Si Te Vas
Chapter 2
A/N: HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Brothers and the creation of J.K. Rowling. No infringement or profit is intended by my use. The concept for this little fic is copyright Volkswagen of America, Inc and featured in their ad "Big Day." Everything else is mine.
An hour and a half. He only had an hour and a half to get from Hogwarts to Saint Paul's, stop a wedding and convince the only girl that he'd ever loved not to marry the man she was planning on marrying and instead… What instead? Leave with him? Run away to gods know where with him? Marry him? He drove mindlessly down the road, his broom tucked into the trunk as the skies opened up, forcing him to slow down. It had to rain. It just had to. It was his luck, which he'd never had much of based on his career as a Seeker for the Slytherins. No Potter was the lucky one. And if Draco didn't move faster, Potter'd get lucky again. He'd have Ginny and all Draco would have was… nothing. He had nothing without Ginny.
She was probably standing in her parent's house right about now. Standing in her dress, smiling and laughing and planning for a future with Potter. No… She couldn't actually love him. God wouldn't be that cruel to him. Draco smiled as he thought of her in her wedding dress, surrounded by family and probably half dozen or so little redheaded children, all wanting to look at her ring and play with her dress. She was looking out the window, wondering if it was going to stop raining, smiling at her father as he asked for the 100th time whether she was sure about it. And she was sure, because she was happy, because he made her happy. She'd play with her hair or her ring nervously, worried not that he wouldn't show up but that everything would go smoothly. But her father smiled back at her, ensuring her that he'd be there, that everything was going to be perfect. Then he'd ask again whether she was sure. And she'd tell him, again, that she was because she loved him and wanted to be with him for the rest of her life. She wanted to become Mrs. Draco Malfoy.
Draco slammed on the brakes of his car, laying on the horn as a car ahead of him suddenly stopped. Of course Ginny had to get married in a Muggle church. In a Muggle area of town. With a Muggle fireplace and no possible way for him to fly in without half a dozen or so bloody Muggles seeing him do so. He dropped his head onto the wheel as the flow of traffic ceased. This couldn't be happening! He had to get there in time or else… His Ginny would become Potter's Ginny.
"Dammit, MOVE!" he screamed out the window, blowing the horn again. "Move off the bloody road or hit the gas! It's the vertical one on the right!" The driver turned around and made a very rude gesture and Draco bit back the urge to curse the git. "Same to you! Now MOVE IT!"
The traffic started again and he floored it, passing the idiot like he was standing still. If it was possible to fly in a Muggle vehicle (which it was, he remembered with an amused smile, because Weasley and Potter did it, when was it? Second year? Or was it third?) he was doing it. He glanced down at the speedometer. He was definitely breaking the law, but he didn't care. He couldn't care. There was only one thing he cared about and she was standing in a church getting ready to marry another man.
He looked down at his watch… Where did the time go? Only a half hour now! He couldn't miss it… He just couldn't! He was forced to slow down as he entered the town. Ahead of him, the barriers at a train crossing started to come down. Draco ignored them, steering around them as the train's whistle blew. He bounced across the tracks, getting through just in time. Seeing the sign for Ottery Saint Catchpole, he veered off the road, crossing two lanes of traffic and cutting off at least one another car as he took the exit at high speeds. He hadn't seen her in almost two years… What if Snape was wrong? What if they had invited all their old professors and it had nothing to do with him? What if she didn't give a rat's ass about him anymore? What if she hated him for leaving her?
"You're leaving. Well, I knew that. You're finished Hogwarts, you can't stay…"
"No, Ginny! You don't understand! You never will! I'm LEAVING! Scotland, England, the entire fucking island! And I don't know when or if I'm going to come back," he yelled, hating the way she cringed when his words her hit as hard as any fist could.
"What about us?" Ginny asked softly, looking at her feet as his words sunk in.
Draco sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he kicked a clump of dirt that was lying in the grass. "There is no us anymore, Gin."
"No! Why…But…No! Draco, you know how I feel about you," she cried, raising her dark brown eyes to his. The tears were spilling down her cheeks, their trails glistening in the late day sun. "I love you. I've risked everything for you."
"You shouldn't have to risk anything to be with me, Ginny! I can't… We won't work. We're too different. Our families… I don't love you anymore," he declared, his voice catching on the lie as he saw the effect of his destructive words. "It's over," he stated with finality, looking away from her before his resolve crumbled and he took her in his arms, begging her to forgive him for his foolishness.
"I won't let you do this. I'm not going to let you leave," she sobbed, reaching forward to him.
Draco jumped out away from her grasp. "You don't have a say in the matter! I'm going. Goodbye Ginny," he whispered, leaning in quickly to kiss her and then pulling away just as quickly. She made a final effort to grab him, but he turned so swiftly that she only managed to catch the back of his robe which flowed through her fingers like the fine silk it was. From the corner of his eye, he saw her fall to the ground and he took a deep breath, repeating in his head that this was for the best. It didn't help to think that one day she'd thank him for this. His heart was contracting painfully in his chest and he was could hear her gut wrenching sobs as he walked away. No, not his heart... He didn't have a heart anymore. He'd left it by the lake.
Draco had to wrench the wheel to the left to avoid the car that had just entered the road. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't seen it enter the road. He needed to calm himself down or else he'd kill himself before he got to the church. Seeing the sign for the road where the church was, he made a quick right. "There it is," he muttered to himself as he saw the church in the distance. There was a white carriage waiting outside, two white horses harnessed to the front. If he leaned over far enough he could see white ribbons blowing in the breeze. And flowers. Lots of flowers. He had to give one thing to Potter, he was throwing Ginny the wedding she deserved. But that was the only thing he'd ever Potter and he sure as hell wasn't going to give him Ginny. Not without a fight.
He pulled the car alongside the church with a screech, sending the horses into hysterics but he didn't care. He'd barely let it come to a stop before he hopped out and went sprinting up the stairs. The doors were open and he heard the voice of the minister saying, "Speak now or forever hold your peace."
Draco ran inside catching sight of her standing at the end of the aisle. She looked like a dream, her beautiful hair hanging down her back and flowers in her hair forming a little crown. He stopped as she turned and caught his eye. He simply stared at her, not trusting his voice to say anything. She quickly broke his gaze, looking back to Potter and then down at the ground. As she dropped her head, Potter looked down the aisle, his gaze hardening. Draco opened his mouth to say something as Potter glared at him for just a moment then glanced back expectantly to Ginny. She lifted her head and turned to look at Draco, taking a deep breath.
Fasten your seatbelts…