Part II, Chapter Five: His Weakness

Go melt back into the night, babe,
Everything inside is made of stone.
There's nothing in here moving
An' anyway I'm not alone.
You say you're looking for someone
Who'll pick you up each time you fall,
To gather flowers constantly
An' to come each time you call,
A lover for your life an' nothing more,
But it ain't me, babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe

- Bob Dylan (It Ain't Me, Babe)

I tear my heart open
I sew myself shut
My weakness is
That I care too much
- Papa Roach (Scars)

It had been nearly a month since the run-in with Draco on the roof, and ever since it had been awkward between he and Ginny. It was now late July, and Ginny noted with a sinking heart that Harry's birthday would be arriving soon. She contemplated writing him a birthday card or getting him a gift, but anytime she thought of doing such things, her scar burnt with such strong power she considered never speaking to Harry or thinking about him again. But she knew that was not possible.

By July 28th, she began to lose all hope of speaking to her brothers or Harry again. She hadn't gotten a card since her last day at Hogwarts, and she had not thought to visit anyone, either; she had been too busy searching all the tunnels, hallways, and hidden rooms in the manor, and she was sure she hadn't even seen half the rooms (although she had certainly seen nearly 100). However, she was pleasantly surprised a few days later when she received a folded up piece of parchment on her bed.

July 29th
The Manor, France

Dearest Ginny,

How are you, darling? I hope you are perfect, and I do hope Dra (a bunch of scratch marks on top of 'Dra') Malfoy is treating you well. I hope you realize how much we all miss you and wish you were here with us. I do hope this letter comes to you well.

As you know, Harry's birthday is coming up soon, and we (Arthur, Hermione, and the boys) have decided to throw him a surprise party at the Burrow. I know if you were there, his birthday truly would be a happy one. He misses you, dear, and I know it would make his birthday wonderful. I know it might hurt to see him, but please try to arrive.

If you do decide you want to come, it is on Monday at three p.m. I do not know when it will end; probably late. No need to RSVP, we will let ourselves be surprised by your spontaneity.

I love you, darling.

Most Sincerely,

Mum

Ginny didn't know how to respond to the letter. Should she go? Should she not? Would it be easy? Or would it be too hard? She chose to put it up on her dresser and decide on Sunday. That gave her about two days to decide. She figured that she shouldn't think about it until then, so to keep her mind off of the party she began sorting through her clothes, carefully folding each shirt, pant, etc. and putting them neatly in their proper drawer. She was nearly done when a certain dress caught her eye, one she didn't remember packing.

It was a beautiful gown, elegant and vintage. It was dirty and faded, but with a good wash she could tell it would be a beautiful shade of creme. The dress had a long v-neck slit in the front and half-way down the middle it was beaded with shimmering stones. It was beautiful, but it only reminded her of something she had thought little about:

Her wedding.

It explained the constant burning of her scar, the growth, and the pain that was shooting through her body at random moments. The curse stated a slytherin had to marry a gryffindor... well there had been no ceremony as of yet. Placing the dress down on the bed, she ran to Draco's room. When she reached it, she nearly fainted in pain from the running, but said what she had to.

"We -- aren't -- married."

"I hadn't noticed," said Draco, an amused smile playing upon his face.

"Don't be cute. The curse, Malfoy. Slytherin marries Gryffindor. We don't just live together -- we have to get married. Or have you forgotten about my wonderful infliction?"

Draco blinked. "Damn. When the hell are we supposed to do this?"

I wish it could be never, Ginny thought to herself, but just the thought made her double-over; the burning of her scar increased threefold. She fell on the floor and writhed in pain and Draco nervously sat next to her, patting her head.

"As soon as possible," she whispered through pain.

And Draco knew she meant it.

-----------------

It was eleven PM on Saturday night. She had not tried to fall asleep, so instead began searching the grounds with a candle. She was walking around the garden, looking at the beautiful statues in the grass. They were of faeries and made of stone. Each statue depicted a different, mystical scene: three faeries blowing bubbles, two faeries dancing, one faerie sitting on a leaf, looking up at the sky.

Ginny continued walking and found a path into the woods. Just as she was about to step through the wooden gate to enter it, she felt a large burst of red flames rush towards her. She stumbled backwards, confused, and then ran as fast as she could back to the house. She didn't know what happened; all she knew was that the woods were not ready for her. She knew the manor and all it's grounds were mystical and powerful; if something were not ready for her, she would wait. If something seemed dangerous, she would back off.

