Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the idea (which I think is original, but ya never know). Anywho, the whole kitten-caboodle belongs to J. K. Rowling.
Chapter 5: Journey of the Heart
"Harry?" Ginny whispered, not believing her ears. She quickly stuffed the note back into the book she'd extracted it from and followed the voices that were echoing down the corridor. Before she knew it, Ginny was coming upon a herd of healers all gathered around a levitated stretcher that was moving steadily down the hall.
Ginny ran up beside the healers, trying to look over them and see Harry. Finally, when she was on her tiptoes, Ginny got a small glimpse of him.
He was thinner then she remembered, and so pale. But just when she was noticing that his head had a gash across it, someone roughly grabbed her arm and started pulling her down the hall, away from Harry.
"You standing there, gawking at him isn't going to help," Healer Kelley growled, tightening his grip on Ginny as she struggled to free herself.
"But—but—" Ginny began, digging her heals into the ground to no avail.
Kelley stopped suddenly, turning around and looking at Ginny as he let go of her arm.
"Yes, yes, I know he's Harry Potter." He sighed sarcastically. "It must be so exciting for you. If he weren't unconscious, I'm sure he'd love to sign an autograph."
"No," Ginny said, trying to catch her breath. "I'm his girlfriend."
"Oh," Kelley said. "Then we definitely don't want you around here." He grabbed her arm again and continued to drag her further and further away from Harry.
"Stop!" Ginny yelled, finally able to wiggle herself out of Kelley's grasp with a few well placed slaps.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kelley snapped, rubbing his arm where there was a glowing red mark the shape of Ginny's hand.
"What happened to him?" Ginny asked heatedly, motioning to where Harry and the healers were standing. "Why aren't they doing something? Why are they just standing there arguing?"
"Weasley—" Kelley began.
"You have to do something!" Ginny yelled. "He's dying and they're just standing there—you have to help him!"
"This is exactly why you can't be here right now," Kelley said, grabbing her arm once more and attempting to pull her further away from Harry.
"No!" Ginny screamed, hitting Kelley's chest with her fists. "He can't die—I don't want him to die! I need to talk to him!"
Kelley grabbed both of Ginny's wrists and, as hard as she fought, he was too strong for her. Surrendering, Ginny twisted her wrists free and stumbled back against the wall. Out of no where, she started sobbing, and sank down to the floor, hugging her knees and burying her face.
"I didn't mean for this to happen," Ginny sobbed. "I didn't want him to die. That's not why I did it. That's not why I'm doing this."
"You're bloody hysterical, Weasley." Kelley sighed, bending down and picking Ginny up. She turned her head, sinking her face into his shoulder as she continued to cry. "Oh, that's just perfect," he muttered, feeling the tears soak through his shirt as he carried her to the nurses lounge.
Once Ginny had calmed down, Kelley stood over her as she sat looking up at him from her chair.
"You're leaving," Kelley said firmly. "I'm sending you on vacation."
"But I have patients!" Ginny said.
"You can't be around with him here." Kelley said, referring to Harry. Ginny began to protest, but he silenced her. "You're mind won't be on your work. You'll be wondering how Harry is and I will not have you risking our other patient's lives because you're too busy fretting over your boyfriend."
"How long of a vacation?" Ginny asked tentatively.
"As long as it takes," Kelley said, turning to leave. "We have more then enough nurses to go around, so you won't be missed."
"Gee, thanks." Ginny muttered to his back.
By the end of the day, Ginny was in the changing room emptying out her locker. It had been a while since she'd cleaned it out, and there was now a buildup of old clothes left there out of laziness from the days when she was just too tired to change back out of her scrubs. There were at least six days of clothes in her locker that she was now stuffing into a duffle bag.
"Where are you going?" Came a voice from behind her. Ginny turned around to see Isabel, a fellow nurse, standing there.
"Vacation." Ginny answered simply.
"Lucky." Isabel sighed. "Do you have to book I let you borrow?"
"Oh!" Ginny said, suddenly remembering. Picturing the place where she'd left the book in her mind, Ginny muttered, "Accio book!" and it flew into her hand from Draco's room.
"Yeah, thanks for that," Ginny said, handing Isabel the book and getting back to cleaning out her locker. "It came in handy during a fight."
