A/N: Hehe...Hoped you hearted that cliffie! I now have only two reviewers, but that's better than none. So thank you very much Alexandria J. Malfoy and shelley!(shh.. No one tell them that they're wrong...) Mucho amor!
Disclaimer: Well, you see, if I did own Harry Potter and everything about it... I certainly wouldn't be writing it on here. I do own the song at the end though, Maggie, and Matthew.
Finding Hope Again
Chapter Four: Try to Remember
In a bland but quaint room in a small apartment building with a view of a busy city, a girl with vibrant red hair lay unconscious, and a worried boy sat in a chair, vigilant at her side, with hopes that she would wake. It had been hours since Ginny fell unconscious in her deserted alley, and at the moment she showed no sign of improvement despite all the care that Matthew had given her. He had attended three years of Med School when he decided that music was his true passion, so he had enough skills and knowledge to help her, but her state was not natural and led him to believe that she was in a coma of some sort.
She had a strong pulse, and showed no sign of respiratory problems, yet she would not wake. He tried smelling salts numerous times, tapping her shoulder, tickling her feet, and the unconventional method of dumping water on her and succeeded in accomplishing nothing but possibly making her more uncomfortable and wet. Of course, he took care of this swiftly and professionally. He was no pervert, that was for sure.
He rubbed his temples slowly, searching his mind for something to wake her up. Then, as if someone had dropped a bucket of ice cubes down his shirt, he shot up from his seat. He ran out of the room and seemed to have disappeared for quite some time when he finally returned, but not alone. He held some sort of instrument resembling a drumstick of some kind in his hand, yet it was slightly larger than a normal sized stick, and was wider also.
He set it on the bed, as if he wanted the stick to jump up and heal her itself, but of course that was not possible. He reached out as if he wanted to grab it, but would only let his fingers brush the wood. After nearly fifteen minutes of an internal battle raging inside of his mind, he grabbed the stick. It almost looked awkward in his hand, and it seemed as though he felt awkward holding it. A few moments later, he sucked in a deep breath, aimed the stick at Ginny, and with hopes that it would work he let his mind remember his childhood, the secret part of him he hid deep within his mind.
"Ennerv-" whispered Matthew to the unconscious Ginny who had miraculously woken up in the middle of his incantation. She stared at him wide-eyed, confused by the scene before her.
Moments before he had begun to talk, she awoke, but kept her eyes closed in attempt to regain full function of her body. She was about to open her eyes to see where she was and to figure out why she was so warm and comfortable, a feeling so different from the way life was on the streets. Then, she had heard the beginning of the Ennervate spell, an incantation used to wake people from a stunning spell, that she had learned in Hogwarts. She thought Maggie had found her, but the voice whispering the incantation was male.
She stared at Matthew in awe and fear, a combination she had never experienced before. She did not know how he could do magic, or why he was using what seemed to be a drumstick to do so. Matthew stared back at her with wide eyes and a pout. He greatly resembled a mischievous child who had been caught by an angry parent as he did something against house rules. He dropped the drumstick with such speed one would have thought it burned him and ran a hand through his thick hair as beads of sweat appeared on his brow. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to her, nor did he want to.
Despite this fact, he knew that he would have to say something. "Ginny," he started with a quiver in his voice, "I can explain."
Ginny stared at him, jaw at her chest, blinking slightly as she felt her eyes go dry, but secretly wanting to close her eyes fully and fall back into the peaceful slumber she had experienced. He better have been able to explain, and she hoped that his explanation involved a sudden urge to play the drums on her stomach while letting random words, which he did not know the meaning of, flow out of his mouth. She took a deep breath, held it momentarily as she thought of what to say in reply, but sadly found no words. Instead of the verbal approach to the situation, she used physical means and raised her eyebrow while crossing her arms over her chest.
"Look," began Matthew, "I know this must be really odd, and I don't know if I should tell you this, but I can do magic."
He spoke so fast that she barely caught on to his words, but in the back of her mind she knew that she did not want to hear them. She did not want to respond to him, but his expectant eyes told her that she had to say something. Incoherent thoughts ran through her mind at a rapid speed. Forming whatever words she could muster, she stammered out a reply.
"W-well," she stuttered, "that doesn't look like a wand."