When she reached her room, she collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily. Her eyes caught something glimmering on her small side-table and she reached out to grab it. She was surprised to find it was a ring with three stones inside of it. The left and right diamonds were small, but the center one was large and shone beautifully in the candlelight. On the inside of the band read 'Past - Present - Future.' Ginny smiled and read the small note that was tied to it:

Well, here's to our past, present, and future together. I hope you learn not to hate me. This is the first step to getting married, isn't it? Tell me if I'm doing it wrong.

- DM

Ginny giggled. "No, you're doing it just right," she said to herself quietly before slipping the ring on and tiptoeing to her solstice by the moon.

-----------------

During lunch the next morning, Ginny stared at her ring as she ate her eggs. She and Draco were sitting on opposite sides of the table, neither one talking or mentioning the ring... or the wedding. To break the silence, Ginny coughed.

"Um... I'm going out today," she said, continuing her downward stare.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. A... birthday party. Is what I'm going to, I mean. I'm going to a birthday party. Right."

He rose an eyebrow; why was she telling him this? "Ooookay..."

"Just...so you know. I guess. Right, well. The party's at three. What time is it now, do you know?"

Draco glanced at his pocketwatch. "Two forty-five. Might as well leave now then, right?"

Ginny nodded. "Right... I'll go change and then I'll be on my way." She stood up and began to walk up to her room when Draco's voice stopped her.

"Potter's party, I'm presuming?"

"You presume correct," she replied, keeping her tone even. He said nothing, so she continued her way upstairs.

Draco didn't know what made his blood boil more, the fact that it was Potter's party, or the fact that he and Ginny would be at a party together... alone.

-----------------

"Ginny dear! I've missed you so! You look beautiful, what have you done with your hair? It's so straight, I love it! Your pigtails are adorable!" Mrs. Weasley gushed, hugging and kissing her daughter a billion times. On any normal occasion, Ginny would have scowled and hid away, embarrassed by the touchy-feely acts. But today, after not seeing her mum for the longest period ever, all she wanted to do was crawl into bed with her and read fairy tales. She had already said hello to Fred, George, Charlie, and her father; she was just waiting on the other guests.

"Ginny, hi," Hermione greeted, hugging her friend. "How've you been?"

"...Fine, I guess. As fine as I could be."

Hermione nodded. "Uh... listen, before the others arrive, can I talk to you? Alone?"

"Uh, sure," she replied, letting herself be pulled out onto the deck. She took a seat in the deck swing as Hermione began to pace in circles.

"Okay, so, after you left, we had our exams. You know, blah blah, exams. You know how they go. Then, well... Harry and... well..."

Ginny took a deep breath. "Spit it out, Hermione."

Hermione nodded. "Harry and Luna are going out."

Ginny was silent. "How soon after...?"

"Well... I'm not sure exactly..."

Ginny gave Hermione a look that distinctly said, 'tell me now.'

"Two days after you left."

"So three days after..." She sighed. "So I'm that replaceable."

"We were all shocked," Hermione continued. "I mean, none of us could believe he'd move on so quick. I don't think he did - move on, I mean - but... he is with her, and they seem... happy. Well, she does, at least, but when does Luna not look happy?"

Ginny began to get up. "When is Ron getting here? As soon as he comes, I'm leaving. I don't want Harry to see me - I don't want to ruin everything."

"Ginny..." Hermione said slowly, "Ron is coming with Harry and Luna. It's a surprise party. Luna and Ron are in on it... If you want to see Ron, you have to see Harry and -"

"Give my love to Ron, then," Ginny grunted, beginning to walk inside. "Because I don't want to see -"

"SURPRISE!"

Ginny's head shot up. Harry was standing in the doorway of the Burrow, laughing at his surprise, with Luna on his arm. Ron was heartily slapping Harry on the back. Happy eighteenth birthday, Harry. Happy wonderful life, Harry. Happy beautiful girlfriend, Harry.

"And look who's here, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said, pushing Ginny in Harry's view. "Ginny!"

Harry's smile faded. His grip on Luna became looser.

"Hi," Ginny said coldly. She crossed her arms. "Hello, Luna."

"Hi! How are you? And how's Draco?" Luna replied cheerily. Behind Ginny, Hermione hit herself in the face, shaking her head. How could Luna be so stupid?