"No problem," Isabel smiled. "What's this?"
Ginny turned around to find Isabel holding the note Draco had written her. Before she could string together a couple of words, or even try to grab the letter back, Isabel glanced at the note and scoffed, "What kind a name is 'Ginevra'?"
Snatching the letter back, Ginny muttered, "Da Vinci seemed to like it."
And then it started coming back to her. Draco's cottage in the country.
'It's the only place I can go where no one will find me.'
That's where he was. That's where he'd gone.
Ginny's first instinct was to Apparate to Draco's cottage right then and there. But with a moment of thought, she remembered that she had no idea where it was. The country was a pretty big place to search for one tiny cottage.
Feeling significantly sadder then before, Ginny continued to pack. After a short conversation about—who else?—Harry Potter and what he was doing in the hospital, Isabel got up to leave.
"Don't forget to give this back to Kelley," Isabel said, grabbing Ginny's beeper off of a nearby table and throwing it at her before leaving.
Ginny, being the butterfingers that she was, dropped the beeper onto the floor. She sighed, cursed silently, and bent down to pick it up. But something caught her eye. On the screen, which should be blank, was an address.
"It must be broken," Ginny muttered to herself, straightening up. But then, with a wave of happiness, Ginny remembered something. She'd never preformed the counter tracking charm on Draco—he'd left before she could. So, on this screen, must be the address of—
"The cottage in the country!" Ginny whispered to herself. Now that she knew where it was, she could Apparate there. The only question was; would he want her there?
Ginny ran down the hall at full speed, ignoring the disapproving shouts of healers behind her, and only slowed down to throw her beeper at Healer Kelley, missing him by a good five feet.
Finally, Ginny came to a halt in front of the room Isabel had said they placed Harry in. Slowly, she opened the door and peeked in.
Harry was alone in the room, lying in his bed. Ginny slowly approached him, the sight of his unconscious body unsettling. Finally, she was right beside him, so close she could see the fine line that was left from the gash the healers had mended.
"God, I wish you were awake," Ginny sighed. "This would be so much easier to explain in person."
But, since talking to Harry wasn't possible, Ginny had written him a note explaining everything—about Draco, about why she was leaving, and about why she was breaking up with him. It all just felt so wrong—breaking up with someone over a letter. There was a way to do these types of things, and there was a way not to, and this was definitely the way not to. But she had no other choice. She'd always been the type of person who followed their heart, and right now it was telling her that she needed to stop doing what others wanted and finally make a decision for herself.
Before sealing the envelope, Ginny took off the silver heart pendent from around her neck and placed it in along with the letter. She lifted Harry's hand off of his stomach and placed the envelope under it before kissing him on the forehead and Apparating to where she hoped Draco was hiding.
Ginny appeared, duffle bag in hand, in front of a beautiful stone built cottage. As she looked around at the surroundings, she saw absolutely nothing—save for a few trees and other assorted shrubbery.
As she approached the door, Ginny started getting second thoughts. If Draco was really in there, did he want to see her? He might have just left because he wanted to get away from her, and it wouldn't be the best of surprises to see the person you were trying to escape from at your doorstep.
But, trying to push those negative thoughts to the back of her head, Ginny knocked on the door, her stomach doing flip flops.
Ginny waited, not daring to move, for minutes on end as her hope slowly slipped away and the door stayed unopened.
Finally, right when she was about to Apparate home, the door flew open and there was Draco, pointing his wand right at her heart and a curse on the tip of his tongue.
Ginny screamed, ducking and covering her head just as Draco practically threw his wand at her and harshly whispered, "Shit!"
After recovering from the shock, Draco took a good look at Ginny. She was crouching on the ground with her hands over her head. Draco couldn't help but laugh, which caused Ginny to finally look up and glare at him.
"What the bloody hell are you laughing at?" Ginny asked angrily, pushing Draco out of the way as she made her way into the house.
Clutching his side and trying to control his laughter, Draco gasped, "What were you doing, getting ready for a tornado?"
Ginny placed her duffle bag on the kitchen table and glared at him.
"What do you expect me to do when you're about to curse me to oblivion?" She asked angrily.
"It's just a safety precaution." Draco said defensively.
"How very paranoid of you." Ginny smirked.
"Did you just come here to make fun of my security measures or is there something else?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.
