To any of those who are still reading this, I sincirely apologize. I feel as though I have let you down. I simply forgot all about this story, but I will try to make it up by finishing it soon. I hope to finish it before the 6th comes out, because I hate to find out how many elements will be changed. So wish me luck, read and enjoy.

Bigger Dreams

The first thing Ginny was aware of was the sharp pain in her head. The second thing was voices, and not quiet voices either. She wanted to turn over and cover her ears with her pillow, but that meant moving her head, and Ginny thought the probable pain outweighed the relief of the cessation of noise. Or at least she thought so until the voices escalated into shrieks, leaving her with no choice but to get up and make herself some sort of potion. She managed to stumble out of bed and begin to lay out ingredients for a cure-all-minor-aliments potion when she remembered the small bottle she had lying around just for occasions such as these. Ginny walked- stumbled, more accurately- over to her dresser and downed the bottle. She began to feel better immediately, but began to think about the reasons she was feeling so badly this morning, and she still remembered last night acutely. All the drinking, and of course the kiss. All stupid, wicked things for her to do. But what's done cannot be undone. However, the thought of facing Malfoy now seemed unbearable. And, to make it worse, just the next day, she received an invitation to her own engagement party.

Time seemed to be flying by. Things were moving too quickly for Ginny- it seemed only a few months ago she had been innocent of the knowledge of the prophecy which now seemed to be dictating her life. The announcement that she and Malfoy were "lovers", the contract, his birthday and now this engagement party all seemed to be happening too fast. And she knew that things weren't about to slow down anytime soon; the wedding was only a month or so away. The time leading up to the wedding would undoubtedly be chaotic; after the wedding was an unknown. It was the five or so days after she had received the invitation, and the idea of going through another ordeal like the birthday celebration filled her with dread. Ginny wasn't sure that she was a good enough actress to be "in love" with Draco in front of all these people. Especially after that damn kiss. It was haunting her, and she replayed it over and over again in her mind. What in damnation possessed him to kiss her! And where had her own mind been when she kissed back. Would he do it again? Or would he pretend like it had never happened. She had tasted the firewhiskey on his breath, and it was possible that he didn't remember it had happened at all. But Draco didn't seem like the kind of man to drink so much he would become inebriated. But who knew? After all, Ginny herself wasn't privy to Draco's drinking habits, or at least not yet.

It was already May; summer was fast approaching, and Ginny was almost at a loss over what to do. Her life was going to change dramatically, and there was almost nothing she could do about it, save to go with what life was giving her. Obviously there was nothing to do save go shopping for a dress for the engagement party. The next weekend, Ginny left the school and went to Madame Malkins for the second time in as many weeks. This time, though, the idea was not to simply impress, but to create a life for her, an image of a girl content with her life and excited about her upcoming marriage. So instead of choosing dress robes like she did for the birthday celebration, she ended up picking out a simple black dress, which once again was incredibly elegant. Looking in the mirror at the store, she looked aloof, even to herself. And Ginny guess that if she was to be a Malfoy, aloofness was an asset. Looking at herself in the mirror, Ginny was also struck by how old she was. She looked like a woman, not a girl about to graduate. A slight smile formed upon her lips.

Her invitation had asked her to appear two hours before the party was due to start, and when she did arrive, Narcissa wasted not time in hurrying her into a sitting room, and bid her to wait for a moment, please. Draco walked in a few minutes later, looking rather good. He bid her to stand up, and paused for a moment, looking at her.

"You'll do." Was all he said regarding her appearance. "Hold out your hand." Ginny did as she was told, and watched him remove a beautiful ring from his pocket, and put it on her finger. The ring, made of sapphires, diamonds and a bit of turquoise was not only exquisite, but a perfect fit.

"Thank you," Ginny said politely.

"I don't think you really want to be thanking me." And it was true- Ginny didn't really want the ring, or what went with it. But there was not really any choice in the matter, and she had decided to do her best to be content with what she had.

The silence was deafening. It was stretching on, and Ginny began to feel even more uncomfortable then she had been before. She looked around for a place to sit- the room was large and very nicely furnished, and Ginny chose a small and comfortable-looking chair only a few feet behind her.

Draco stood up abruptly and walked over to a cabinet. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asked, while pouring himself something.

