Disclaimer: Nothing is mine ;_; Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and his publishers. Romeo & Juliet belongs to W. Shakespeare.
Gaaaaaaah please don't kill me before you read this chapter^^;;. I'm soooo sorry! I hadn't the occasion to update during my holidays… So sorry…
***
Virginia paced around the room behind the Great Hall. She could hear people enter and settle down. The set had been moved to the Hall, along with all decorations.
Parvati and Lavender walked towards her and told her once more how beautiful she looked. She was wearing the golden dress and her hair was decorated with the pearls Draco had given her. Speaking of Draco, there he was.
His costume was of a deep blue, with golden swirls running all over it. He absolutely looked like a young lord from Verona. Ginny couldn't help but smirk. She had begged him to show his costume but he had refused. He walked over, and being the Slytherin jerk, motionned rudely to Parvati and Lavender to go away. They obeyed, still not believing that he and the Romeo on stage were the same. But Ginny knew better.
"Ready, Juliet?"
The eternal cold smirk came back. She had gotten used to it, since he still had to treat her like a "Weasel" in front of other people.
"I guess so…" In fact, she was very nervous. Not only because she had to appear in front of a lot of people, but also because she didn't know what reaction her family would have. Draco leaned closer, and whispered some words only she could hear.
"Don't worry, love. It's only a play."
A play. Yes, just a play. Mum and dad won't be angy at me because I was forcedby the school, right? Right.
Ginny nodded with a smile and turned away before anyone noticed their behaviour.
Suddenly, she heard clapping. As she peeked from a side of the stage, she saw a long and big parchment unroll in front of the public. It read:
Romeo & Juliet
By William Shakespeare
Performed by Slytherin and Griffindor sixth and seventh years.
Romeo - Draco Malfoy
Juliet - Virginia Weasley
Mercutio - Seamus Finnigan
Benvolio - Raven Sytar
Tybalt - Ronald Weasley
Paris - Harry Potter
Rosaline - Pansy Parkinson
Friar - Neville Longbottom
Apothecary - Dean Thomas
Nurse - Luna Lovegood
Lady Montague - Rose Tirrian
Lord Montague - Colin Creevey
Lady Capulet - Sarah Tirrian
Lord Capulet - Greg Goyle
Prince of Verona - Vincent Flair
Ginny closed her eyes and heard atonished whispers. She felt the curiousity of the public almost stab her in the back. She felt guitly. Guitly for betraying her loving family. But she couldn't leave Draco. Not yet, at least.
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend."
Ginny listened carefully to Vincent's introduction. She heard the people gasp, sometimes clap. He had done a great job. And now, now being after a few scenes, it was her turn.
She climbed up the stairs leading to the balcony. And appeared. Sunshine had filled the Hall, and put her dress in valour. People looked up, and saw her. Hunderds of eyes were cast on her. She breathed slowaly, and began her play. She forgot the people. She forgot her family. Only Draco's memory was still with her, as she claimed she loved him. And there he was.
Murmurs filled the room again: how could a Weasley and a Malfoy play so beautifully, with so much love, when they hated each other? But soon, alll thoughts were swept away and Romeo & Juliet's gried filled their hearts.
*
"Oh!" A woman in the front row cried in dismay as Juliet pressed the dagger into her body and fell on top of Romeo, uniting them in death.
Murmurs and whispers, no, sobs and soft whining filled up the Hall again until Vincent made his appearance along with the other actors.
"A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
They all bowed low to the public, except Romeo and Juliet who still faked their deaths. Slowly, clapping started and before they knew it, the clapping was so loud and cheerful they could have heard it in Hogsmeade. People stood up, making their hands burn and watched Ginny and Draco come back to life. They both bowed deeply with the others, provocing even more applause.
When Dumbledore appeared for a speech, they cleared the stage. He awarded each participant with ten points for their houses and, to the surprise of all, fifty points to Draco and Ginny each, for "their marvellous coöperation and heartbreaking performance".