The tables turned faster than Matthew had ever expected. She couldn't have known about wands, she was just a Muggle who he had met over summer a few years ago, and just some Muggle he had fallen in love with. He found that he was speechless, something he encountered every-so-often when faced in serious situations - something he wished wasn't his burden. He always envied fast talkers and the more confident peers of his who could talk through any situation they were faced with.
Ginny, realizing that he was not able to or would not respond, decided to take matters into her own hands. It took all of her courage to speak to him about this, but apparently he may have known more about the secrets she kept from him, even though she never dared voice them out loud in his presence. Letting some sort of second energy and confidence take over, she spoke calmly and smoothly.
"Well, wands usually don't resemble drumsticks, Matt," said Ginny very matter-of-fact manner.
Matthew, bewildered by her sudden calmness in this revealing situation, still could not find the words to explain his actions. He was slightly tempted to tell her that the whole magic thing was just a joke, and that he was going to play her stomach like a drum to get her to wake from her unconsciousness, but he decided not to dig himself in a hole deeper than the one he was in. Deciding that honesty was the best policy, he attempted a weak explanation.
"I don't know how you even know what a wand is supposed to look like, but I suppose we should save that conversation for another time," he paused for a moment, "if there is another time."
He searched for the right words to use, but it seemed at though the only thing he could say was whatever came out of his mouth when he opened it. He knew that the story was not going to be pretty, especially if she really was a witch, or at least someone who knew about magic, but he could not tend to that tender fact at the moment. The most important thing to do was to tell Ginny the whole truth, and nothing but that, even though he decided to modify it slightly and leave out the part about his drum stick. He decided the best way to continue was to avoid staring her in the eye as often as possible, thus taking up a sudden interest in the off-white carpet on the floor.
"I can do magic, even though I don't think you believe me," he resumed. "In the Wizarding World, there are two different kinds of magic, one being good, and the other bad. My family originally came from here in London, but we moved to Germany when I reached the proper age to attend school. I went to Durmstrang by my parents' orders. They wanted me to be familiar with the Dark Arts. I suppose I ought to be frank with you about this, but my parents were active supporters of the Dark Lord, a master of the bad kind of magic, and I was on my way to becoming just like them."
At this, he looked up to see Ginny's expression. He stared into her eyes, but what he saw was certainly not what he expected. She was completely emotionless. Her face was an empty canvas, waiting for someone to fill it. He began to regret telling her this. Somewhere in the pit of his stomach, he knew that this history of his would alter their new found relationship, but despite his remorse, he continued.
"Then, one day, the German Ministry of Magic, the government of Wizarding Germany, found all of my father's Dark Artifacts. My father, having more than enough connections in that certain Ministry, and more than enough money, avoided going to prison. That wasn't all though, his magic, along with my mother's, was from then on monitored on a daily basis as some kind of negotiation. We were also forced to go live with the Muggles in England not only as punishment, but also in fear of being found-out by the Dark Lord. My parents still went to occasional meetings, but they were double-agents.
"We moved to Ottery St. Catchpole, and I had to attend special classes organized through the Ministry to make up for the last year of school I would miss, but they were in Germany, which is why I had to leave that year. They must have put some charm on my parents though, something illegal of sorts, because they never were quite the same. It was almost as though they enjoyed the new lifestyle of living in secrecy and with the muggles that they once thought to be a filthy nuisance to everything and everyone."
He had said it. He finally got everything off of his chest, and it felt damn good. Well, it wasn't everything. He had left many holes in the story because he did not want her to find out everything about him. He did not want her to find out that he was not always the angel he had seemed to be. He was still staring at carpet as a small piece of fuzz captured his attention. He refused to look at her, afraid of her response. He knew that she was either going to think that he was crazy, or that he was one of the most elaborate liars she had ever met, and he hoped it was neither.
Ginny, having just heard this confession from someone she once knew, was in utter shock. She never would have guessed that his family was anything but muggle. She had never found herself in a position in which she was more at a loss of words than the one she was in now. She desperately wanted to tell him that she was magical like him, but she held the words at bay. She was silent for a while as she contemplated her next move. Eventually, Matthew looked up at her with the same expectant shining eyes she had seen when he first told her that he loved her.
"I believe you," whispered Ginny. Immediately, Matthew's composure relaxed. He sat less rigid in his chair and his facial expression looked less tense. He felt as though he could pick her up and swing her around at that very moment.
He was so relieved to find that she thought he wasn't completely nutters. Looking at the digital clock on the night stand, he realized that they both should try and get some sleep. He was having a party the next night with a few prominent people in the music business that he was close with along with many of his friends, and he did not want to be tired.
