a/n: treat! I have everything all written, so the updates can come...daily now, if you want them. Every other day-ish if no one says anything.

Chapter Twenty One, The Difference

"Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?

It's a damn cold night,
tryin to figure out this life...
Won't you take me by the hand,
take me somewhere new,
I don't know who you are, but I...
I'm with you." -'I'm With You', Avril Lavigne

Ginny worked through the stress, and all the odd feelings she got. The facade she wore was so convincing that no one seemed to realize how hard things had gotten for her. She was getting less and less sleep, and she barely ate.

Professor Slughorn had thought it would be a lovely idea to have her take the Potions N.E.W.T. with the rest of the class, to her dismay. So she spent hours in and out of class preparing for that. She had so many essays to finish, ingredients and potions to look up, and measurements to memorize. She spent a lot of her time in the hospital wing working, and was actually beginning to memorize more than she thought she could. She was getting better at making potions every day, probably because she did it so much.

May rolled around, and nothing changed. The late nights in the library ended earlier, and the battles happened more often. Ginny's stress increased tenfold when she realized she had a month til her N.E.W.T., a month til graduation, and a month until she lost Draco for good. She thought hard every day about how to keep it all from happening, but aside from discovering a way to stop time, she came up with nothing.

One night, when she met him in the library, she saw him just stading there.

"Draco? What's going on?" She really just wanted to kiss him, be held by him, and lay on their couch, but he didn't look like any of that was going to happen. She got scared, hoping that he wasn't cutting tonight to just a goodbye kiss, hoping that nothing had happened, just...hoping. He smirked, picked up a bag that was on the ground,and came up to her with his elbow stuck out. She took his arm, and he led her out.

"Where are we going?" She whispered after they'd entered the corridor.

"You'll see." he whispered back. She wished she'd brought the Marauder's Map with her, just to make sure, but she figured it was too late for anyone to be out anyway. He led her to the Entrance Hall, and right out the doors. He propped one open, so that it wouldn't shut them out, and waltzed outside.

"What are we doing out here?" She asked, and he just smirked at her. "Would you stop smirking and talk to me?" She asked, a bit irritated. He walked in silence, ignoring her requests to be told of the surprise.

"We're here." he stated. She looked around, but didn't understand. They were on the Quidditch pitch.

"What are we doing out here?" He put down his bag, and pulled out a blanket, which he laid out on the ground. He just smiled at her.

"I thought you might like a better look at the stars. It's a nice night, first one this year..." he sat down on the blanket and laid back. She stood there for a minute, just watching him.

"Are you alright?"

"What?"

"You're acting funny. The Draco Malfoy I know would probably have laughed at me if I'd asked to come out here. Are you alright?" he just smirked. She smiled and giggled, "that's more like it." She laid down next to him, resting her head on his outstretched arm. She looked up at the stars and started pointing out constellations, telling him their stories.

"Nice to know at least one person in the world pays attention in Astronomy." he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well...I like stars." She shot back. They laid out for what Ginny wanted to be forever, but what turned out to only be an hour before she yawned.

"We better get you back inside." He said.

"What? No, I want to stay out here." She said, staying firmly in her place.

"Red, you're tired, you should get to bed."

"I'm not," yawn, "tired." She had tried to hold back the yawn, but she couldn't help it. She was exhausted.

"Oh yeah?" he challenged. He stood up, wrapped the blanket around her and started to pick her up.

"Draco Malfoy, you put me down!" She cried, trying to roll out of the blanket, giggling.

"I knew that'd get you up." he smirked. She shook her head and just laughed. She didn't do that much anymore - laugh, it felt nice. A nice change. She smiled up at him, and kissed him.

"Thank you," she said softly. He looked at her and smiled back, before taking her into his arms and kissing her again. She was so overwhelmed with emotion she didn't really know what to do. She wanted to just kiss him forever, but she also wanted to slip into her warm, comfy bed. But she also kind of just wanted to hide away forever... When she finally pulled away, she sighed and smiled. He smiled back as he put his arm around her waist, and led her back inside.

When they finally got back to Gryffindor Tower, Ginny didn't want the night to end just yet.

"So will I see you tomorrow night?" he asked casually. Ginny sighed,

"Professor Lupin's wedding is this weekend and my mum's making me go. I won't be back until Sunday night." He kissed her softly,

"Then I'll see you Sunday." he said before sauntering off. Ginny watched him go, wishing that he could come with her, to the wedding. Weddings were usually so fun, but she had a feeling this one wouldn't be.

