Author: RavenEcho
Summary: Ginny hurts. And no one knows. It's not easy being a number. Her number is zero, because that's how many people understand her…probably a Draco/Ginny waiting to happen. Some Ginny/Remus.
Disclaimer: If I owned this stuff, would I really be on this computer typing away right now? No… I would be eating some rich-people-food in my gigantic English manor…
Touch Me
Chapter 10: Bet's End, Their Anger
Ginny walked down to the lake, scanning the area for Draco. It was break on Monday, the last day of the bet. Ginny had made eye contact with Draco in the halls earlier, and he had murmured, "lake," to her in passing. So she had come here to meet him.
The redhead glanced a round again as she settled herself by the lake's shore. She didn't see Draco coming, so she pulled up her sleeves to survey her scarred arms. They now had burn scars as well. Ginny would burn in one place over and over again until it began to blister and scar, then she would burn in a new place. She usually did it outside, so her roommates wouldn't ask about the smell of burning skin.
Ginny, preoccupied in her thoughts, didn't hear Draco come up behind her. Instead she just poked at her latest burn blister. According to the section on the danger of dragons in the book that Charlie had given her, it was a third-degree burn. They all were.
Draco quietly pulled out his wand before Ginny could notice him and flicked a healing charm at her blister. "I win," he said when she turned to face him. There wasn't a sneer or even a trace of a smirk on his face. Instead, he looked sad, and very tired.
Ginny nodded. "So you do," she said, more calmly than she felt.
"You want to sit?" Draco said, slightly awkwardly.
Ginny raised an eyebrow and returned to where she had been sitting before she stood to face him. The Slytherin sat beside her.
"Why do you do it?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
Ginny sighed. "Lots of reasons. I don't really feel like talking about it."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Am I the only one that even knows?"
"No," Ginny answered, fiddling with a strand of red hair that was hanging in her eyes.
This surprised Draco. "Really?"
Ginny sneered. "No, I just said that for the hell of it."
"Okay, stupid question."
"Yeah," Ginny scoffed.
"So who else knows then?" Draco pried.
Ginny hesitated, and tucked the hair behind her ear. "I don't think it's my right to tell you. I don't know if he would want me to."
"He?" Draco asked.
"Yes, that is what I said," Ginny answered impudently.
"Boyfriend?"
"I don't have one."
"One of your brothers?"
"Hell no."
"Umm… Potter?"
"Are you kidding me?" Ginny glared at Draco. "He would've told the Dream Team, which consists of my brother, who would've told the entire family. Then they would put me in St. Mungo's or something."
"Harsh," Draco commented. "My parents would give me a muggle and tell me to torture them."
"That's the difference between our parents then."
"I guess so."
Ginny stood. "I have to get to class."
"Wait," Draco called as she started to leave. "I'll get my end of the bet now."
Ginny stopped in her tracks. "What do you want?"
Draco came closer, till he was very close to Ginny. "A kiss," he murmured, sliding gentle hands around her waist and slowly leaning in to capture her mouth in a soft kiss.
It wasn't till she pulled away that Draco realized what hadn't set right in his mind. The blond Slytherin lifted Ginny's shirt up a little bit before she could stop him and was staring at her tiny waist line when it all clunked into place in his brain.
"Ginny?" he murmured, in horror. "Have you stopped eating?"
The girl pulled away, savagely tugging her shirt down so her stomach was covered. "I fail to see how it's any of your concern, Malfoy," she snarled viciously. "I told you I wasn't your sister, and I told you that you wouldn't be able to be there all the time. Where the hell do you think these new scars are from," she snapped, gesturing to the brown burn scars on her arm. "From times you weren't there!"
Draco stared at Ginny, who seemed to have fire smoldering in her brown eyes. He knew that he was getting even paler from anger, while she was getting flushed. "The only reason that I can't always be there is because you won't let me," he raged back, though in much quieter tones. "If you'll only tell me when you need help, I'll be there! I'm not some sort of genius; I can't automatically know when you're in pain. All I can do is try my damnedest to give you what you need when I can."
Ginny glared spitefully into Draco's eyes. "Malfoy," she spat. "You can't save me like you seem to think you can. Remus thought I had a miracle coming, but he was wrong. I don't need a miracle, so the Lady won't be giving me one. What I do need, and what I want, is for you to fuck off. Are we clear?" She didn't wait for him to respond before spinning around on one heel and striding off towards the school.
Draco, however, only had one thought in his head. She had said Remus thought she had a miracle coming. He must be the one who knows. Now who is Remus?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Despite the number of chapters you guys see me pumping out, I really am getting discouraged! So few reviews! And my two new Gilmore Girls one-shots are getting so much feedback, that this poor little story is getting depressed… so review, pretty please, or I may have to stop this little flow I'm on out of spite… and I will do it, too…
REVIEW RESPONSES: thank you to EternalEcho, my only reviewer… sniffle sniffle…