"Hey Ginny," said Matthew in a calm smooth voice, "it's nearly four in the morning. I'm having a party tomorrow night, and I don't want to be tired. I think we should get some sleep." He paused, realizing that she was in his bed. He debated using the spare bedroom, but decided against it. "I'll be in the living room on the couch, just call if you need anything."
Ginny felt her eyes droop in a most unattractive manner. She had been completely and utterly exhausted since she woke up. She wanted to ask Matthew what had happened to her, but she was interrupted. Deciding to save her questions for the next day, she watched Matthew walk out of the room and muttered a silent good night that Matthew must have noticed because he responded.
Ginny snuggled into the cozy blanket and sunk into the pillows. Before drifting into a dreamless sleep, a sudden small feeling of dread and discomfort shot through her, but she was too tired to really pay any attention to it. For once, she was sleeping on what must have been the most comfortable bed in the world.
She woke to the bright sun shining through the window on the wall opposite her. She nearly jumped out of the bed due to the fact that she hadn't quite remembered where exactly she was, and the fact that she woke from her peaceful slumber due to a loud noise that sounded remotely like the slamming of a door. She sat down and took deep breaths in attempt to calm herself down. Eventually she remembered the events of the previous night. Looking down at herself, she noticed that she was not wearing the clothing that Maggie had transfigured for her, but she was wearing a white shirt a few sizes too big, and a pair of boxers. Figuring they were probably Matthew's clothes, she added the question of how she got into them to her list of questions.
She stood up and looked at the clock. It read 1:56 in bright red numbers. She was not sure if Matthew was up by then, but when she stepped closer to the door, she heard noises. There were people talking. Unsure of what to do and because of her trashy apparel, she snuck down the short hallway outside of the door, following the direction from which the noise came.
When she reached a large room with seating furniture and a table, she heard the noise at it loudest, but no one was there. She entered the room and scanned it as she turned in a circle. She saw a contraption that resembled a television, something she had learned about from her father, and had then saw at Matthew's house while they dated. Thinking about Matthew made her wonder where he was.
She called his name a few times, but when she had no response, she figured that he must have gone out for a while. He was throwing a party later, so he may have had some last minute things to go get. She let out a long sigh and sat down on a rather large blue colored couch and watched the television, slipping in and out of blurry day dreams.
Meanwhile, Matthew was out and about shopping for last minute items needed for his party, just as Ginny presumed. He was sure that he was going to get a record deal with Wizard Wreckords, the local recording company of the Wizarding World. He just had to impress them, and he was sure that the party along with a live performance from his band would help.
He was just about done and about to head home with his extra guitar strings, picks, food, and candles. He could never be completely sure that everything would go well, so he bought extras of everything. Being able to afford his lifestyle was easy to do with his inherited fortune from his parents. While walking down the street back to his flat, he saw a clothing store for girls. At first glance, he thought nothing of the party dress he saw in the window, but a sudden thought about Ginny made him back track to the entrance of the store.
He knew that Ginny had the outfit she had worn before, but this dress would look perfect on her. It was a black halter-top dress that flared out from the waist with a small black sequined flower design on the bottom right corner of the front side and lime green tulle that poked out the bottom. It seemed that it was about knee-length, but he wasn't sure where it would fall on Ginny's small body. He walked into the store and asked the first employee he saw about the dress. At first, the young woman he asked seemed confused about his interest in the dress, but when he clarified that it was for his female friend, her attitude softened.
"You wouldn't happen to know her size, would you?" she asked in a slightly nasal voice.
"No," Matthew replied, wanting to smack himself for his stupidity. He should have checked home with Ginny before he came back, but then again it would be a nice surprise.
"Well, what is her body like?" The woman named Clara, as he saw on her name tag, asked in hopes of helping him.
Matthew thought for a bit, trying to imagine Ginny in his mind. "Well, she's really tiny. I think she's one of the smallest girls I've ever seen. She's all skin and bones, you know, like the super-models from France and those places."
Clara smiled and pulled a dress from the rack and handed it to him. "This ought to fit her, but we offer free custom tailoring, so if she needs any adjustments, she should feel free to come in. If you're interested, we also have a fabulous selection of shoes. Many of them would complete the dress nicely." She motioned over to the back of the store where a few shelves of shoes were on display.