"No thank you, I rarely drink." He looked over at her, and Ginny knew that he remembered what had happened the last time they were together, and also knew that she had been drinking. When she offered no explanation, he reached and lifted his own drink to his lips, his eyes never leaving hers.

Again there was silence, but this time it was even more disconcerting, because his eyes were boring holes into her own. There was no small talk that would be appropriate here, now, between the two of them. The temptation to just walk out of this room was almost overwhelming, but Ginny knew that if she was to marry this man, she could not walk out now. She was stuck with this man, whether she liked it or not.

"But a bit of tea might be nice," she said, realizing that she wanted something to occupy her hands while she sat here. Though Ginny didn't see Draco move, he must have done something to summon a house-elf because one appeared in the room only seconds later.

"Tea for the lady." The house-elf nodded at Draco's orders and disappeared again, almost as quickly as she had appeared. The awkward silence did not show any indication of letting up any time soon.

The house-elf popped back in carrying a tray with a pot of tea and a cup. The house-elf set it down carefully on the end table next to her chair and proceeded to pour her a cup of tea. "Thank you," Ginny murmured before the house-elf disappeared again. The tea was warm and soothing, and Ginny was glad of the distraction, and the silence seemed to ease up a bit, maybe because they were both occupied with drinking something, which lessened the need to converse.

Abruptly, Draco walked from the room, leaving Ginny alone there. Wondering what, if anything, she was supposed to do right now, she stood up and, walking over to the door, opened it and peeked into the hall to see what might be going on. It was silent, not a soul in sight. Part of her wondered to where everyone had disappeared, but there was a part of her that cautioned herself not to go exploring in this strange house. She took a deep breath and, stifling her curiosity, she made to return to her seat. She was only halfway there when the thought occurred to her that if she was to live in this house, she should at least know her way around, and there was only one way to learn one's way around, and that was to explore. "Besides," she reasoned to herself, "it's not like my situation could get much worse." Thus Ginny turned around and proceeded to once again stick her head out the door. There was still no living soul in sight, and Ginny stepped out of the room carefully and quietly. The hall was long and ornate, and even the people in the paintings seemed stuffy and grandiloquent. However pompous they seemed, though, Ginny had to admit that they were in fact eloquent. Their clothes were elaborate, and they always struck poses when they saw Ginny walking toward them. Every line in their faces screamed arrogant, every color in the portraits spoke of wealth, and Ginny knew that she was looking at some of the wealthiest wizards in history. Their aristocratic faces looked down on her as she walked by, making Ginny feel small and imperfect. The hall grew darker the farther Ginny walked, with only occasional torches to light the way. It was almost eerie, and Ginny brought out her wand.

"Whence do you come?" Ginny jumped, her hand tightening on her wand. It was a portrait that had addressed her, a tall woman, painted in a distinctly medieval setting. Her skin was pale and without impurities, her portrait by far the largest Ginny had come across. The tone was accusatory, and Ginny's knuckles were white around her wand.

"Hogwarts, currently." Ginny answered.

"And what are you doing in my house?" Again, the question was biting, and Ginny flinched at the harshness in the woman's tone. This was the family Ginny was marrying into, and she had to hope that the rest of the family wasn't quite as blunt and acerbic as this woman.

"I'm here for my engagement party," Ginny answered simply and honestly.

"To whom will you be married?"

"Draco Malfoy." At hearing this the woman's forehead creased slightly.

"And who might you be?"

"My name is Ginny Weasley."

The woman frowned again, then replied, "Well, your blood is old, and it is pure. There is much to be said for a good lineage. I supposes you are acceptable. You seem polite enough, though not too talkative. There is also much to be said for a woman who minds her tongue." The woman paused, then gestured down in her portrait to a chess board. "Would you like to play a game?"

Ginny frowned. "Wouldn't that be rather difficult as..." She trailed off. Some paintings weren't quite aware that they were mere paintings, and Ginny was afraid that this woman was mad, and thus didn't want to offend her.

"Because I'm a portrait? You just tell me where you want to move, and I shall move your pieces for you. Time was, young Lucius would often play with me. His father was also wont to playing. That is one request I have of you, girl. When you have your son, bring him to play Wizard's Chess here with me. One of the best strategizing practices of which I've ever heard, and nothing is better than for young Malfoys to learn the art of strategizing." When Ginny didn't move, the woman shooed her closer, and they began to play.

Much Love, Miss Auburn