Disclaimer: Nothing's mine!

A/N: Things getting more interesting now... :) Lovely people, I need more reviews! Oh, and the words that are in italics in the spell are actually Latin verbs. I'm so proud!

Memory – A Blessing

The Potion

Ginny dropped the last ingredient into the steaming cauldron, praying that it would not go wrong. The potion had been brewing for two days now, so she had not spoken to Tom for a while, and had been rather short with her father. She had even, very uncharacteristically, asked to leave Flourish and Blotts early after her shift. It would be a shame for it all to have been for nothing.

She had put a concealment charm on the cauldron, so nobody except her could see it. For some reason, she felt sure that Arthur would disapprove greatly if he found out that she was making it.

When the potion's bright purple colour began to fade, she pulled on her old dragonskin gloves which were still too big for her, remembering Charlie (they had belonged to him) with a smile, and scooped up a glass of it. Looking at it, she had doubts about what she was doing for the first time. But she couldn't back out now.

She steeled herself and tapped herself on the head with her wand four times.

"That which has been hidden, I will now reveal... Retego... Doors which have been closed, I will now open... Aperio... What I have not known, I will now understand... Intellego."

She drained the potion in one gulp, sitting down on a chair. The old lady at the apothecary had warned Ginny, when she was buying the ingredients for the potion, that sometimes it would weaken the body and mind considerably. But Ginny did not feel weak yet, so maybe –

Pain.

Indescribable, complete, brain-numbing pain.

She doubled over, barely noticing when she slipped off the chair, as a fire seemed to spread from her stomach all over her body, reaching a terrible peak in her head. She felt as though she was being burned inside out, she felt as though her head was about to explode, she felt –

Calm. Just as suddenly as the pain had started, it stopped. But now there was a dull thudding in her mind, that grew faster and faster and faster –

A ginger-haired girl yelling at a blond boy, slightly older than her...

The blond, now in his late teens, abruptly pulling the girl into a kiss...

The young woman looking furious, the man slightly sheepish...

Laughing together...

Embracing...

In bed...

Kissing...

Smiling...

A red-haired man pulling them apart...

A wand, pointing at the woman...

"NO!"

As Ginny screamed, the images faded and disappeared, and she was lying on the floor in her room, staring at the blurred ceiling.

She sat up, brushing away the tears she hadn't even realised that she had shed. It couldn't be. It was impossible. It was a lie. She couldn't have been with Draco Malfoy... And her father wouldn't have...

But it was all true. And as Ginny's mind absorbed all the information she had been forced to forget, she felt like dying, right there, right then. But she couldn't, she had to make sure. She Disapparated with a loud crack and Apparated again in the sitting room of Tom's large house a split-second later. Tom himself was sitting in a sofa, and when he turned and Ginny saw his face, the memories came flooding back. Her own memories of love, tenderness, happiness...

It was all true.

She clutched the wall behind her, trembling. Never taking her eyes off his face, she took a deep breath, shaking uncontrollably.

"Draco."

His eyes widened, and his pale face paled even more. She sank to the floor, her knees unable to support her anymore. A moment later Draco was at her side, kneeling down and putting his hand on hers. He seemed to be struggling to find the right words.

"So you – How do you – What happened?"

"No... it's unbelievable..."

"Ginny?"

"We were together for four years."

"Yes, and Ginny –"

She barely heard him. "My father... put a memory charm on me."

He finally broke their eye-contact. "Yeah."

"Were you there?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my God..." Something inside Ginny seemed to snap, and she threw herself at Draco furiously. "How could you have let that happen to me!? How could you have just – Why? Why, why, why? Why me? Oh my God, Draco..."

She was screaming, crying, punching, doing anything to make the incredible ripping pain inside her, so strong that her heart felt as though it had shattered into a thousand pieces, leave. Draco didn't try to stop her hurting him, and when she finally broke down and sobbed true, heart-wrenching sobs, he just held her, stroking her beautiful hair with the love he had been trying to conceal for too long, muffling her agony with his body.

------------

"How're you feeling?"

"Crap." Ginny's voice was flat as she stared straight in front of her. She willed for Draco to go away, leave her alone with her misery, but that was unreasonable since it was his bed she was sitting on. She looked at the two photos standing on a table against the wall, of herself and Draco laughing happily together. It was obviously from the days when her father had not known about them, had not –

She blocked away the rest of the thought, and looked at Draco. "Is that why you were so nervous when you thought I'd been in here? The photos?"

She felt the mattress sag as Draco sat down next to her. She hadn't thought that he would answer the question, but he did.

"Yeah."

She nodded. "I understand."

"I'm... sorry. For everything."

"It wasn't your fault. None of it was."

"I should have done more."

They sat in silence for a while, until Draco's curiosity got the better of his rare tenderness. He tried to make his voice casual and light, despite knowing that he would fail miserably. This wasn't an everyday occurrence.

"So, what did you do? I mean, that memory charm was – "

"I made a revealing potion," Ginny replied, cutting him short. His heart tugged painfully at her miserable voice. "It was just so I would know why you and – and dad were being so weird. I didn't realise..."

She shook her head. Draco moved closer to her, and when she didn't move away, put an arm around her protectively. She lowered her head onto his shoulder, letting a few more tears roll down her face. Draco leaned his cheek against her hair, and let the old familiarity of it give him courage to speak again.

"There's nothing I can say to make you feel better, because I have no idea what you're going through. But I have to admit... I'm glad you're back, Ginny."

Ginny raised her head and looked at him. He couldn't read her expression. He was just about to pull away and apologise again when she slowly leaned towards him and pressed her warm, ever-soft lips against his.