Come Away With Me

Chapter 7: Painting a Memory

Author: Punkin/Buttamellow

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowling, Warner Brothers, and its various publishers. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

Dedication: To the one person who called, imed, emailed, and pestered me every single day until I updated. You know who you are!

~*~

If I were a painter

I would paint my reverie

If that's the only way for you to be with me

*

We'd be there together

Just like we used to be

Underneath the swirling sky for all to see

*

And I'm dreaming of a place

Where I could see your face

And I think my brush would take me there

*

But only if I were a painter

And could paint a memory

Climb inside the swirling skies to be with you

*

And I'm dreaming of a place

Where I could see your face

And I think my brush would take me there

*

But only if I were a painter

And could paint a memory

I'd climb inside the swirling skies to be with you

I'd climb inside the skies to be with you

*

~*~

End of Last chapter:

Ginny continued to run until she ran into yet another solid form. She fell backwards, crumpled on the floor.

"What the..? Weasley, look where you're going!" Ginny looked up to see none other than Draco Malfoy glaring down at her. She got to her feet again.

"Get out of my way Malfoy." She choked, and she pushed past him.

He grabbed her arm noticing that she had been crying. "Weasley." Ginny looked away. Malfoy looked around and then pulled her into his empty compartment. Ginny looked around the compartment scared. "Weasley." he tried again. "Ginny," Ginny turned her head and looked at him, her face blotchy and tearstained, "Are you alright?"

~*~

New Chapter:

"Ginny, are you alright?"

She looked at him hesitantly and once again tried to get away. The struggle was fruitless, however, because Draco grabbed her tightly by the shoulders and refused to let go. She stopped and looked defiantly at him. "Let me go, Draco."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"Why do you care anyways?"

"Well, I..."

"Well you what? For as long as I can remember, I have only been trash as far as you and your family was concerned." Draco stood there speechless. "What's so different now? Huh?" She crossed her arms over her chest and although the tears were still streaming down her face, he could tell that she was no longer thinking about whatever, or whoever, had caused her so much pain.

She began tapping her foot impatiently hoping that he would move out of her way and let her leave, or that he would at least let go of her shoulders. "What? Why do you suddenly care so much about what happened to me? Answer me."

"I, well...a lot of things changed this summer that showed everything in a new light. I began to see things that I hadn't bothered to notice before. Oh bugger. Never mind." He let go of her shoulders. "Go. Leave. It doesn't matter."

Ginny stood there flabbergasted. "What IS it with you GUYS? One minute you act all nice and make it seem like you care. And then the NEXT, well, you become bloody wankers who want to have nothing to do with you whatsoever. Why can't you just make up your bloody minds, for Merlin's sake?"

Now, it was Draco's turn to be flabbergasted. Utterly and completely.

"You...females...are so...CONFUSING!"

"Us confusing? Look who's talking, buddy."

"Yes confusing. At first you don't want to tell me what's wrong but SUDDENLY when I say I no longer care you get angry. How about YOU make up your mind and quit blaming me."

Ginny stood there fore a couple of second sizing up the situation. She sighed deeply. She had no fight left in her. "Do you really want to know why I was upset?" Her eyes were pleading. "Cause, if you are just playing around and you're going to use this against me I'll...I'll..."

"Yes, I want to know what's wrong." She sat down on one of the benches and hugged her knees to her chest, leaning against the window. Draco sat down opposite of her.

"Well, it's just that...you see...Merlin, why is it so difficult? You see..."

"Harry's acting like a prat." Draco finished for her. At first she looked put out because he had interrupted her but then she nodded her head slowly.

"And you don't know what you did wrong." Another nod. "And you thought he was your friend." She turned her head toward him nodding, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Yeah. How could you tell?" She whispered hoarsely.

"Well, honestly, who else could upset you so much?" She began to glare at him. He held up his hands in defense. "I didn't mean it that way." She acquiesced. "Now," he said rubbing his hands together, "what did the stupid git do exactly?"