Matthew gave Clara a helpless look. He wanted to get Ginny a matching pair of shoes, but he was even more clueless as to what her size was regarding her feet. Noticing his expression, Clara walked over to the selection and took a shoe off of the display case.
"I personally recommend this pair. It's casual and comfortable, but gives the dress an artsy edge." She held the shoe up to Matthew. It was a flat bottomed black shoe remotely resembling a ballet slipper, but without the ribbon. It had a black sequin design on the toe that somewhat matched the design on the dress.
"I'll take it," said Matthew, reaching out for the shoe.
"Wait a second," replied Clara, "I think it would be best if you bought the shoe in her size."
"Oh, right," said Matthew, again wanting to smack himself for his stupidity. "I think she's a thirty-seven."
Clara rummaged through a pile of boxes until she finally found the right size and carried it over to the register. She was sure that she would see him back along with the friend of his because he was probably wrong about the shoe size. Letting the saleswoman inside of her out, she motioned to a hair ribbon that matched the lime green in the dress along with a small fake-pearl lime green necklace. Matthew bought them both. He had never shopped for a girl before, and did not know all the elements of an outfit she would buy.
Carrying a large bag with a larger receipt out the door, Matthew felt proud of himself. He was doing something nice for a girl that just broke his heart for the second time, but somehow it did not seem to bother him as much. It was as though he knew that it was bound to happen, so he detached himself from her. Despite that fact, he secretly wished his niceness would win her heart, even though the idea was far-fetched.
A few minutes later, Matthew found himself inside of his simple flat. He carefully placed the bags on the nearest table to him and went to his bedroom to see if Ginny was still sleeping, noting that he'd left the television on when he had left earlier. Peering into the room, he saw his comfortable bed, unmade with pillows thrown about, but Ginny was not anywhere in sight. He called out her name and thankfully, he heard a response from the living room area.
He found Ginny with a large box of Kellogg's Coco Pops that had once been full, but seemed to have emptied half of its contents in the time he was gone. She was watching some depressing made-for-T.V. movie and had tear streaks running down her cheeks. Apparently she had found one of the channels made for women that ran every sad and traumatic movie known to man twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
After chuckling to himself, he walked over to her, sat down, and gently placed an arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him in surprise for she had not noticed his entrance at all. She was absorbed in the story portrayed in the movie about a woman who was suffering from a disease called breast cancer and was trying to promote an awareness in the women of the world about the disease, but eventually died. She wiped away the wet streams on her cheeks and smiled at Matthew.
"Hello, Matt."
"Hey Gin, are you O.K.?"he pondered, knowing that she was fine.
"Oh, yeah, I'm just dandy," replied Ginny. "It's just that this movie is so sad."
"Well," Matthew stated, "that's what you get for watching television for women, or whatever they call it." He chuckled as he grabbed the remote and turned off the television. "Hey Ginny, I got you something while I was out." He strolled over to the table where the bag with her stuff was located.
"Matt," Ginny called, "you didn't have to get me anything."
"Well, I know the clothes you were wearing before are dirty and need to be washed, and I saw this dress and I thought you would like it."
"Really though, Matt, you shouldn't have done anything. You don't need to spend your money one me." She felt uncomfortable with his idea of getting her something. They hadn't seen each other for years, but it was as though they had picked up where they left off, except just as friends.
Her eyes widened as he pulled the dress out of its bag and displayed it to show Ginny. It was one of the cutest dresses she had ever been exposed to. She jumped off the couch and sprinted towards Matthew. A tackle followed by a bear hug ensued. Matthew was proud of himself that he had pleased Ginny. Happiness noticeably glowed from his face as he saw her same reaction to the shoes and accessories.
"Oh, Matt," sighed Ginny, "I can't believe you did this. It must have cost a fortune!"
"Ginny, I am the heir to billions of my family's fortune. Trust me, it was no problem."
Ginny eyed him warily. She loved the dress, but she felt as though she had to pay him back for the nice favor. Letting a smile play on her lips, she gave Matthew another hug.
"Fine, but I'm going to help you with this party tonight. Everything will run smoothly, and you need not worry about anything, alright?"
"That's cool, Gin," replied Matthew. He was happy that she was offering her help. He knew he would need as much help as he could get, not so much with the organizing and preparing for the party, but with his nervous emotions that were bound to surface.
