"Draco?" she said softly, "I still need you." She had watched him, and her heart had wrenched with every frustrated step he took. He was so different than she had ever seen him. He was so scared, so vulnerable. She couldn't help herself, she reached out and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head to her shoulder.
He let himself be pulled into the embrace, lowering his hands. "How could you need me?"
His voice sounded so much like a pouting little boy, and the absurdity of his question made her laugh.
He sat up and looked at her like he couldn't believe she would laugh at him.
"You can't be serious?" she asked with a smile. "Without you, I'm alone, remember? You're now the only one who understands."
"But, how..." he began to ask.
She shrugged. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out. Just...just please don't leave me alone again." She was suddenly scared.
It was his turn to pull her into his arms the way she had done to him early. Resting his cheek on her head, he said, "No, no, I won't. I'm not sure I could go back to being alone myself."
She started crying. He just held her and let her cry.
When she stopped, she brought her hand up to wipe her eyes. "I'm sorry, I thought I was through crying for him."
"Don't apologize. All your crying was done alone. No one should cry alone." He felt her nod against him. "Do you want to go for a walk?" She nodded again and stood up.
They walked in silence for quite a while. Neither one of them could really believe what was happening.
Ginny thought about what she was doing. She wouldn't leave him alone, no matter what it meant. He needed her as much as she needed him. She sighed heavily. She felt him look at her before he placed an arm around her shoulders.
She almost stopped walking. It felt so right, to have that arm holding her, but what did it mean? She needed him, yes. But how? All she needed was a friend. All she needed was for someone to be there for her when she felt like the world was crashing about her ears. All she needed was someone she could trust. He was certainly all of that now.
Who would have thought? Never in a million years would she have imagined that she would trust Malfoy, much less consider him her best friend. That was all he was, right? Her new best friend?
She felt her arm move so that it was around his waist. She hadn't told her arm to do that, had she? She felt dizzy. What was happening? This morning she had determined that she would reach out to him, let him know it was safe to be honest with her. She hadn't expected him to do so so quickly. She certainly hadn't been expecting that speach he had made. Being this close to him this fast was making her head spin.
She subconsciously turned her face in a little so that it was against his shoulder. She couldn't help but notice how good he smelled. She felt his head turn so that his face was in her hair. It was only a moment and he turned his face away again. Taking a slight detour by his face, she turned her eyes back to what was in front of them.
He was so comfortable. He felt so right. What was she getting herself into? She was falling and she was falling faster than she thought was humanly possible. It couldn't be good to fall this fast, could it? She stopped walking and looked up into his face. She had to know.