Chapter Sixteen, V-Day

"And all I can taste is your sweetness,
And all I can breathe is your life.
And sooner or later, it's over -
I just don't want to miss you tonight.

And I don't want the world to see me,
Cause I don't think that they'd understand.
When everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am..." -'Iris', Goo Goo Dolls

January flew by, and Ginny's Veritaserum was coming along quite nicely. Just a few more days and it would be completely mature. She checked on it every night with stunning regularity, and began to realize that she really did kind of like brewing potions. It wasn't always difficult, but she liked the concentration and focus it took her to do it well.

February came, and the weather turned a bit nicer. The bitter January winds subsided, and the snow seemed to stop falling. It was still very cold, but it wasn't as biting as before. The school had been decorated in red, pink and white for a week already, and Valentine's Day was still a few days away. It happened to be on a Saturday this year, so Professor McGonagall thought it would be nice to schedule a Hogsmeade trip that day.

Ginny walked into the Great Hall for breakfast on Friday, and rolled her eyes as she was showered with pink, red, and white confetti hearts. She hated Valentine's Day. It was just an excuse for happy couples to prance around those who were single, and even though she was in a relationship and happy, she didn't get to prance. Not that she would've anyway, she hated Valentine's Day long before Draco came into her life...actually, now that she thought about it, it was because Draco came into her life that she realized she hated the stupid, useless holiday, at least at first... She walked over to her table, trying to ignore the decorations, and the fact that the Great Hall was abuzz with guys asking girls to Hogsmeade with them last minute. She had to smirk, though, when she saw Hermione throw her arms happily around Ron's neck - it was bound to happen, Ginny was just glad she didn't have to spend another Valentine's Day with a grumpy Hermione following her around - or a grumpy Ron, for that matter.

When she sat down next to Hermione, she smiled.

"So," she began slyly, "How's it going?" Hermione blushed furiously and giggled. Ginny just laughed.

"Well if you already know why did you ask!" Hermione cried at the knowing look in Ginny's eye. Ginny just shrugged. Something must have happened that Ginny didn't see, though, because Hermione turned to Ron quickly, and they whispered something to each other. Ginny watched suspiciously - whatever Ron was saying he was adament about it. When Hermione turned back to her, she sighed.

"Ron and I have got to go," she said dryly, as though this weren't her idea at all, and she wanted Ginny to know that. She gave Ginny a look, which Ginny understood and nodded. Whatever it was they had been talking about, she wasn't going to like it.

Ron and Hermione got up and nearly skipped out of the hall, hand in hand - that was the prancing Ginny hated so much. It was like telling someone you love them on February 14th was more important than telling them you love them any of the other 364 days of the year. Who decided that?

It wasn't until he cleared his throat that Ginny noticed Harry shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Her stomach dropped about ten stories when he did that. So this is why they pranced out...

"Hi Harry," Ginny smiled as she took a bite of her bacon.

"Hey, Gin..." he shifted again, and took a sip of his orange juice before continuing. "I was just wondering if you had plans tomorrow - for the Hogsmeade trip." Ginny tried to look surprised...tried, and thought she failed, but Harry looked convinced enough.

"No, why?"

"Oh, well...I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out with me. I mean, Ron and Hermione are going together, and I don't want to be the third wheel or anything, so I figured if you went with me...we could all just hang out, like we used to." Ginny's temper flared, and it was all she could do not to blow up at him right then and there.

"But...Harry..." Why did she have to say this again? "You know there's someone else..."

"No, I don't." Harry said indignantly, "I know that you say there's someone else, but I've never seen you with him, you've never said his name, and he's not taking you out tomorrow. What am I supposed to think, Ginny? Frankly, I think you're making him up just to make me jealous." Ginny's mouth hung open. She stood up, and pushed her chair back. She had half a mind to walk over to the Slytherin table and kiss Draco right then and there.

"You can't be serious," she said in disbelief. He grunted...or growled...or muttered or something - she really couldn't figure out which. Whatever he did, he was serious. "You are the biggest prat I have ever known!" she screamed - she heard the whole hall go silent. "I cannot believe you would even THINK such a thing about me! Contrary to popular belief, the world does NOT revolve around YOU! MY world does not revolve around YOU!"

"It did once," he shot softly, under his breath. But he'd said it loud enough so she could hear.

"HOW DARE YOU! I can't believe you think I'm a LIAR!" She was at a loss for words. Usually words came easy to her, it was rationality she lacked, but not today. Harry was in a category of prat all his own. "Things change, Harry. People change. You need to come to terms with that or you're going to end up very lonely." She hissed before storming out of the Great Hall. If one single confetti heart had fallen on her at that point...the entire hall probably would have burst into flames. ...By accident, of course.