She looked up at him and smiled. She could tell that this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

~*~

As the door to the compartment slammed behind Harry, his composure gave way. His head dropped slightly along with his shoulders. He knew that it was for the best. He moved to the window and watched the passing landscape. He sighed inaudibly. "Really, it's for the best." But he felt as though he had just lost another huge part of himself.

Sometimes he wished that he could be someone else.just a normal teenager with normal problems. He could waste his time worrying about things such as.grades, and.sports, and.his could be relationship with Ginny. But that could only be in a world where things were different. A world where his parents were alive, where there weren't any Death Eaters, and where Voldemort had never existed. Wait, if Voldemort had never existed then the two previous would never have happened. Ok, so basically he needed a world without Voldemort. 'Yeah.like that would ever happen. Well.if only, right?'

When the door was throw open awhile later, Harry was less than surprised. "Potter, WHAT did YOU do to my..." Ron stopped mid-sentence once taking in the sight of his best friend. Harry had continued to stare out the window at the passing scenery.

"Harry mate?" Harry looked from the window, down to his dirty fingernails, due to the intense gardening he had endured summer after summer. He then looked up at his best friend.

"What Ron?" He asked apathetically and then looked back out the window while subconsciously cleaning his nails. Or trying to at least.

Hermione pushed past Ron, who was still standing in the doorway, and sat across from Harry, studying him closely as though he were one of her many books.

"He finally go to you didn't he?" was all she said. Harry continued to look out the window. She looked at Ron and he quietly closed the door. He then sat down next to her.

"I thought it odd when you didn't reply to Ginny's letters but now I see..."

"See what Hermione?" He asked dejectedly.

"Harry mate, she's been through a lot. More than most. Excepting you of course."

"I know. She..." he looked at them whole heartedly. "She needn't go through all that again because of me."

"What did he do to you, Harry?" Hermione asked her eyes widening.

"He made me realize that me caring for someone will result in them being in danger or dead- and..." he stopped mid-sentence to rephrase what he was about to say. "And well, I know that no matter how hard I've tried to get rid of you two" the three all grinned sheepishly at one another. "You two simply refuse to go away." Hermione stuck her tongue out at Harry.

"But Ginny," He said looking grim, "There's still hope for her."

"What if she doesn't let you? You know she's the most determined of all of us Weasley's." Ron stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, I'm going to make her want to stay away from me. I'll make her hate me if I have to." Hermione opened her mouth to protest. "And you two," he said, pointing squarely at them, "aren't going to do anything about it."

Ron looked as though he didn't agree with the idea but he nodded. He knew that it was in the best interest of his sister. Hermione, however, still had her doubts.

Harry looked down at his fingernails realizing that no matter how much he tried, he would never rid himself of all the dirt and grime that had collected over the years. He then looked pleadingly at Hermione.

"Please 'Mione. I...I couldn't bear it if one of you got hurt. She almost died, because of me. Don't say it isn't true because you know that it is. She's been through enough." He looked squarely at Hermione. "If you don't agree with it, that's fine. Just don't tell her."

Hermione nodded in resignation. Harry looked out the window and quietly replied. "Thank you."

~*~

Another year, new things to learn And pass the time we shall So listen close to me Your old weathered pal It seems to me that unity Is the enemy's one true vice That we should stick together If we should win the fight So now the time has come for me To clarify each group But remember to stick together No matter what route finds your foot First up are the Ravenclaws Who find greatness in their books They'll search day and night For the one spell that took Next are the Hufflepuffs Who are known as loyal and true We all should take a tip from them And look to one another in times anew The Slytherins are cunning Look to them to find the way To turn the enemy around In the least painful way Gryffindor, the brave and strong Will be the ones to fight No matter the situation They'll give it all their might Learn to learn from one another And take each other's due Find strength in times of weakness Because I believe in you So even though you'll be sorted And separate you I might Remember to stick together And take heed of my plight

Silence echoed around the Great Hall. Every student, teacher, ghost alike was speechless. It was a full minute before Professor McGonagall broke the silence and told the students to line up and prepare to be sorted.