Ginny suddenly felt very out of place and, glancing quickly at her bag, she felt even more awkward. He didn't want her there—that was obvious. What was she going to say?
"How did you find me anyway?" Draco suddenly asked. "I mean, this house is unplottable and—"
"Oh," Ginny said, finally finding a reason for her being there. "You left the hospital before I could perform the counter tracking charm."
"A tracking charm?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's a bit extensive, don't you think?"
"It's just a safety precaution," Ginny smirked.
Ginny preformed the counter charm, taking all of five second, and then continued to stand there in front of Draco, silence engulfing them. The scene could not get any more awkward.
"Well, I suppose I'll go then." Ginny said, reaching for her bag and wishing she'd never came. She felt so stupid just standing there.
"Wait," Draco said, grabbing her bag before she could. "It's... getting dark. You should stay here tonight... just in case."
Ginny smiled, accepting the offer even though they both knew that how dark it was outside wouldn't interfere with the task of her Apparating home.
Woot! You all rock the hiz-ous cause of the plethora of reviews you guys wrote. As of right now, I have 97 freakin' reviews! That totally rocks my socks, and I'm not even wearing socks.
Sunflour: heehee, the way you say it my story sounds like a soap opera—which totally rocks cause All My Children is baller. I felt kinda bad after I read your review, cause I had already written this chapter, and I was all, "Aw crap, I made Harry unconscious when everyone was expecting an amusing/dramatic fight between he and Ginny that may or may not have included an infidelity confession." So, sorry Harry was all knocked out and stuff. I decided, just for you and/or every other person I made believe there'd be a semi-exciting argument, that I'll have Harry appear later—probably near the last chapter. Ooooo, anticipation!....kinda.
Bigsmile737: muhahahaha! I made you want Ginny to end up with Draco! I feel such power. But, you do know that you're one of us now, don't you? Part of the Fire and Ice posse. The majority of us hate Harry like the Bloods hate the Crips. There are the few, of course, who find Harry's his heroics brave, and smile endearing—but we do not speak of them.
Kneh13: Aw, sweet and sentimental is the bestest. Except when it crosses over to cheesy and cliché. That'd be bad. I hope that didn't happen. Especially with the note in the last chapter—that was a tough one. And also Ginny bursting into tears in this chapter. Hopefully she's not crossing over into Cho Chang's territory.
Wizzabee: heehee, thank goodness I didn't have Ginny run back to Harry! I totally agree that Harry doesn't deserve her. I only wrote one Ginny/Harry story, and it was just because I wanted Ginny as the main character and I needed someone who was her friend to be her lov-er. Ahem. Anyways. So, the cuteness is still there. Though the note part was a tad cold, but I don't think The-Boy-Who-Unfortunately-Lived deserves anything else.
The police can kiss my ass!: heeheehee, you're name's funny. I have a strange obsession with original names, which is odd because my fanfic name is boring and not the least bit humorous. If I could, I'd change it to TheSexualHarassmentPanda..... I have issues that may or may not be related to the zillion hours of South Park I've watched.....uh, yea.
Squashes: I agree that cliffies, much like a good ass-kickin', totally suck when you're on the receiving end. But, lucky for me, I'm not. Muhahahaha! Of course, you all know what's happened after the cliffie now that I've posted it so, alas, I've lost the power. It was nice while it lasted. I was going to use it for good, once I'd gotten a few 'problems' straightened out.... So, yea, I've lost my thread. I think I'll just leave it there and stare at my computer screen until I become dizzy and fall off my chair....
Hadhafang: :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( That's how sad I am that you thought my chiffie was cruel. That's how sad......... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt That's how much I think you should disregard my last comment. That's how much.
Merit Somnia: To his cottage! Draco went to his cottage! I wish I had a cottage in the country. I also wish I had a pony that could fly and made me coca-cola slushies every morning. I think I want the pony more. Those coca-cola slushies are damn fine. Damn fine.
AnitaBlake/BuffyFan: There were the last few hospital scenes. Now we're on to Draco's-cottage-in-the-country scenes. It makes me sad to see Healer Kelley go, but it's all good cause I'm the author and I could suddenly have him show up on Draco's doorstep one day if I wanted. I could also make Draco wear a dress and call himself Cathy....but I don't want to do that.
