the owl had given him a death glare as he took the letter off of his leg. The creature jumped up and flew out of the window the instant Draco had relieved him of its burden, making sure to claw Draco's arm as he let off. Utterly pissed, Draco slammed the window shut behind the owl and threw himself back onto his bed.


Whatever was in the letter… well, it could wait. What Draco needed was a nice rest, and then he could possibly face whatever it was that Ginny found so important to tell him. Damned Ginny… she was making him think that living was a trivial matter.


But then again, he told himself, it practically is.


He threw the roll of parchment onto his bedside table and eased himself back into his mattress. He wasn't going to worry himself over whatever was in that damned letter. He simply wasn't going to worry about whatever it was that Ginny had to say. She had already managed to disrupt the way of Draco's living, what else could she possibly do in this short amount of time? Everything was entirely her fault.


But what was in the letter? Draco found himself staring at the roll of parchment, thinking in his mind the various reasons for why Ginny would possibly be writing him a letter. He could remember, though rather vaguely, something that had happened earlier. Mix together a batch of quite a bit of alcohol, plus one angry Malfoy, and something unpleasant was guaranteed to come out, sooner or later. What had happened, Draco wasn't entirely sure.


Curiosity over what was in the letter consumed him. Draco finally reached over and grabbed the roll of parchment. He was going to figure out why the hell Ginny had sent him a damned owl with a simple roll of parchment from her poor family, with her poor ink and her poor parchment and her poor, pitiful owl…


Draco opened the letter and glared at its contents, not reading at first… simply glaring. He read through the contents of the letter, though taking a bit of time for the message to sink in considering that he had a rather horrible hangover. What on earth…?


What could Ginny possibly mean by this letter? He felt himself getting sick to his stomach, simply thinking about it. What had happened? Why? Questions ran through his head like a hot knife through butter, and he instantly sobered up.


No child? Had something happened? What did that mean? Draco jumped out of his bed, laying the parchment on the mattress where he had just lain, and began to pace around his cold room. Should he go and see Ginny to see what the hell she was talking about? Draco shook himself. Him… go to the Burnlow, or whatever it was that they called their poor living condition? No, he would not go there.


But… but what?


Draco continued to pace up and down the length of his room, glaring at random objects as though they should fear him. He had to know what Ginny had meant by her letter. …considering the fact that you're the reason we're no longer having a child…


Perhaps he would write Ginny back, send her an owl of his own and see what the hell she was doing? Yes, yes, that would work… but sending an owl wasn't the same as hearing it first hand. Draco glared at a portrait on the wall. The figure in the portrait gave a frightened squeak and disappeared out of its frame.


Why was he getting all worked up about this, he wondered. Draco sat down at the edge of his bed, stroking his prominent chin with his long fingers. He hadn't wanted a child in the first place - especially at this point in time - so why should he get all worked up at the fact that he was no longer to expect one? But the fact of the matter was, the child was his, and anything that was Malfoy was guaranteed to be important, one way or another. But now… but now it was gone, or so Ginny had said.


That settled it. Draco glared at random objects in his rooms once more before apparating out.


*****



Draco knocked on the haphazard looking door at the Burnlow, wondering what the hell had brought him to come to the Weasley's 'home.' He must've been losing his mind, he figured, as a dumpy figure opened the door and stared at him in suspicion.


"Hello?" Mrs. Weasley, he figured, announced as she opened the door. She was wearing a large white apron, and her hair was askew.


"Is Ginny here?" he asked simply. He wasn't going to give into the suspicious glances that Mrs. Weasley kept shooting him, because he had no reason to be considered suspicious… unless, of course, one counted the fact that a Malfoy was present on the Weasley's doorstep, which was something that one would not see ever again, if Draco had his way. The dumpy witch nodded shortly.


"I'm afraid that she isn't feeling too well. Come again another day." Mrs. Weasley began shutting the door, but Draco held it open with his hand. She glared at him.


"I need to speak with her."


"Ginny isn't in the mood to be entertaining guests at the moment," she added angrily. "For what reason do you need to speak with my daughter, anyway?"


What business was it of hers what Draco needed to speak with Ginny about? Draco ground his teeth - his patience was being tried. He wasn't at all used to being denied something that he wanted.


"Please," he gulped after using the word, "allow me to speak to Ginny, if only for a few minutes."


Mrs. Weasley eyed him for a few moments longer. "I'll go and see if Ginny is well enough to speak to you." She turned her back onto him, leaving the door open for him to come inside if so he wished. She climbed up the stairs to Ginny's room, coming back a few minutes later, looking harassed.