The first years lined up quickly and obediently. The students looked at the two lines and suddenly whispering could be heard throughout the hall. Standing in the middle of the second line was a girl who looked to be about the age of 15 or 16 years of age. She had shoulder length, dark brown hair that framed her face and was complimented with ivory skin.

Ginny tilted her head and observed her carefully. She seemed to be close to the same build as herself, maybe two centimeters shorter. There was a book in her hand which Ginny noticed that she carefully and inconspicuously slipped into her pocket. Ginny squinted her eyes a little and grinned when she barely noticed the title on the book. Pride and Prejudice. One of her favorites, besides the Lord of the Rings trilogy, of course.

Ginny stopped her observation when she noticed that the sorting had begun. She waited impatiently until the girl was called. "Davidson, Jeanne" slowly walked to the front of the line and sat down on the bench. Professor McGonagall placed the hat upon the girl's head. After about a minute whispering erupted in the hall once more. The girl was still sitting there quietly with her ankles crossed and a lopsided grin on her face. Ginny watched bemusedly as the girl slowly began to reach for the book in her pocket, but jerked her hand back a second later.

"This must be the longest sorting I've ever seen."

"I wonder what's taking so long."

"Wow, do you think the hat's losing its touch?"

"Awww, I'm hungry. Do you think it's going to take much longer?"

"Shush Ron! Quit being rude!"

"Look Harry! It's taking longer than yours did!"

"Shhh! I think the hats about to make a decision!"

The girl snickered and placed her hand over her mouth to cover it. The hat smirked and then bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Jeanne took the hat of her head, kissed its supposed cheek, and walked over to the table.

Ginny slid over on the bench and pointed to the spot. "You can sit here, if you like."

The girl stopped, looked at Ginny, and smiled. She walked over to the other side of the table and scooted in next to her. "Thank you."

"I'm Jeanne." Jeanne offered Ginny her hand.

Ginny took it smiling. "Ginny, nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Jeanne began to scoop some beans and pork chops onto her plate.

"I.I saw that you had Pride and Prejudice in your pocket." Ginny said while sipping her pumpkin juice.

"Yeah, I adore the book. I sometimes feel that I relate to Lizzy."

"Really? I don't know. I guess I can relate to Jane right now."

"Hmmm." Jeanne said while swallowing her beans. "How so?"

"Long story." Ginny said sighing and looking down the table at Harry. She then looked back at Jeanne with a sad smile on her face. "I'll tell you later alright."

"No problem." Jeanne said winking and dug into her food once more.

"So.uh.Jeanne. What took the hat so long while it was on your head?" Jeanne giggled and turned to Ginny.

"It's quite funny to tell you the truth. The hat and I got into a discussion about Pride and Prejudice. He says he remembers when it came out and all. I found it fascinating."

"So is that why you were going to grab your book."

"Yeah, but he stopped me before I did it. Then, he had to decide which house I should go in."

"Well, I'm glad he chose this one. It should be a good year."

"Definitely." Jeanne said turning and grinning at Ginny, making her laugh.

~*~

Harry looked down the table at Ginny and sighed. He was right, it was for the best. She was laughing now and smiling. She was having a good time without him. He watched as she and the new girl stood and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Harry mate." Harry turned his head toward Ron. "If you keep looking at her she's going to figure out what you're doing."

"I agree Harry. She's not stupid. She's actually at the top of her class. I don't agree with this idea at all but if you're going to keep doing it then you need to be better at it." Hermione stated, standing.

Ron and Harry followed her lead. "I know I'll try harder. It's just.hey. What does Malfoy want with Ginny?"

All three stopped and looked as Draco Malfoy walked across the hall and called for Ginny. Ginny stopped and smiled and the three walked out of the hall together.