He watched as she stared at the dress, touching the silky material and gushing at his kindliness. He knew that her heart belonged to another, but secretly he wished it was his. She had to have been the most amazing girl on the earth, and he did not want to be without her. If the only way he could hold onto her was by being friends, then so be it. Realizing the time, he began to unpack the groceries. Ginny followed in suit, helping him.
"What are you planning on making?" questioned Ginny.
"Well, to be honest, I was thinking of something along the lines of casual food." He continued on explaining when she quirked her eyebrow. "You know, nothing too fancy, like that French stuff at the restaurant down the street, but more like food you'd eat at a casual restaurant."
"I think I have an idea of what you're talking about," replied Ginny. "How about you get ready to greet the guests who'll be here in, what did you say?"
"They'll be here in about two and a half hours."
"Exactly. So you go, and I'll take care of the food."
It seemed as though Matthew was torn between going and taking a shower, playing some warm-ups, and relaxing, and helping Ginny make the food. He was about to say he would stay when she shoved him out of the room and into his. He shrugged and began the process of preparing himself for what could be a life-changing experience.
Meanwhile, Ginny stared at the food in front of her, trying to remember all of the recipes her mother taught her before she had...passed away.
"Come on Ginny," said a younger looking Molly Weasley.
"Hold on mum, I'm having trouble with my apron," replied ten year old Ginny Weasley.
"Let me get that for you darling," said Molly as she tied the apron around her daughter's waist.
It was her first day of cooking lessons with her mum, and Ginny was anything but excited. She desperately wanted to play with Ron and maybe her other brothers, but her mum had been planning this for weeks now.
Molly took out some pots and pans since Ginny was not able to legally use magic, nor did she have the knowledge of spells or a wand to perform them. Cooking the muggle way was something Molly thought to be a nice way of bonding, and would most likely become handy somewhere down the road of Ginny's life.
"Alright now, Ginny," said Molly. "Just slice it at an angle. There you go, you're doing very nicely dear."
Ginny learned how to make nearly every different kind of finger food from her mother, and a muggle cook book her father bought her. She never really thought that muggle cooking would be useful to her, but apparently she had proved herself wrong. She saw that Matthew bought smoked trout, so she decided to make Smoked Trout Parcels. While the potatoes were on, she prepared everything else for the dish.
Once she had finished the last parcel, she refrigerated them and tried to think of another dish. She saw he had plenty of cheese and sausage, so she set some aside for Cheese and Sausage Canapés which she would serve sometime after all of the guests had arrived.
Figuring she needed a more filling dish than the appetizers she had prepared, she contemplated what she could do with the rest of the ingredients. She now had a little over an hour and half to prepare the rest of the food, and she had no idea what to make! Scanning the table full of food again, she saw what seemed to be cake mix in a bag.
"He must have thought that would suffice for dessert," she thought aloud. She placed the cake to the side and remembered that she would not have to make it until the rest of the appetizers were done.
Seeing cream cheese, she remembered a recipe her mother had taught her that seemed easy enough. She tried to think of the name, but it didn't come to her as quickly as she wanted it to. She proceeded in making cheese oriented pastry, but was stalled when she had to allow it time to chill.
She took that time to cut up some of the fruits Matthew bought and arrange them on a platter. She made a pretty design of cantaloupe, melon, watermelon, strawberries, and sprinkled blueberries on top to fill in the cracks between the different fruits. Doing all of this took longer than she thought, and the rolled cheese-filled puff pastry had probably firmed by then. She checked the stove to see if it had preheated properly, and it had. Seeing that all was in place, she placed the thing, still not remembering the name, into the oven and put the fruit in the refrigerator.
She relaxed a while until she realized that she should start making the cake now so it would be cool to frost later. Matthew hadn't bought any pre-made frosting, but she knew a recipe for a simple icing. She mixed the ingredients, and right in the middle of her cake-making escapade, the buzzer on the timer told her to take out the thing in the over. She really wished she could remember the name of it. She knew it had to do with the Blue Stilton Cheese used but she couldn't remember which part of it. She took the log out and cooled it on a rack, and she then went back to making the cake, which would eventually turn out to be a double layer chocolate frosting cake.
Seeing that she had less time than she thought she would end up with, she began to make the Cheese and Sausage Canapés. Matthew decided to make an appearance at that moment, and noticed how Ginny had used nearly everything he bought and some items from his personal food storage.