Fcuking cathy: Damn you, Harry Potter! ::sigh:: He did indeed come barging in once Draco had Ginny's attention. What a butt. I hate people like that. That's why I made him unconscious. He doesn't deserve to be conscious. You know why? Cause he's a butt. Maybe next time I can have him get eaten by lions or something. Yea. That'd be cool.
Timra: Oh dear, do you like Harry? Oh dear. You silly little person. But I suppose I'll forgive you cause I like your name cause I read it and thought it said Tamara, and then I had some sweet, sweet Sister, Sister flashbacks. Man, I use to think that show was so funny. Of course, that was when I was young, naive, and thought that Full House was the best thing on television.
MrS-SiRiUs-BlAck: Oh! Oh, bad mental picture! I'm, personally, in love with anything that is Irish and refuse to believe that Seamus could ever have homosexual feelings for our beloved Ronald. Neville, on the other hand.... BTW: You are soooooo good, my friend. Soooo, good. You caught the tracking charm thing! And here's me thinking I'm clever and have successfully created a diversion what with Draco leaving and Harry being unconscious—so much so that people will suddenly forget about the aforementioned tracking charm. But you, my friend, are good.
Youdon'tknowmyname: You're right. I don't know your name. That makes me a bit sad. This feels rather impersonal, since I don't know your name. I suppose I could make up a name for you. How's Toby? That's what I named my spider. What about....Dude? I think I'll call you Dude. That's unisexual, right? Ok, Dude. Right, Dude. Whatever, Dude.
Fancyeyes: ........ Oh. My. Gosh. I accidentally hit the wrong button, and my computer kinda froze, and then this voice from inside it said, "Asstarisk. Asstarisk. Asstarisk. Asstarisk. Asstarisk. Asstarisk. Asstarisk. Asstarisk." ....I'm not crazy! The computer talked to me, I swear!!!!
TarynMalfoy88: Wow, dude, sweet! Is your name really Taryn? That's my sister's name! When I read your review and looked and your name and was all, "cool!" I called my sister and told her and she's all, "No freakin' way," and I'm like, "Way!" We didn't think that anyone else in the world had that name except for Taryn Manning and that one U.S. gymnast. Sooooooo cool.
QuirkyWriter: heehee, you make me giggle. It would have totally rocked if Healer Kelley was a spy and poisoned Draco and then, when Draco died, he was all, "Victory!" and did a little dance and made a little love and....got down tonight. That'd just be cool beyond reason.
Persephone 4: Someone does hate Harry with a raging vengeance. Me. And, if we're lucky, J.K. Rowling too, cause I would laugh my tiny little arse off if he got killed in the last book. That'd just be sweet beyond reason. Oh, and I must tell you, your name (well, your fanfic name) came up in a convo with my sister yesterday. I said something, and she was all, "That's funny," in a monotone kinda voice and I was all, "Don't make me go Igby Goes Down on you," and she was all, "Whaaaa?" and I screamed, "No one understands me!...Except for Persephone 4!"....So, yea, either you're relatively honored, or totally weird out. But I'm hoping more for slight confusion.
Ashley: Aw, I made you cry with Draco's note? Victory!....just kidding. I'd never be happy in making a fellow junior cry. Unless he was a certain someone in my school who reminds me of Malfoy but so totally isn't! His name is Jerry. He pulls my pigtails and calls me names. Except I don't wear pigtails, so he just calls me names....anyways, onto happier subjects. SPANISH! Heehee, right. I hate that damn language. I took Spanish 1 twice, and I still have no idea what those people are going on about on the Spanish channel.
Sinful delight: Heehee, yea. I just found out, like, a day before I started writing this story that Ginny's actual name was Ginevra. My world stopped turning, and I started questioning my existence. So, after cursing J. K. Rowling for hiding such a valuable secret from me, I decided to tell the rest of the world that Ginny's actual name is, in fact, Ginevra. The problem? It seems everyone already knows. ::sigh:: I'm always the last to find out.
Actrez: Aw, the one where Monica gets Chandler a hooker. I love that episode! Thank to gods that the Joey show is funny—it gives me my much needed Friends fix. And I loved it when Joey's sister tells him that she thought he and Chandler should have moved out to LA long ago, cause it was a big spot for gay people, and he yells, "Chandler and I are not a gay couple!" heehee, so good.