Ginny didn't know where to go. She had Transfiguration in an hour, so she couldn't do much before having to make her way there. She stormed through corridors, not willing to stop and breathe deep. She was so angry, at Harry, at whoever made up Valentine's Day, at Draco, that she didn't know what else to do. She couldn't stop, she had too much energy to stop, so she just walked. Eventually, as she had expected, she saw a head of blond hair making its way toward her. She didn't want to talk to him, but she knew he'd come find her eventually.

When he caught up to her, he tried to make her stop walking, but she just kept going. She couldn't do anything else but move. She didn't know what would happen if she stopped. So after a minute or so of trying and failing to talk to her, he shoved her into an empty classroom.

After he shut the door behind them, Ginny let out a stragled scream of frustration.

"What was that about?" he asked angrily. It shocked her, because she thought he'd be concerned, interested, jealous...but not angry. Shocked her enough to make her calm down enough to talk to him.

"What was what about? My walking?"

"What did Potter want?" he said through gritted teeth.

"He wanted me to go with him to Hogsmeade tomorrow. He doesn't think I'm spoken for - he thinks I'm making it up to make him jealous." She said matter-of-factly.

"He what." Draco said in icy disbelief, "I'll kill him..." Ginny rolled her eyes and made her way to the door. "Where are you going?"

"To Transfiguration, it starts in ten minutes." Draco tried to stop her, but she ignored him and went to class. Her day didn't go so well, especially considering she was starving - she'd only gotten one piece of bacon for breakfast - she didn't think any Weasley had ever eaten so little for any meal ever.

So when she got to lunch she greedily grabbed two sandwiches and ran out before Harry could even look at her. As she walked away, she could hear Hermione scolding them.

"I told you so! I told you it was a stupid idea!" Ginny smirked and shook her head. At least Hermione had realized it - she'd tried to tell Ginny that at breakfast, now Ginny knew what her look had meant. 'I promise, I had nothing to do with this, nor do I approve of it.' At least Hermione knew.

When she got to Potions that afternoon, she was still in a bit of a huff, but she'd calmed down considerably. She took a deep breath before walking into the smelly dungeon - she really was going to have to find a place where she could make potions, that didn't hold so much distaste for her.

She walked to the back of the room, not bothering to go to her normal table first - they were working on a potion again today, not research, so she decided to just sit next to Draco in the first place - save herself the trouble.

When she sat down, she looked up at her normal table - Harry was pointedly staring at his blank parchment, Ron was staring at Harry, and Hermione was offering Ginny a sympathetic look. Ginny smiled a bit at Hermione, and Hermione looked utterly relieved. Ginny knew it wasn't Hermione's fault - those boys rarely listened to her.

Draco sat next to her, and waited until they had begun brewing the potion before daring to speak.

"So is there anything you want to talk about?" he asked, indicating that even if there weren't, there was something he wanted her to talk about.

"No." She said flatly, ignoring his subtle implications.

"Why would Potter think you're lying?" he hissed.

"Because he's never seen me with the guy I'm supposedly with, I won't tell them his name, and he thinks I'm still in love with him."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because Harry's convinced that the world revolves around him - everyone's world. That even when he's not around, we're all thinking about him, and ways to make his life more difficult."

"Has anyone ever told him he isn't that important?" Draco said gruffly.

"Apparently not. Your stupid Dark Lord didn't help any with that one." Ginny rolled her eyes, and Draco muttered something that sounded an awful lot like 'he's not my stupid Dark Lord', but she couldn't make it all out.

They spent most of the rest of class in silence, Draco visibly angry, and Ginny visibly apathetic. She was angry, too, but she wasn't about to let it get the best of her like Draco did. After silence fell over most of the room, she heard urgent whispers coming from the front. She looked up to catch Hermione mouthing something to Harry, who looked very unhappy about it. Ron was now the one pointedly looking away, trying to stay as far away from whatever new situation they'd thought up as possible. Unfortunately, Hermione was not so ready to back down on whatever this one was, and eventually Harry seemed to give in. Hermione stopped whispering at him when he nodded and rolled his eyes.

Ginny wished and hoped beyond all hope that she wasn't seeing what she was seeing - Harry was now walking towards her table. Her eyes widened as she shot a look at Hermione, but Hermione seemed to prod her along, trying to make her listen to whatever Harry had to say. Ginny never realized one look could say so much.

"Ginny..." Harry began tentatively.

"What do you want?" She replied through gritted teeth, glaring at him. "OUCH!" she shrieked, realizing she'd just cut her finger with the dagger she'd been using to chop up some ingredients. She looked at her finger, which was now bleeding, and honestly couldn't figure out what to do. Healing herself wasn't really an option, so she turned to Draco. He looked at her with his eyebrows raised when he saw her bloody finger. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, c'mon. Just shut up." She sighed. He shrugged, pointed his wand at her finger and muttered 'Episkey', and immediately the blood stopped and her finger was fine. She examined her finger, said "Thank you," and turned back to Harry. "Sorry. What do you want?" He stared at her in shock, and then shot a look over his shoulder at Hermione, who returned his gaze with a glare.