"Nice Stilton Whirls," he said while motioning to the cheese-filled puff-pastry log on the cooling rack. Right as he said that, a light bulb went off in her head. She finally knew the name of the thing she had made, and boy did it make her happy. "Gin," began Matthew again, "the party's going to start soon. You should go get ready."
Ginny looked helplessly at the new mess she had made. She really wanted to finish the last dish and then frost the cake and cut the Stilton Whirls, but then again she couldn't attend the party looking as much of a mess as she did at the moment.
"Don't worry about it Ginny, I'll take care of everything," said Matthew with a reassuring grin. "How about you go take a shower and do all that stuff that you girls do and get ready for the party?"
"Alright," replied Ginny, "but you have to make the Cheese and Sausage Canapés, take the cake out of the oven when the timer goes off, and cut the Stilton Whirls."
"That's fine, Ginny. I can do it. My mum always made those things."
She glanced at Matthew one last time and then ran over to where he had set her outfit. She placed it on his bed that had temporarily become hers and went to the bathroom located through a door in the room and took a shower. The hot water felt so nice. She was happy that she was finally able to shower. It seemed as though he had got shampoo and body wash because the bottles that screamed femininity were very different from his manly products.
She blow dried her hair when she finished her shower until it was nice and smooth. She wasn't able to get it completely straight, but it was close enough. Times like those made her happy that Hermione had taught her how to use muggle contraptions for beauty reasons. Using the ribbon, she pulled half of her hair back and tied it, and let the rest down. To get a less uptight look, she pulled a few loose strands out so they brushed the sides of her face.
She saw that she would have needed a strapless bra to wear the dress, but she then realized that she did not have quite as large breasts as she once did before, so she just put on the clean panties Maggie had transfigured for her. Apparently Matthew had done her laundry. He was appearing to be a very good friend to her, and she decided to just accept the fact that he wanted to be her friend and quit searching for ulterior motives.
She put on the dress, which she found to fit just right, but it was sort of tight in a few random places. The necklace, of course, fit nicely as it did not go down too far, but was not right up against her neck. The shoes, on the other hand, did not fit at all. It seemed as though they were a size or two too big. Not wanting to disappoint Matthew, she wore them anyways. She did not wear make up, but still had a natural glow of beauty about her.
She went to see how Matthew had done with the food, and found, to her satisfactory, that he did well. He was finishing up the last of the Canapés and the two round cakes she had made to pile on top of each other were just about done cooling. She set out the food on the serving table along with plates and utensils. Matthew brought out the Canapés after she had arranged everything, causing her to stomp her foot on the ground and make room for them.
When she had stomped her foot, Matthew noticed how big her shoes seemed to be. Feeling guilty, Matthew went to his room and grabbed the disguised wand. He muttered a spell aimed at Ginny's shoes from across the room that would hopefully help the shoes fit her small feet better. As Ginny noticed the difference, she realized that magic must have been used. The thought of magic made her ponder where her wand was, and that he must have noticed it when he washed her clothes, but she only pushed the thought away, deciding to save it for a less stressful time.
The first two guests had arrived together just as Matthew realized that he had forgot the drinks. He slipped Ginny a small shopping list with different wines and drinks for the party. He asked her to go to the beverage store across the street, and she obliged. Before she left, he handed her what seemed to be a wad of muggle dollars.
She hurriedly went to the store, handing an employee the list for him to find as she was quite clueless as to where everything was. The older-looking man produced everything she needed along with a large bag of ice. He put it into a bag after ringing up the items. He told her the price, and Ginny, realizing how confusing muggle money was, gave him the largest bill she had. He then told her that she was short, causing her to make up an excuse along the lines of "being out-of-it" and handed him another one of lesser value. He gave her change and told her to have a nice day.
Struggling, Ginny carried the bags back to the flat. When she arrived she saw that there were many people at the party already, and Matthew and his band were setting up and sound-checking for their acoustic performance of the night. She arranged the glasses and beverages on another table to the side and put the bottles and ice into a small tub Matthew told her to use.
She figured that the guests would enjoy the cake, so she prepared a quick and easy glaze to dress it with, making sure to glaze the space between the two cakes. She set it on a platter with some extra strawberries, making a nice arrangement. She turned to set the dish on the table of food, but bumped into someone and nearly dropped it. Regaining her composure, she began to apologize to whomever she had ran into.
"Oh," she sighed, "I'm so terribly sorry. You see, I was just about to set the cake out, and I wasn't paying any atten-" she was cut off.
