Things Change
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or anything, but I definitely own this piece of writing! J.K Rowling owns all the characters and stuff. I do, however, own her 'friends', and the plot is ALL MINE!
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Ginny winced as she sat up gingerly in the hospital bed, trying to ignore the sharp pains coming from the wound in her chest. Mid-morning sunshine was flooding in through the large windows, sending a shaft of light across the white bedclothes and the bedside cabinet. Several cards were propped up on it, proclaiming titles of 'Get Well Soon Ginny' and 'Don't Stay Away Too Long!' (the latter being from the twins, who had been over to see her the day before). But however funny they were, she wasn't exactly laughing.
The sound of the door being opened startled Ginny, and she jumped, causing her wound to begin to bleed, the bandage under her nightdress beginning to turn crimson. She closed her eyes, biting her bottom lip to try and stop herself from crying out. The next second she felt soothing hands gently push her back down onto the bed, dabbing something onto the wound that caused the bleeding to stop. She didn't resist, even though it stung a little – she'd been through worse pain in the past few weeks, both mental and physical.
Opening her eyes, she found herself looking up at Thom, smiling kindly at her as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Healer Leeves told me to put some of this on your wound if it started bleeding" he said, holding up a tiny blue vial for Ginny to see.
"Thank you" she murmured in reply, taking a few deep breaths to try and steady herself as she once again sat up. Thom started to protest, but she waved him off, trying to conceal the pain as she propped herself up against her pillows.
"So…how are you?" Thom asked, his expression one of concern as he looked at her with his sweet grey eyes.
Ginny paused before answering; she didn't really know what she could say. The one person she loved more than anyone else in the world had just died at the hands of the most evil wizard known to man, and every second of every day hurt more than words could say – but how was she supposed to tell Thom that? He didn't even care that Draco had died – after all, they had hated each other. And besides, Thom loved her – could she even tell him about Draco at all?
"It hurts a little" she replied finally, gesturing to her wound. "But it doesn't really matter. The healers told me it'll take a little while to heal, as they've never dealt with something like this before and they don't want to use magic, but I suppose I can cope. I've always got Witch Teen Magazine to read" she added, holding up the glossy magazine lying facedown on her bed. Thom smiled gently, making her feel a little better.
"Like your cards Gin," he said, gesturing to the 'Get Well' cards on the bedside cabinet. "Which reminds me," he continued, grabbing his bag from the floor beside the bed and opening it, "I have something for you"
Feeling around in the bag, he finally produced something wrapped in brown paper and string, with an envelope sellotaped to the top. "Here," he said, handing it too her, "It made me think of you"
Taking the parcel, Ginny carefully pulled the envelope off, cautious not to jog her arm too much (as it would put a strain on her injury). Turning it over, she opened it, pulling out a beautiful card. It was a picture of some plain white roses, a painting done by some muggle artist, Ginny assumed, as it seemed to be a muggle card. Opening it up, she smiled slightly when she read the message inside;
'Dear Ginny
I hope you get out of there soon – I miss you!
Love always
Thom
p.s. The flowers are on the front!'
"Thank you" she murmured, propping it up on her bedside table with the others. The sunlight from the window illuminated it, making the roses look almost real. Turning to the parcel, Ginny proceeded to tear the paper off (albeit a little slowly), pulling out her gift. It was a small crystal pendant strung on a piece of black leather, with a tiny blue-grey stone in the centre – the exact blue-grey colour of Draco's eyes. She stared at it for a moment, silent, everything stopping just for a moment as she wondered how something so small and insignificant was making her hurt so much all of a sudden.. Emotions clawed at and overwhelmed her – Draco flashed through her mind, his image so bright and vivid that for a moment she held her breath; the pain grabbed at her heart, making her feel as though she was being stabbed.
"Ginny?"
Thom's voice broke through her shell, his voice full of concern. "Ginny, are you okay? I…Did I do something wrong…?"
She shook her head, biting her lip to try and stop tears from overpowering, but to no avail; they came thick and fast, pouring down her cheeks in a torrent as her body shook. And then Thom's arms were around her, holding her as she shook with emotions from cuts so deep no one would ever see them. She stiffened for a moment, afraid of what would happen if he held her – but then she collapsed against him, sobbing into his shoulder as her renewed pain washed through her entire body. As Thom's arms encompassed her, Ginny realised that she would never try to hurt him; and so she could never let him know about Draco.