Sure enough, Ginny had a miserable time at Lupin and Tonks' wedding. She loved the ceremony - it was beautiful. She loved the reception, the food was great. But then the dancing started, and the only people who wanted to dance with her were her brothers and Harry, and she wanted to dance with Draco. She was sure he'd be a great dancer...

She watched her parents and brothers dance the night away, and she finally got a chance to steal away into the gardens.

Ginny walked around in silence, looking up at the stars. She saw one shoot across the sky, and promptly closed her eyes, and wished as hard as she could. When she finished her thought, she opened her eyes and smiled hopefully. She took a deep breath and looked around. There were so many roses in bloom, and tulips, too. She looked around at the beautiful flowers and took one of the roses off of its bush. She admired the soft petals, the lucious red color of them and their sweet scent, and then she stared at the stem, covered in thorns. She knew that sooner or later she'd be pricked by one, so she began picking them off, one by one. She got a few off without hassle, but then she tried to pry one off with her nail, and when she did, it took a chunk of the stem with it. She frowned, but continued. She went at another thorn, but when it started to come off, it took a string of the stem with it. She looked at the stem now, half the thorns taken off, and a few chunks taken out, and thought about it. She could leave the rest of the thorns on, the way it was supposed to be, and risk getting pricked, she could toss it away and find a new flower, or she could continue ripping off the thorns, taking bits of the stem away with it.

She must have stared at that rose for longer than she thought, because before she knew it, she heard someone calling out her name.

"Over here!" she called. She decided that she might as well leave it the way it was, it was beautiful just like that.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Hermione asked, as she sat down on the bench beside Ginny. Ginny looked at her and smiled.

"Just looking at this rose," she said softly. She handed it to Hermione, who looked at it.

"What happened to it?" She asked, looking at the stem.

"I was trying to pick off the thorns, but I kept getting chunks of the stem with it, so I stopped." Hermione nodded in understanding as she picked a tulip from the ground. It was red, too, but not a lucious blood red like the rose, it was more of a bright, sunny red. She handed Ginny's rose back to her, and Ginny set it down between them. Hermione twirled the tulip around.

"I love flowers," she commented. Ginny smiled at her, and started playing with her necklace again. She had gotten into the habit of playing with the pendant and the chain whenever she had nothing else to do with her hands. She slid the pendant from one side of her neck to the other, and back again, just feeling the chain shift. Hermione watched her, "You know, that emerald looks really beautiful on you. It really fits." Ginny looked at her absent-mindedly.

"Thanks, 'Mione." She went back to staring at the stars, listening to the music drift outside from the party inside.

"Miss him?" She asked quietly.

"Hm? Oh...yeah, a bit." Hermione smiled. "So, what about you and my brother?" She asked, really wanting to change the subject. Hermione looked back at her tulip and blushed.

"What about us?"

"Is there an 'us'?" She asked, and Hermione giggled.

"Yes, there's an 'us'."

"Finally." Ginny sighed, "I think that takes a bit of weight off of EVERYONE's shoulders." The two girls giggled and Ginny looked longingly up at the stars, while Hermione's gaze drifted back inside.

"I suppose we should be getting back. If they notice both of us missing, who knows what they'll do..." Hermione smiled amusedly. Ginny nodded, and they stood up. Hermione made her way back inside immediately, but Ginny lingered for a moment. She looked at her rose and smiled. She put it on the bench next to Hermione's tulip and went back inside.

The next day, the whole Weasley clan was busy cleaning up. They cleaned up the church, the reception hall, Lupin's house - everything Molly Weasley could find, she made someone clean. Ginny spent most of the morning throwing out used candles and tissue paper, while handing her brothers trash cans to take outside.

That afternoon they left to go back to Hogwarts. They got back just in time for dinner, so they went to the Great Hall. Ginny saw Draco sitting down to eat just as she walked in, and they made eye contact. So much was said in that one moment, Ginny couldn't even spell it all out in her mind. She was relieved to see him, it'd been a long few days. She wanted to go over and throw her arms around him, and tell him how much she'd missed him, but now wasn't the time.

After she finished dinner she decided to go back to Gryffindor Tower. As she walked, she hummed a tune to herself. She didn't hear anyone come up behind her, but she was suddenly pulled into a classroom.