Ginny smiled brightly as her parents came over to her to congratulate her. They didn't say a thing about the Malfoys, which suited her. Hugged and kissed by all her brothers, she finally realized she didn't want to bee in the arms of her father, Bill, Charlie, Fred, or any of her brothers. She looked over at the other side of the room and noticed Lucius, Narcissa and Draco. They didn't seem too happy at first, but did feel proud of their son who had won fifty points for their house. The Slytherin house almost was sacred in that family!
Ginny closed her eyes as Molly hugged her for the hundredth time in a row. This had gone well. But what about the future?
*
"Virginia!" The called girl spun around when she heard the voice. There was only one that called her so, only one she had longed to speak to.
"Draco." She smiled as she had done the day before, and hugged him.
"You were great yesterday." He said, hugging her back.
"You too."
She looked over his shoulder and made sure the classroom where they found themselves was empty. They both sat down, his head resting on her lap, talking about their family's reaction. It wasn't bad, as Draco had foretold, it was only a play. But people had started off a rumor that claimed they were dating: a rumor that was true.
Ginny didn't answer when he brought up the subject. She was still scared. Of Ron, mainly.
"Let's continue keeping it a secret." She bent over and whispered in his ear.
"Keep what a secret?"
"Us."
*
There was nothing anymore Draco wouldn't do for Ginny so he agreed. They both started studying now, and had less time to see each other. Absorbed in their books, they didn't even felt how fast time flew, and before they knew it, Draco was graduating. They didn't want to separate, but he promised he would see her from time to time in the holidays.
A promise he kept.
Ginny sighed and rolled over on her bed, reading the letter again and again. It had been a week since the end of term and he had already written to her. Well "already", Ginny had found the days to be so long and dull without him and their hiding from Ron.
A date. He was asking her on a date. The first real date, outside of Hogwards. Happily, she skipped down the stairs and found her mother in the kitchen.
"Mum, I'm going to town tomorrow." She grinned and stuffed a cookie in her mouth.
"All right dear. Want me to come along?"
"Nope."
Molly raised an eyebrow. Her girl was maybe turning seventeen but for her, little Ginny stayed little Ginny.
"Why?"
"Because I have a date." Answered her dauther, putting an accent on each word. But then, she remembered her affair with Draco was supposed to be secret.
"And with who?"
"Ah, you'll meet him soon. It's a secret!" Ginny smiled again, deciding she had to tell her parents soon. Not right now, but soon. At least, if they accepted her, she could see him more often. It they didn't, well… She would have to stay at Hogwards during holidays and move out as soon as she would graduate. She knew for sure that what she felt for Draco was no longer a teenager's crush. Had it even ever been a silly crush? She doubted it.
*
She grabbed his arm and walked beside ihm on the alley. He was smiling at her lovingly, stunning everyone on the road he knew. There they went, as a couple, Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy. People started talking. People started gossiping. Muttering mean curses under their breath or sighing happilly at the view.
The two lovers didn't care anymore. Their parents would discover it anyway, someday. But it didn't happen as expected.
"You bloody Malfoy! You will pay for your treason!"
A grumpy grey-haired man stak a wand out and pointed it to Draco. Ginny gasped and clutched onto Draco, turning her back to the man. He seemed weary, and not washed, as if had been on the run.
"What?" Draco gasped as he recognised the man; he was a Death Eater. He suddenly understood the man didn't care at all for Ginny, but was seeking for revenge on Draco. Draco had, afteral, refused to become a Death Eater. He had made the right choice, since now that the Dark Lord had been killed, all his followers were put in Azkaban. This man must be running from the Ministery.
"You will pay, Draco! Hey, red-head, move out of the way! It's him I want! If you don't, I'll kill you!"
___
All thanks and replies will be placed in the next and final chapter, my apologies for that too. Stay tuned!