///*///*///*///*///*///
Ginny leant against the apple tree in the back yard, sketching a gnome that sat by the garden bench, greedily eating a tomato her mother must have dropped after clearing lunch from where they had eaten outside. She frowned in concentration as she drew its puggish nose, her pencil scratching slightly against the special sketching parchment. Her mother had bought her some as a coming home present when she'd left St. Mungo's. Ron, Hermione and Harry, who had all been in there with her, had received presents of their own – Ron had been given a Chudley Cannons Brooming Kit, Hermione had received a book on Magical Science, and Harry had gotten a small frozen Ashwinder egg – it was so beautiful, Ginny had thought when she saw it, with the light bouncing off its shiny grey surface.
Just then the sound of someone walking across the grass startled the gnome, and it quickly got up, sprinting across the grass and diving behind a hedge. Ginny sighed, exasperated as she put her pencil down, looking at the half finished picture with an air of disappointment – she wasn't likely to get the same gnome in the same position again.
"Sorry about that"
"That's okay," Ginny replied, looking up at Ron as he stood over her. "Join me?" she asked, gesturing to the grass beside her. Ron nodded, sitting and leaning against the tree.
"Nice picture"
"Thanks"
"Sorry"
"You can stop saying sorry now Ron," Ginny replied, setting the picture down next to her and drawing her legs up to her chest. She rested her chin on her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs as she stared out into the garden. Both of them were silent for a while, just looking at their house and the garden, before Ron spoke.
"It's been eight months since he died Gin"
Ginny looked round at her brother, watching as he stared at the swing seat on the other side of the garden. She didn't need to know who he was talking about – it was obvious.
"It only seems like yesterday I was sitting in Dumbledore's office with you and Mum and Dad" she replied. "We've come a long way since then"
Ron smiled sadly, nodding. "A hell of a long way"
They were quiet again for a moment, but once again Ron broke the silence; this time his tone was questioning.
"How much do you remember Gin?" he asked, turning towards her.
"Remember?"
"Of when Voldemort took us? How much do you remember?"
It seemed that Ron's experience with the wizard had destroyed his misgivings of the name, Ginny thought briefly. She paused for a moment, thinking back towards that fateful day. In truth, she remembered it all with vivid clarity, from the lack of breath to the unsettling journey from wherever her soul had ventured back to her body. After she had left Lenora, it had seemed as though she'd spent hours travelling through a vast black tunnel, her feet never quite touching the floor, until suddenly the blackness had disappeared, and she'd found herself looking up at the ceiling of St. Mungos.
"Nothing much really," she replied eventually. "How about you?"
"The last thing I remember is trying to get Hermione to wake up. After that everything's a bit of a blur"
"Yeah" Ginny answered vaguely, staring up at the sky through the twisted branches of the apple tree.
Once again a hush fell over them, and they sat perfectly still, taking pleasure in the silence that had these days become so rare. Gradually, the sunlight ceased to be, and twilight set in, taking with it yet another day in Ginny's life.
///*///*///*///*///*///
"What happened when you left?" Lenora asked, handing Ginny some playing cards. Ginny looked at them for a moment, confused, before Lenora smiled and said, "We're playing poker"
"Why?" she asked sceptically, spreading her cards out in her hand and leaning back in her chair.
"Because that's what I decided we should do," Draco answered, accepting his own cards from Lenora. "And you know how much I like to get my own way" he added, smiling playfully.
"This isn't another of Voldemort's tricks is it?" Ginny replied, frowning.
"No," Lenora replied, dropping some coins into the middle of the table. "This is more you than anything else, although I'm helping you along a little. Voldemort can't reach you here anymore Ginny. Not with us"
"Which reminds me," Ginny answered, throwing some coins of her own onto the table. "Why are you here?"
The last part had been addressed to Draco, who smiled and added yet more money to the pile of coins.
"Because you needed a chance to explain things to yourself. Besides, I wanted to see you"
"Really?" Ginny asked, smiling at him.