"I just wanted to apologize. I should have believed you when you said you were taken, and I'm sorry I intruded."

"Little Weasel's got herself a boyfriend? Who's the unlucky bloke?" Draco prodded, his infamous smirk gracing his face. Ginny didn't dare look at him - that was too funny.

"Shove off, Malfoy, this is none of your business."

"Ah, and that's where you're wrong, Potter. Always wrong." Draco sighed.

"Oh yeah? And how is this any of your business?"

"You coming over here made Weaselette here so angry she almost chopped her finger off. This potion didn't call for human fingers - can you imagine what would have happened if it had fallen in?" Now it was too much, and Ginny giggled.

"You idiot, I didn't chop my finger off, I just cut it a little. And if we'd dropped a human finger in our potion, there would've been a human finger in our potion, nothing more. And I would appreciate it if you listened to Harry this once and shoved off." She gave him a knowing look and he scowled at Harry. Anyone who didn't know them would've realized that Draco and Ginny were probably together - but everyone knew them. The Weasleys and the Malfoys, and so Ginny knew they could get away with little slips like that. She rolled her eyes and made a mental note to scold him later.

"Harry," she began again, "Why are you sorry? Is it because you realize what you did was arrogant, pompous, rude and stupid? Or is it because Hermione told you it was arrogant, pompous, rude and stupid?" Ginny glanced at Hermione, who blushed, but turned her gaze back to Harry, who did not look at all happy.

"I wasn't being arrogant! Or rude, or stupid!"

"So you admit it was pompous?"

"What! No!" he sputtered. "Ginny! I'm trying to apologize!"

"Oh please," she sighed, "you're only trying to apologize because Hermione was right and she told you to. Well, she's right again, but in order for an apology to mean anything, you have to actually WANT to apologize."

"That's not fair!" He shouted.

"Don't you shout at me, Harry Potter! How is this not fair? For me, maybe, but not you! Stop it! Just go away and leave me alone!" Sometime in the last few seconds Ron had come up behind Harry and was tugging him away. At first Harry stood still, but eventually Ron got the better of him and pulled him away. She couldn't hear what they were mumbling to each other, but she hoped that would be the end of Harry for at least a few days. She sighed and looked at Draco.

"One more slip up like that and Hermione's going to know." He looked up from his measuring and gave her a surprised glance before turning back.

"What are you talking about?" Ginny went to her own work, making sure that Hermione and the boys weren't watching her still.

"You told Harry that our argument was your business. One more thing like that and Hermione's going to figure it out. She's smart and observant, I wouldn't put it past her."

"So what? I'm supposed to let that git come over here and upset you like that?" Ginny shrugged,

"Pretty much."

"I don't like that, Red." he growled.

"Me neither, but what other choice do you have?" Draco growled, but didn't say anything. They went back to their work and spent the rest of the afternoon on their potion.

As the class exited the dungeons, Hermione ran up to Ginny.

"I am so, so sorry." She said sincerely.

"See? Now that's how a person apologizes, would you mind doing that again sometime, when Harry's around? Maybe he'll get the picture."

"I am so, so sorry." She repeated desperately. Ginny smiled and shrugged.

"It's ok. I heard you yell at them as I left lunch, I know you told him not to do it. I'm not mad at you." This seemed to satisfy Hermione, as she took a deep breath and slowed her pace a bit.

"He can be a real prat when he wants to be." Ginny chuckled,

"That he can be."

"I don't think you're lying." She said honestly. Ginny smiled at her.

"Thanks."

"I just wish I knew who he was," she said with a puzzled expression on her face. Ginny laughed,

"I know you do, 'Mione, I know you do." She said as they entered the Great Hall for dinner. After dinner, Ginny went to check on her Veritaserum, and just as she'd expected, it was finished. She smiled triumphantly as she carried a vial down to the dungeons to find Professor Slughorn, unfortunately, on the way, she met up with a particularly friendly cherub, who decided to follow her the whole way down, showering her with the confetti she hated so much. Her mood soured, even through the praise she got from the Potion's Master, and she went to the library to tell Draco she was going to bed. He was a bit upset, but noticed the cherub, which had decided Ginny needed some cheering up, and conceded.

Finally, when she got to the Fat Lady, the cherub gave up. Not that it mattered. What were a few more confetti hearts when she was already covered in about a million? Ginny didn't even want to think about how many showers it would take to get all the hearts out of her hair.

