Never Noticed

Summer. The heatwaves passed and Ginny enjoyed the weather by observing from her window, not wanting to go outside in the beaming sun, but watch it tenderly.

She could still remember when she had lay on his bed, she could still remember his features, it was in her mind when she awoke in the morning. Something strange was happening to her; the day she got to Luna's house, she was about to take a shower when she saw that a red, circular rash had formed around the top of her chest and around her waist. It didn't take her long to realize it was the towel; she was startled to see that the words imprinted "Salazar Slytherin" in her flesh.

Scrubbing, slathering soap on it, or cleaning it, the ink didn't go away. It remained like waste, something that glowered, and she felt herself cringe inwardly whenever she moved. She smiled timidly out the window, the fresh hair washing over her face, the sunlight pouring onto her face. She closed her eyes, and Draco's face formed itself directly inside of her mind. She recoiled, feeling terrified. Whenever she saw his face in her mind, it was so vivid, so real, and she could feel her heart pounding away.

"Ginny?" a voice called behind her, but Ginny's pulse was beating increasingly that she didn't dare turn around.

"Hey, Gin, stop looking out that window, let's go somewhere," said Luna in her dreamy gracefullness.

"I don't want to," Ginny argued.

"What's up with you, anyways? Is it Draco?"

Ginny was shocked that she had jumped to the conclusion so fast. "Of course not," she denied, her hand automatically feeling the scars under her neck, feeling out the letters that spelled out 'Salazar'.

"Whatever...listen, I am going outside. Oh, yeah, Cecila has gone out, can you go to her room, get my red sweater from her closet that she borrowed?"

Ginny nodded. "Sure."

And with that, Luna left, and Ginny left the window, sighing wistfully.

*~*

Clean and proper were the two words that came to mind when Ginny entered Cecila's guestroom. It had a small, plain bed in the corner, with a suitcase stored at the back of her closet. Feeling nervous at invading someone's privacy, she swung open one of the drawers that contained folded clothes. Searching through them, hoping she didn't misplace or replace any one of them, she found the sweater that she was looking for.

It was red, very small for Cecilia, and had tiny imprinted letters on them that printed out, "L.L.", which were Luna's initials. Smiling a bit, she opened was about to close the drawer when her eyes caught on something she had not noticed before, a small picture frame that was facing downwards under the red sweater. Putting the sweater as a lump into her lap, she reached for the picture frame and curiously looked at the picture.

Then, she dropped it with a shatter. Many pieces of glass flew every which way, like splattering rain. Her breath caught in her throat.

She was shocked. Because Draco Malfoy's smirking face was looking back at her.

*~*