"Really" he replied, reaching out and taking her hand.
"So," Lenora interrupted, clearing her throat. "What happened after you left me?"
"Well," Ginny said, waiting as Lenora took her turn, "It was like I was getting pulled away by some giant force. Everything just sort of began to fade away, until I was walking along in this big black tunnel. Well, I say walking – I don't think my feet ever really touched the ground. I was there for hours; well, it felt like hours anyway, but I don't really know how long it was. And then the next thing I know, I open my eyes and I'm in St. Mungos with a huge hole ripped in my chest"
"The spell caused you the damage, I assume?" Lenora asked, waiting as Ginny played her own cards.
"Yep. The healers in St. Mungos said that the sheer force of it had shocked my cell tissues on impact like the edge of a knife would, causing my flesh to tear open"
"You're okay now though?" Draco asked.
"Pretty much, although I've got quite a large scar" Ginny replied, reflexively putting a hand to her chest.
"Couldn't the healers have just made it vanish?"
"They said they didn't want to do anything that might cause more damage. They've never dealt with anything like this before, so they thought it best to let it heal with only the tiniest bit of magical help. They couldn't even clean up your body properly for a while"
Draco raised an eyebrow at this, but Lenora prevented him asking anymore questions by addressing Ginny.
"And the others had the same thing happen to them as well?"
"Yes, although Harry got the worst of it—"
Draco snorted at these words, grinning slightly behind his cards as Ginny gave him a reproachful look.
"As I was saying, Harry got it worst of all – but that was probably because it went so wrong when Voldemort got to him"
"Wrong?" Lenora asked, sounding interested as she studied her cards carefully, waiting for Draco to make his move.
"When Voldemort tried to curse Harry, something happened; nobody knows exactly what though. Harry says all he can remember is a lot of white and blue light everywhere, like electricity, and then he blacked out. He said the next thing he remembered was waking up in St. Mungos, just like the rest of us"
"Except you of course" Draco said, grinning.
"Yes, except me" Ginny replied, smiling a little and giving him a look.
"What was different about you then?" Lenora asked, although Ginny knew she already knew the answer. But, like Draco had said, this was a chance for Ginny to explain things to herself, not them.
"Well…I seem to be able to remember quite a lot – including all that time I spent…well, wherever you live" she said to Lenora. "But nobody else can remember anything really; it seems like I'm the only one. I haven't told them of course" she added.
"So do you know what happened to Voldemort?" Draco asked, contemplating what to do next and staring long and hard at his cards.
"That's the one thing I don't remember" Ginny replied. "All we know is that he and his Death Eaters seemed to have scarpered after Harry messed it all up for him"
"Again" Draco muttered, taking his turn.
"And that's a bad thing because?"
"I never said it was a bad thing – Voldemort does happen to be the guy that killed me, you know. It's just that I'm not used to saying bad things about him out loud; I used to have to say them in my head. Besides, I don't want to sound like I'm congratulating Potter, do I?" Draco answered.
"No, I don't suppose you would" Ginny replied, grinning even though she knew she shouldn't be.
"So nobody knows about you two then?" Lenora asked.
"No," Ginny replied, shaking her head. "Nobody remembers anything that was said in the time that we were with Voldemort apart from me, and I'm not going to tell anyone"
"What about Thom?"
Ginny paused for a moment, gazing quietly at her cards. Finally she looked up and shook her head.
"No. If nobody else knows apart from me, I think it's probably best"
"Why not tell him?" Lenora asked.
"Because I don't want to hurt him" Ginny replied simply, shrugging and laying her cards down on the table.
"Are you still going out?"
"Well…he thinks we are. He never thought we weren't going out. I suppose I'll just have to see how everything goes" Ginny said, watching as both Lenora and Draco lay their cards down too. Lenora grinned, reaching across the table and drawing the pile of money across the table towards her.
"I win" she said, grinning.
"Yes, but it's only metaphorical money, so you didn't really win" Draco replied, folding up his cards and putting them away.
"Who cares?" Ginny said, folding up her own cards and standing up. "Is it time for me to go?"