Confused by happy: Noooooo! I'm so sorry my cliffie made you sneeze. Please don't sue! Then I'll be poor and have to put a warning on all of my chapters with chiffies that says, "Reading this chapter may cause sneezing and/or the sniffles. Consult your doctor before reading.".... oh, and, BTW, the Olympics is over. I'm just a dork and tape it and watch it later. ::hangs head:: Feel free to throw things at me.
Lauren: I'm glad that you agree with my on the Russian guy's attractiveness. It shows that you are both intelligent and have impeccable taste. Brava. It also means that you have my personal permission to smite down anyone whom opposes our opinions with the power I have now bestowed upon you. Use it well.
DarkFlower2113: Aren't those just the best days? It's been so long since I've spent a day reading fanfic and loved every single one of them. ::sigh:: why, I remember when I use to simply close my eyes and click on the first story my mouse landed on, and I knew full well that it would contain just the write amount of romance with just a touch of humor. And then they came along. You know who I'm talking about. Those people who were beaten to death with a cliché stick, and now have it permanently imprinted in their brain. Their the ones who wouldn't know humor if it danced naked in front of them wearing Dobby's tea cozy. That's right, they are all that's wrong with the world.
Dracosbaby: Oh, don't you worry. This is a Nicole11 fic. The couples always end up together in the end. I actually considered writing a story about Draco and Ginny where they didn't end up together in the end, but I didn't have the heart to write it. I just can't stand not having a happy ending!
WiDz: Oh gods, you care about Harry too? What's with all the sympathy, people?! Harry allegedly cheated on poor, defenseless Ginny. He also yells a lot and is in serious need of some uppers. It's just angst, angst, angst with that kid. Voldemort killed his parents, he saw Cedric die, it's his fault Sirius is dead—I mean, shut up, Harry! How about looking for the silver lining once in a while?
Straycat: Damn, you wrote me a novel! I credit the use of 'hamburgers' instead of 'shit' to Butters from South Park. Man, I just love that kid. And brava for catching the Friends reference! I love that episode—and Ross goes to find that one girl that Pheobe works with to see if she knows and she just says, "You did a bad thing. Very bad. Very very bad." ::sigh:: how I miss my Friends. But, we still have the show Joey—which, for a spinoff (which are always dull and dreadfully disappointing) was so splendidly funny I actually laughed out loud. Be proud, Joey, be proud.
Sweetcaroline3313: Oh crap, 10 minutes and counting till Friday is officially over. I seem to do this a lot—racing the clock so I actually update on time. If I could, I'd steal a timeturner from Dumbledore's office and turn back time so I could finish writing thank yous and still have it be Friday. But, alas, that is impossible, for you see, stealing is illegal.
The Good Girl: Have you seen the movie The Good Girl? Oh, how I love Jake Gyllenhaal. And, oh, how I love Jennifer Aniston. I love some other people in that movie too, but not enough to actually remember how to spell their names.
Blatant Discontent: Oh thank the gods. I'm happy you were in the mood for angst, cause I hate it when I'm reading something and I'm a couple chapters in and I'm all, "Yay! I love story! How I love love stories!" and then someone important dies or something equally angsty happens and I'm all caught off guard and my happy-love-story mood is gone and is replaced by a giant hole in which all things that are evil and sad procreate....so, yea, glad your mood was angsty, cause the black hole's just no fun.
Herbie: heehee, your review made me laugh. It was like you pressed send before you wanted to and couldn't finish what you were saying before it was sent. That has happened to me numerous times. It makes me hit my keyboard and many a letter fly off. I hope that didn't happen to you. Oh, and Spanish 3 so totally does not rule. My teacher won't let us speak English in his class room so I'm all, "Yo no understand...o." I am soooooo totally failing.
I apologize to all who received frighteningly strange thank yous. It is officially midnight, and I'm trying to hold back the angry mob of fanfic readers and type at the same time. Not an easy task. Anyways, I leave you with this:
"Animal crackers in my soup. Monkeys and rabbits, loop-di-loop."
Those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about obviously don't know about a little girl with curly hair who acts, sings, and dances. Shame on you.
If you want me to e-mail you when I update, just give me you e-mail address in the review and I'd be happy to do it :)