"What do you think he's up to?" Hermione asked, holding Ron back.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out."

"No, both of you are just going to let her protect herself. She is fully capable of it. Also I don't think.well, neither of them seemed unhappy to see the other. Anyways, YOU" she said pointing at Harry, "aren't supposed to have anything to do with her anymore. You aren't doing a spectacular job of following through either."

Harry and Ron stood there looking as though they both disagreed but Hermione just narrowed her eyes. "Give it up you two! Let her take care of herself."

Hermione threw her hands up and stormed out. Ron sighed. "I thought we were over all of this by now." He said following her.

Harry shook his head, "You two will never quit fighting." He sighed and followed his quarreling friends. He was most definitely going to find out what was going on between Ginny and Malfoy. Inconspicuously.

~*~

Days and weeks past and Ginny became closer friends with Draco and Jeanne. The problem was, though, that Jeanne and Draco didn't exactly get along. At all. Period.

They argued more than Ron and Hermione and THAT was saying something.

"Gin, will you tell your stuck-up, arrogant, prick of a friend that not everyone in this world cares about the fact that every hair on his head isn't in the right place? Some people actually care about books and other things like that."

"I don't care that every hair on my head isn't in the right place. Anymore. Let's do something."

"Shh! I'm in the good part of my book and you're ruining it by talking."

"Ginny, tell your friend that some people actually like to have fun. Some people like you and me don't mind breaking a few rules to have fun. Come on, let's have fun!"

"Hey guys, can you just stop fighting for one moment? I'm going for a walk; I'll see you two later." Ginny said standing up and walking out of the library.

Harry was still ignoring her. She couldn't figure out what she had done wrong. Draco and Jeanne kept her mind off of things- but there were times when she couldn't help but think about it.

"Ginny?" Speak of the devil. She stopped and turned to face a pair of apathetic green eyes.

"What Harry?" She said trying to cover both the annoyance and the hope in her voice.

"Where's Malfoy?" He said narrowing his eyes.

"Why do you care?" She said crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't. I just think you should watch out. He's not a good guy."

"Really? Says who? You?"

"Yes me."

"And who makes you the expert on friends?"

"I."

"You what Harry? You really have no right to judge the way Malfoy treats his friends. At least he talks to them. At least he's honest with them. Sorry to say but I can't say the same about you."

"Ginny?"

"Bugger off Harry."

"I was just helping Ron. He asked me to talk to you about it."

"Oh he did, did he? Well you can tell him to bugger off as well."

"Quit being such a bitch Ginny. I was just telling you the truth." Harry gritted out.

Ginny narrowed her eyes and slapped him. "Stay away from me!" She whispered and walked off storming out of the front door. Again she missed the dejected look that fleeted across Harry's face.

When she reached the outside she slowly walked out toward the lake. She told herself that she wasn't going to cry anymore, that she'd put her emotions away in a little box for a later time. Crying let people know that they had hurt her. If they knew that they had hurt her than they had the upper hand. She would never let anyone have the upper hand in any situation.if she could help it.

She quietly sat beneath her tree and curled her legs beneath her chin. She felt her chest constrict but she just breathed in deeply and held in her breath for a moment. When she exhaled she felt all of the tension leave her body.

She looked out over the lake. It was very serene and almost lackadaisical. She loved being around water. The constant movement of the giant squid usually caused the water to gently crash into the shore, and today was no different.

Ginny took off her shoes and socks and stretched her legs out to where her toes were just touching the water. She then leaned against the trunk of her tree and closed her eyes. She was so absorbed in her environment that she failed to hear the two people approaching behind her.

The two people looked at each other and winked lifting their stolen items in a sort of salute to one another. They slowly approached the girl leaning against the tree making sure not to be heard. When they were right on their target the titled their goods and pressed the sprout.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ginny screamed as she was quickly being covered in whipped cream. She turned and faced her assailants. "Draco! Jeanne! You two are sooooooo going to get it!" The two looked at each other and grinned and then took off running.