"Yes," Lenora replied, standing and making her way around the table to Ginny. She smiled, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Be brave Ginny. Don't let all that has happened haunt you forever – I will always be there. Whenever you feel alone or afraid, just remember that I'm there with you, all the time, watching over you. And now I think that it is time you two said goodbye"
With that, Lenora stepped backwards, rippling for a moment before disappearing. Ginny turned to Draco, who stood behind her.
"I miss you, you know" he said, stepping towards her and taking her hands. Ginny smiled, leaning forwards and resting her head on his chest.
"And I miss you too, my love. Every single day" she replied. Her smile faded as she said this, and she looked up at him, her eyes searching his as she asked, "Is this real? Am I really here?"
"Yes" he answered, enveloping her in his arms and kissing the top of her head lovingly. "In your mind, you are really here"
///*///*///*///*///*///
Ginny opened her eyes to find herself looking at her ceiling. It was still dark, and she was in bed, the sheets draped haphazardly over her. She must have been dreaming, she realised as she thought about what she had just seen, heard…felt.
She put a hand to her arms, still feeling Draco's hands on her. She swallowed, trying to not cry as she wondered what had just passed within her mind. Had it truly been real? Had she really seen Draco; talked with him; been held by him?
Her question was answered when she turned on her side. On the pillow next to her lay a single playing card, a Queen of Hearts, placed just where she would see it when she turned over. Ginny gasped, at once realising exactly what this meant – it had been real. She smiled to herself, feeling tears prick her eyes as she sat up and held the card in her hand. She turned it over, shaking her head slightly in pleasant surprise. This little card, she realised, was something that she had been craving since she'd woken up in the hospital. Not the card itself of course – but the thing it was going to give her. Because, Ginny realised, slipping it into her beside table with the photograph – she could finally be given closure.
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A/N Well, this will certainly have a been a faster update that the last two. I don't know why, but this chapter seemed to just roll right from my brain out onto the page. But yeah, I hope you all liked this chapter; it should have explained everything and tied off all the little ends that I managed to create for myself. I also hope you understand the Ginny/Thom situation now. For anyone who doesn't, basically, Ginny never told Thom she was in love with Draco, and so they were seeing each other behind Thom's back. Ginny does love Thom, but it's doesn't even begin to compare to the love she has for Draco. Now that Draco's dead, Ginny knows that she's not going to tell Thom, but she doesn't know if they will break up, go out again, whatever. Right, I hope you all understand now.
Btw – this isn't the end of the story, but I'm afraid there aren't very many chapters after this, just to clear that up if anyone thought this was the end.
Thanks to the following people:
Beauty Eclipsed (Yep, sorry, Draco dead, I'm afraid. But he was still in this chapter so I hope that was okay. And I hope that this chapter explained things enough for you – I tried to make it easy) Dirrty Girrl (Yeah, I'm sorry, but he really is dead. And I'm sorry but there's no twist – it's true) Alyssa Rose (sorry about the beginning not making sense; I did try :). And I'm glad you liked Eleni/Amelia/Amy/Lenora – she's one of my favourite characters, mostly because she's so cool. And as you can see, she didn't leave Ginny all alone – she's always helping!) Lady Coia (Thanks for the compliments on the planning – I didn't actually have it all planned out this way from the exact beginning, but it all worked out okay in the end, lol. Not too messy. And I'm glad you liked the 'sweet' elements in that chapter, I liked them too) swimfan (Thanks for reviewing Chapter One. And as you probably know by know, it'll get way sadder. Thanks for reviewing) cashew (I was really happy when I saw how long your review was. I wanted to hear what you thought of last chapter. It was my 'explainy' one. I'm glad you liked the 'non-human thing' as you called her – what did you think of Amy not actually being human? Does that sound like I'm saying you're not human? Well, I'm not, just for the record, lol. And thanks for the compliment – I'm very flattered. I'm glad you love Thom, because I love him too. Ahh, if only every girl had her own Thom… But I hope that everything has been answered for you in this chapter, and that you enjoyed it. Now go r&r please. Laters) locker1198 (wow, thanks for the compliments on the fic, it was real nice of you1 It's great when someone tells you they love your story. And it took you all day to read? Wow, I never realised it was so long! I hope I updated quick enough, lol. Thanks for reviewing)
Thanks everyone who reviewed – mucho appreciated.