She spent most of the next day lounging in the common room. She didn't want to go to Hogsmeade because of the prancing, and she was afraid to enter the halls - apparently snogging publicly was ok on Valentine's Day. When lunchtime came around, though, she couldn't avoid it anymore, and she made her way down to the Great Hall in her pajamas. She wasn't surprised to be one of the only older students there, it was mostly first and second years there. She ate silently, and grumpily did anything that was asked of her.

That night, she debated on whether or not to go meet Draco - she wasn't sure if he'd even BE there, let alone whether or not she wanted to talk to him. But she decided to go anyway, if not to just complain about how much she disliked Valentine's Day.

When she got there, he hadn't shown up yet, so she decided to climb up to the sill again. She looked longingly outside, wishing she could be out there, roaming around. Or even prancing. Anything but being holed up in here. Then again, the holing up thing had been of her own volition, so she figured she had no right to complain about it. She didn't know what she wanted.

"Hey there," came a soft voice from behind her, "Back up there, are we?" She didn't even look at him.

"Yes." She said.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She looked at him innocently, but his look told her he knew better, and she might as well spill it now. "I just don't like Valentine's Day, that's all."

"What? Why not?" She raised an eyebrow at him,

"You mean you do?"

"No, but you're a girl. You're supposed to get showered with gifts and flowers and chocolates, you're supposed to want to prance around the castle with your boyfriend, you're supposed to want to flaunt your status to everyone who doesn't have someone - it's what girls love about Valentine's Day." He said as he transfigured and sat down on the couch. Ginny laughed bitterly,

"First of all, I never get showered with anything. I never have. Second of all, I don't prance. At all. Ever. Third of all, I'm not supposed to tell anyone I have a boyfriend, let alone throw it in their face. I don't like Valentine's Day because I think the whole idea is silly."

"Then I suppose you don't want a present?" Ginny's head snapped up.

"What? You got me a present? Why would you do that?" She said as she slid off the sill and onto the couch next to him, trying to figure out where said present was.

"Oh, so now you want it?"

"I always want presents. I just think Valentine's Day is stupid."

"Well then maybe I should wait for the next major holiday to give it to you."

"Draco, the next major holiday for presents is my birthday, I want my present now!" She said, a smile threatening to cross her face. "Why would you get me a present?"

"Because it's Valentine's Day, and girls are supposed to get presents on Valentine's Day." Ginny then realized she didn't have anything for him, and felt unbelievably guilty. "What?" Draco asked.

"It's just that...well, I didn't get you anything..." Draco just smirked,

"I don't care. I don't like Valentine's Day much, either."

"How come?"

"I think it's a sham."

"Me too."

"But you still want your present."

"Of course I do, what idiot passes up a present?" He smirked and she just looked at him. "Well? Are you going to give it to me or not?" She smiled and watched intently as he pulled a small rectangular box out of his pocket. He held it for a moment and smirked at her enthralled expression as he handed it to her.

She took it and admired the beautiful black velvet before she opened the box. She didn't know what to expect, even if it was a jewelry box. When it clicked open she saw the most beautiful necklace laying serenly on the velvet backing. It was a small emerald, in a teardrop shape, on a silver chain. It looked almost like the gold one she wore with the ruby, but somehow looked even more elegant and beautiful. She stared at it, shifting the box to catch the emerald in different lights before looking back up at Draco.

"I love it..." she whispered. "You...you really shouldn't have."

"Of course I should have," he said, taking her into his arms, her eyes still on the emerald. "I'm glad you like it."

She looked up at him and kissed him before looking back at her new necklace.

"So...I can really keep it? Maybe Valentine's Day isn't so bad after all..." Draco chuckled,

"What, did you expect me to show it to you and then take it back?"

"Well, no..."

"So why don't you like Valentine's Day? I don't think I've ever met a girl who doesn't like it."

"Well, you have now because I don't. I agree - I think it's a sham. That, and I had a bad experience once. A boy I hated stole a Valentine I wrote and read it to the whole corridor. It was quite mean and I was very embarrassed."

"Oh please, you wrote it to Potter," Draco scoffed.

"That didn't give you the right to go and read it to everyone!"

"Yes, well, I suppose the necklace should make up for at least some of that."

"I suppose." Ginny smiled. "Hey Draco?" he looked at her, "Thank you." He smiled back and she kissed him. She didn't let go of the necklace box all night, keeping it firmly in her grip. She made it a point not to ask about what he'd done that day, but a part of her didn't even care. He was here, now, and he'd been thoughtful enough to pick out something he knew she'd like. Something simple and elegant. That was enough for her.

When she got back to her dormitory that night, she opened it again, and just looked at it for awhile. She was awed by its simplicity and beauty, and surprised that Draco Malfoy of all people had picked it out. She played with it between her fingers, and watched it glow and change in the moonlight.

Eventually she closed the box, and slipped it under her pillow, deciding to take another good look at it when the sun was up.

Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't such a sham after all. Maybe she could like it just as much as every other girl in the world.