"It's fine, really," replied the man she bumped into. "It's not your fault, I should have not even been in here, it's just that you look vaguely familiar, and I was wondering if we'd met before."
His voice seemed so familiar to Ginny, as if she had just heard it within the past week, but something about it struck fear into her mind. It was as if her subconscious was trying to tell her something it knew and she seemed to be oblivious to.
"I'm Colin Creevey." He extended his hand, but took it back as he saw that Ginny had hers full and would not be able to reciprocate the gesture.
She looked up at him wide-eyed. She had not seen anyone from her Hogwarts days since her sixth year on the train ride home for summer. She was so surprised that she almost dropped the cake yet again, but Colin steadied her. She ran into the other room and put the cake down carelessly, announcing that whomever wanted any could cut it themselves, and then returned to the kitchen.
"Colin," she whispered, barely able to keep the tears of joy at bay, "it's me, Ginny."
He looked at her, completely shocked, yet if one looked closely enough, he or she could tell that there was an almost knowing look in his eyes...along with something that slightly resembled desire.
"Oh, Ginny," he exclaimed, "everyone thought you had died. No one knew what happened to you."
"I've been living on the streets," she replied, "but it's quite a long story." She realized that because Matthew was a wizard, she would be able to tell him all of the story, the truth.
Colin placed his hand on the small of her back. "Come on then, I'll get us some drinks and we can go somewhere a bit more private," whispered Colin, pushing her slightly in the direction of the bedroom.
She watched him huddle over the drink table, taking a bit longer than necessary, but she thought nothing of it. When Colin finished, he handed her the drink with a strange facial expression. The walked over to the bedroom, and she was just about to take a sip when she heard Matthew's boisterous yelling and the closing of the front door.
"Oi, Draco! I thought you weren't going to be able to make it."
She froze on the spot, handing her drink back to Colin whom she had asked to excuse her for a while, earning her a disappointed look from her long-lost classmate. She edge closer to the door, trying to get a good look at exactly who Matthew was talking about. After one of the band members moved, she had a clear view at the new guest. She saw a pale complexion with aristocratic features, silver blonde hair, and the grey steely eyes she had fallen into so many times before. Her breathing was labored as she thought that the one person she had ever needed, the one person she had ever loved so deeply, and the one person she had lost, stood right before her, less than twenty feet away.
Matthew snapped her out of her reverie. He her shoulder to get her attention.
"Hey Gin," he called, but she was barely listening. "Look, my best mate's here and I'd really like you to meet him." His voice took on a tone of warning with his next words. "Listen though, he's a wizard too, but don't ask him too many questions about his past." Her ears began to perk at the information Matthew was feeding her. "Some other wizard put a nasty hex on him, so bad that it made him lose his memory of the past five or six years or so. I've told him some stuff, but we just have to let him regain it on his own, even though that will most likely not happen."
Ginny felt as though someone threw her heart into a pond of freezing cold ice water. He didn't remember who she was, or what they had. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Colin was not in sight, but he was not at the top of her priorities at the moment. Matthew pushed her shoulder slightly, trying to get her to walk over to where Draco stood. It took all of her energy and brain power to move her legs.
She found herself face-to-face with the only man she thought she could honestly spend the rest of her life with.
"Hello," he said, "I'm Draco Malfoy, what's your name?" He extended his arm and took her hand in his, softly brushing his lips against her knuckles.
Ginny fought back the tears to the best of her abilities and forced a wilted smile to form on her lips. "I'm Ginny Weasley," she replied.
"Well, Ginny," said Draco, "it's nice to meet you."
Ginny stared at him as he was rushed away from her by some other guests. Matthew's band was about to begin playing, but she had the sudden urge to curl into a ball and fall asleep with hopes of never waking up. Unable to fight the tears back any longer, she fled to the room which she supposed she would be staying in and flopped herself onto the bed, allowing herself to dissolve into tragic heaves of bitter tears. She would have to confront Matthew with her questions some other time.
She lulled herself to sleep, tired from her never-ending bout of tears. She heard Matthew's distant voice singing one of his original songs before her mind had released her from her pain and led her to a world of a dreamless, and painless, sleep.
"Rapture sweet, admit defeat, don't go on anymore. Crying glitter, love tastes bitter, don't go on anymore. Never glow again, I'll never glow again. Sit down and take it in, just let me breath again."