She turned around to see what was going on and saw Draco. She smiled and leapt into his arms, gushing about how much she missed him and how weird it had been without him. She went tokiss him, and he just kissed her cheek. She looked up at him, but he didn't look nearly as happy as she felt.

"What? What's going on?" She asked, as she felt the now-familiar feeling in her gut grow to an abnormal size.

"Nothing," he said, and he tried to smile. "I'm glad you're back..."

"Draco," she warned, "Don't try and pull this crap with me..." He chuckled and pulled her into a tight hug. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Tonight's probably going to be a late one," he said quietly.

"Are you serious? But I wanted to go back out to the Quidditch pitch, or back to the library...tonight was supposed to be relaxing."

"I know, Red," he said, shaking his head, "we'll do that tomorrow, ok?"

"Fine." She huffed. "I suppose I should make my way to the hospital wing then," she continued grumpily. He smirked at her and she suddenly got very upset. She hugged him and refused to let go for a few moments, not wanting him to leave her now that she'd just gotten back. "Please don't go..." she pleaded quietly. "Not tonight...don't go tonight..."

"You know I have to." he reminded her softly, "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it. I'll see you in the hospital wing, ok?" She hugged him closer, and almost didn't let him go. But he pulled her away and looked her in the eye. "I'll see you later on, ok?" She nodded, and he kissed her. She stayed in that moment, trying to memorize everything - every touch, every movement, every feeling. His lips were so soft and sweet, and he smelled faintly of fresh rain. The feeling in her gut roared, but she let him go. She figured it was just because she'd just gotten back from her trip that she felt exra-bad about him leaving.

When she got to the hospital wing, she started on a potion for Tonks. She worked until she got a thin, light, sky-blue liquid, and she siphoned it into a few vials. She examined it, and wondered if it would work as well as her other creation had. She didn't really want to use a pregnant woman as a guinea pig, but there really was no other way. There was no reason the potion shouldn't work, after all.

She made another batch of Draco's potion, blowing it up once again. She just couldn't shake the feeling in her gut. She wanted to cry, to apparate to the fight and find him - she'd learned how, and now all she had to do was wait for her birthday to roll around so she could take the test. She made another attempt at Draco's potion, and succeeded, siphoning it into yet another flask Madam Pomfrey gave her.

After a few hours, the Order members started trickling in. Ron had a twisted ankle, and Hermione had a broken wrist - both of which Ginny mended on the spot. She handed out the normal sleeping potions to everyone and healed the normal bumps and bruises. She realized that, for a war, no one was really getting anywhere. Death Eater raids produced very little casualites, because the Order was never far away, and Order raids rarely produced anything that she knew of, because the Death Eaters were so well organized. Ginny shook her head at the thought, wondering if it would ever end. Harry was supposed to defeat Voldemort, but would that really ever happen? The thoughts made her utterly depressed, but she still felt uncomfortable. Disconcerted. Not right. Something was just...not right, and whatever it is, it was going down tonight - Ginny could just feel it, and it was making her sick. She nearly threw up a few times, due to the overwhelming emotion, but managed to hide it from everyone. They were all preoccupied with their own various injuries and concerns. Mostly wondering if Lupin and Tonks would come back from their honeymoon early because of this, but hoping they woudn't.

Ginny went over to the window and looked out, hoping to find something to calm herself down, something to tell her that it was all going to be ok, something that would kill this awful feeling...but she found nothing. Just the stars, that just didn't seem to shine as brightly as they had last week. The moon even looked like it was lower. It was like the whole world knew something was wrong, but wouldn't tell her exactly what.

She turned around to find a very quiet hospital wing, most had fallen asleep. She frowned at how unhappy everyone looked. Well, not everyone. She just thought that people were supposed to look content when they slept, but only Hermione and Ron looked content. Everyone else looked troubled, worried, even scared. She didn't want to look at that anymore, or think about how scared she was, so she cursed Draco for not getting there earlier, and went back to her room.

She worked on another batch of his potion, but her eyes were starting to droop. She'd never had time to make more than one in a night, which told her how long she'd been waiting for him. She finished the batch, siphoned it out, and nearly collapsed on a chair behind her. She looked around, hoping to see something that would tell her he was already there, just waiting for her to finish up, but she didn't see anything. She sighed sadly, and walked out of her room.

She sat down on a bed, and decided to rest her eyes for a minute. It was nearly dawn, and she had classes that morning that she needed to go to. She just hoped he'd wake her up when he got back...