that all the tears turned to dust
And I just knew my eyes were
Drying up forever
-Flashback-
Ginny wandered the library, searching aimlessly for something interesting to read. Maybe a Muggle story… No, all the Muggle novels were full of romance-not something that Ginny needed to be reminded of. She needed something fast-paced and exciting to take her mind off of-
"Well, if it isn't the Wee Weasel?" a voice drawled from behind her. Ginny whirled around.
"Shut it, Malfoy!" she snapped.
"Enjoying your evening all alone? Why aren't you with your little friends? Oh wait, you don't have any!" Malfoy taunted. Ginny balled her fists. Her mouth opened and closed furiously, but no words came out. "Pathetic, really. I suppose you're too poor attract friends, eh?"
"Bugger off, Malfoy!" Ginny spluttered. Malfoy's laugh could have been jovial if not for the glint in his eye that told Ginny he was mocking her.
"That the best you can come up with?" Ginny, incensed now, grabbed for her wand. It rolled away from her and floated into the air above her head. Ginny chased it for a moment before she glanced at Malfoy and saw that his own wand was out, levitating hers. He was smiling maliciously at her, obviously enjoying her rage.
"Dammit, Malfoy! Does it give you pleasure to torment other people?"
"Does it give me pleasure to torment other people?" Malfoy replied, surprised. "Why, yes. Yes, I suppose it does," he replied mockingly. "And does it give you pleasure to torment me? Because you're so fat, it pains me to look at you!" He chortled at his insult.
Ginny's blood boiled, and before she knew it, there were tears streaming down her face. "Leave me a-alone, Malfoy, or I'll.." Her threat was an empty one. Ginny was sobbing now. She turned and fled the Library.
Malfoy watched her retreating back with an expression that mixed disappointment and malice. Silently, he berated himself. You're going soft, Malfoy, he told himself. He had shown that she had had the upper hand for an instant, never mind that he had retrieved it quickly. Malfoy exited the Library, making his way down into the dungeons.
As he entered the dormitory, Ginny's words still rang in his ears. Does it give you pleasure to torment other people? The pleasure he got out of it was the intoxication that came with the hunt. Just the fact that he could reduce a girl to tears with a single word gave him a feeling of power. He supposed that was why he was so sharp with his tongue- because he wanted power, and that was how he got it.
Restless, Malfoy paced the empty dormitory. As he passed the ground-level window, he glimpsed a figure curled up at the base of a tree, huddled in between the huge roots. Apparently, she didn't know that there was a window disguised as stone, and she most certainly did not know that Draco Malfoy was watching her.
Malfoy sighed impatiently and turned away from the window. The Weasley girl bothered him. Her words were altogether too wise. She had come closer to him in that moment of anger as any girl had in a night of tenderness.
When he looked out the window again, she was still there. She's going to freeze if she stays out there much longer, he thought incredulously. Well, someone has to tell her to come in, he told himself. Not for all the gold in the world would Malfoy have admitted, even to himself, that in the moment Ginny had come so close to him, he had been touched.
--Back to the Present—
Ginny disappeared into the back room after calling Madam Malkin over to help Draco. Once there, she collapsed on a chair. Why now? she thought. It had taken her so long just to pull herself out of the depression she had fallen into, and just as she had hoisted herself all the way out of it, he had walked casually into her workplace. It's not fair, she thought. But then, life wasn't fair, was it?
Draco watched Ginny flee. His thoughts were jumbled, and he kept staring at the door she had gone through. He paid almost no attention to Madam Malkin, ignoring her chatter as she took his measurements. Ginny had run away from him. He knew her response was logical, of course, but he was hurt by it. Still, he couldn't blame her after what had happened at school.
"I'm sorry, but there's such a big rush for robes," Madam Malkin said from behind him. "Yours won't be done for an hour or two. If you can stop by to pick them up them in two hours...?"
"I-I'm leaving town for the rest of the day. I'll pick them up tomorrow," Draco told her, tearing his eyes away from the door to the back room. Madam Malkin nodded and smiled politely, innocently unaware of the history that Draco had with her employee.
Draco walked out of the small shop, his heart beating fast. He knew where she was now. Perhaps now that school was over he could explain himself. Yes! He would explain himself, and she would come running back into his arms…but she hated him. How could she not?
-Flashback-
"You should come in," a voice came from above her. Ginny opened an eye and realized that she was still outside. She sat up, trying to rub the tearstains from her face. Squinting in the falling dark, Ginny looked to see who had found her.
"Leave me alone," she spat when she recognized him.
"I just came to tell you that if you want to make it to dinner on time, you had better hurry," Malfoy said smoothly. Ginny eyed him warily, but she got up and brushed herself off. Coldly, she brushed past him and started to make her way up to the castle. Malfoy's long strides caught him up to Ginny in seconds. "It can be dangerous out here alone," was his explanation. Ginny ignored him, but she didn't charge ahead either. They walked in silence. To Malfoy, silence spoke more than words, anyway.