"I'm afraid that Ginny cannot entertain guests today," Mrs. Weasley announced. "Come back later, hm?" She shooed Draco out of the doorframe. She shut the door on him.


Draco glared at the door. He was in a glaring mood, for some odd reason. He looked up the side of the house and noticed the open window. That was Ginny's room, he was sure of it. He would go and speak to her, whether or not she wanted to speak to him. Draco apparated into the room with the open window.


Indeed, the room was Ginny's. He had apparated into the middle of her bedroom, right in front of the small bed that occupied the room, where Ginny was laying. She was startled at the sound of the apparation, and was looking rather ill indeed. Draco approached her. Ginny almost screamed, but Draco clamped his hand around her mouth.


"I'm here for answers, Weasley," he said, with his hand still clamped over her mouth. She glared at him with her fiery brown eyes that had once held intense passion, now filled with pain and sorrow. He felt an intense sweep of anger come over himself at those eyes.


He gently let off of Ginny's mouth and lowered himself at the side of the bed. "What was the meaning of that letter?"


Ginny began crying. He shook his head, getting fed up already. Why did women always have to cry? One way or another, everything ended up in women crying. "Tell me, Weasley."


"My name's not Weasley!" she bawled. "My name is Ginny. GINNY! You should at least be able to remember my name, you heartless bastard!"


Draco stared at her. "I know what your name is, I simply choose not to say it at the given-"


"Shut up, Draco. Just shut the hell up and get out of here. Leave me alone. I never want to see your face again, do you hear me? Get out. Go away. Drown yourself in a river, for all I care…!"


"Tell me what you meant by that letter," Draco repeated himself, growing angrier at every passing moment. Ginny was stalling, trying to get away from telling him the truth, but he wasn't going to fall for it. He was going to know the truth, somehow.


"I don't have to explain anything. You read the letter… you know what I meant. Don't make me repeat myself, Draco, don't do it. I won't. You read the letter! You've ruined everything, Draco MALFOY. I hate you… I hate you so much…"


His patience was beginning to fade away into the depths of anger and… well, impatience. He grabbed onto her wrist and gave it a sharp squeeze. Ginny whined harder. "Explain the letter to me. I have the right to know."


Ginny gave him a very harsh glare, her eyes glittering with tears. "No you don't. You don't have the right to know anything. You gave up that right when you denied that the baby was yours, when you knew full well-"


"That was then, this is now."


"The baby is gone, okay? Gone. There's nothing for you to worry about, now, Draco. You can go on and continue to live your pathetic little life with no meaning whatsoever, without having to worry about the mistake that you had gone and made."


Draco squeezed a bit harder. "What do you mean by 'gone?'"


"You… you don't remember it, do you?"


"What're you talking about, girl? Just fucking tell me, already. My patience is just about worn!"


Ginny dissolved into sobs. She clutched at her sheet, squeezing it hard as if to get strength from the fabric.


"You… you were drunk…"


"And what?"


"And… and you got angry and… and you punched me…"


Draco's stomach gave a nasty squirm. It felt as though he had swallowed a hot coal and had left it in his stomach to burn a hole through. So that's what had happened… That's what she had meant by it being all his fault. He shot her a look to see if she was telling the truth.


"The baby's gone, Draco. You don't have to worry, anymore. There's no reason for you to grow up, anymore, no reason for you to start behaving as though you're somewhat human. You can leave, now, Draco. You got what you wanted, didn't you? Isn't this what you wanted? Well? Is it!?"


For once in his life, Draco didn't know what to say. He slowly rose upward, bringing himself to stand once more. Ginny watched him, tears streaming down her freckled face.


"No."


A ringing sound filled his ears. …No?


*****


And I didn't think about
All the ways I hurt you and myself
And I wouldn't say a thing to you
I keep it to myself in
My mind
And I can't stand without you
And I won't find the answers
When you're gone
But it's over to you
I can't find the answer when you're gone
And it's over to you
But you can't find the answer where you are
And you know I need you now
And this ain't easy to admit
But no one needs to know
What goes on behind
The door in my room
I'm kickin' through the
Walls in my mind
And I can't stand without you
And I won't find the answers
When you're gone
But it's over to you
I can't find the answer when you're gone
And it's over to you
And I can't find the answer where you are
I won't tear you down
I won't tear you down
To get into the world you wanted
I'm kickin' through the walls
But no one can believe
In things that never change
But it's over to you
I can't find the answers where you are