The three friends ran across the shore of the lake splashing one another. Ginny ran and tackled Draco into the water. When Draco surfaced he had seaweed sticking out of his hair.

Jeanne stood on the shore and laughed. "Oh look, Dracy-poo's hair is all messed up." Draco and Ginny looked at one another and took off after Jeanne.

"Noooooooooooo!" Jeanne yelled, giggling as she ran across the shore. Draco pointed for Ginny to go around one side as he ran around the other. Soon enough they had cornered Jeanne. "Ah, come on you guys. Do you really want to do this?"

"Yes!" Both friends managed to say between laughs.

"No, really you don't!" Jeanne said backing up. Ginny and Draco each grabbed an arm and began pulling Jeanne toward the water. "Plea.."

When Jeanne emerged from the water Ginny and Draco were laughing so hard that they were lying on the shore. "Not nice." Jeanne sputtered as she walked out of the water. Ginny and Draco clutched their stomachs and just laughed harder.

The three sat together on the shore. Ginny looked down at her clothes. "I'm all sticky!" Jeanne and Draco looked at each other and started laughing.

"You're welcome." Jeanne said grinning widely at Ginny.

"Anything for you, my dear." Draco said half-bowing.

Ginny dipped her hand in the water and splashed Draco. Draco tried to splash Ginny but got Jeanne instead. Soon enough it was an all-out water fight. They were all running around splashing each other and laughing so hard that tears were running down their faces and mixing with the water.

~*~

From a window on the third floor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a certain young man with unruly black hair and emerald green eyes was watching the scene with doleful interest. He smiled sadly and turned and walked the other way. It had worked.

"If only."

~*~

A/N: Well, I know you are all about to kill me. At least I know Guerry is. Work took up a lot more time than I thought it would. Working 40 hours a week as a lifeguard can be rather tiring. OH well. I should be able to update a lot sooner now. I'm going back to college in a week and I'll actually have more time to write there. Oddly enough. Well, hope you liked this chapter. It was fun to write.

~*~

***Checkmated:***

Satoriste: Thanks so much! I'm glad that you've liked it!

not4u2no: I agree! I love Harry and Ginny together as well. They are so cute. I could go on for hours and hours about how well they would work together. Hope that this chapter cleared up some of the confusion. If not.sorry. Guess you'll have to keep reading!

St. Juslina03: Yeah he is trying to help her and he is being an___as you so correctly put it. Even more so in this chapter. Oh well. Boys.what can I say? Hope you liked this chapter.

ladyize: So so sooo sorry! I meant to update a lot this summer but work and time with friends kinda took its toll as you can see. Thanks so much!

__________: Thanks so much! I'm glad you love them. Hope you like this one as well. Nope- no writing classes to be honest. I just do this for fun. I'm a business and communications major at college. I just write papers and things like that.

dstorres75: Here's the next chapter!!! Hope you liked it!

crazyeyes33: Please don't murder me. He's a nicie as you stated! Yay! Thanks so much!

swimfan26: No joke that was a freaky movie. Harry is so stubborn. Draco's nice. How much weirder can it get?

~*~

***Chapter 6: FanFiction.net***

Silent Phoenix: Yup only trying to protect Ginny. Sorry it took so long for me to update.

Nicksgurl329: wink wink! He's doing it for her own good. Or so he thinks. He thinks he's trying to protect her. Hope you liked it.

Squeejum: Cackles- not telling. Malfoy may be a jerk but he could change. Maybe.

Nina: My roommate's name was Nina last year. Not that you needed to know that or anything. I hope you're not dead. Sorry it took so long for me to update. You know.work and all.

Sum1Special: I know it's not that soon but here it is! Cheers!!

Lacey Evans: Wow! One of my constant reviewers. Thanks so much for all of the support.

Iselin: You too girl! My constants! The letters were so much fun to write. I'm so glad you liked it!