"Oh, wonderful, wonderful. And how are you and Harry? Perfect, I presume?" Ginny used Draco's word from before as a way to show everyone, 'look, we're so close we use each other's vocabulary.' Unfortunately, no one else had been there to hear it.

"Yes! We're fantastic. He and I are getting mar -"

Ron nudged her in the ribs and Harry's face turned five shades darker than it should have been.

"Gin, can I --"

"Talk to me? Yeah, please," Ginny spit, walking outside again. Harry sat down on the bench.

"Listen, she and I -"

Ginny shook her head. "Don't bother, Harry, I don't want to hear it. What did you do after you read my note? Think to yourself, 'hm, she seems to be over me already. Might as well get a new shag while she's gone'?"

"No! Not at all, I -"

"You what, waited a few days so it wouldn't seem fresh, and then decided to ask her out? Or did my departing shine some bright light on Luna that you hadn't seen before? Or, have I just been blind this whole time, and you've always been in love with her? Or are you not in love with her, and you're only using her so you could replace me?"

"Now listen here," Harry hissed fiercely, "I may have done some bad stuff in the past, but I would never do that to someone. Luna asked if I wanted to go with her to Hogsmeade the day before graduation. I realized we had a lot in common and we started hanging out. That eventually led to... going out."

Ginny crossed her arms. "So my letter did absolutely nothing to you?"

"Of course it did!"

"Obviously not, because a day later you were on the way to going out with her! So tell me, did you shag her yet? I hope she realizes that when she cries, your body won't only be used to shelter her tears. You'll want a nice old shag in return."

Harry stood up. "No regrets, Harry -- remember that? Who was the one who continued pushing sex on me? YOU! I didn't have that on the mind, Ginny, and it's unfair for you to say that. Just because you're jealous of my new girlfriend doesn't give you the right to make me sound like the bad person."

"And you think I'm the bad person? I'm the one who's been NOTHING but GOOD! I'm the one who's tried to keep her head up through all the bad times! I'M the one who has to bloody wake up in the same HOUSE as DRACO MALFOY every morning, and I can't do ANYTHING to change that."

"STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT! Was it or was it not you who initiated the kiss? Was it not you who deepened the kiss? Was it not you who -"

Ginny's eyes were filled with tears and the makeup she had taken so long to put on was beginning to run. "Stop it. You're the one who's wrong."

"Just because I don't want to live my life thinking about what could have been doesn't make me wrong. You said it yourself, Ginny - there's no way we could be together. What am I supposed to do, wait?"

She ferociously wiped away the tears. "Screw my apologies. I'm not sorry about our lost future. I'm glad I don't have a future with you. Happy bloody birthday." Immediately after her sentence, she ran inside.

"Mum, start up the floo. Now."

Mrs. Weasley looked around, flabbergasted. "What? Oh, Ginny, what's wrong?"

"Mum, do it. Please."

She nodded, then gave her daughter a handful of dust.

"Do tell me what the hurry is in an owl, please."

Ginny said yes, then threw the powder into the fire. "The Manor!" she yelled, and the green flames consumed her.

-----------------

Draco heard the sound of the floo being used in the sitting room and got up. Ginny had not even been gone an hour, why was she back already? Had she forgotten something? Or had she brought back Potter for a nice birthday shag?

"What, was the party lame?"

He watched as Ginny kept her back to him. "Yeah. Really lame."

Draco walked over to her. "Potter's no fun anymore?"

"No. Potter's... no fun."

He lightly pulled her shoulder, forcing her to face him. She easily turned around and he could see the tears in her eyes. Her small body began to shake as the tears erupted from her eyes and sobs came out from deep inside her throat.

"Did Potter hurt you? He didn't touch you, did he?"

Ginny shook her head, finding it hard to stand. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

"Harry doesn't want me anymore. I've been replaced. She's so much prettier than me... Me... He didn't care... it didn't mean anything to him. He...didn't even want me there."

"I'll bloody murder the bastard!" he spat, beginning to walk to the floo, Ginny still attached to him.

"No... don't. Don't go. Just stay here. Please."

Draco stopped in his tracks. Something about her voice made him want to do anything she asked of him. Something about the way her arms felt around his neck made him want to melt. The feeling of her voice vibrating against his shoulder made him want to crucify Harry.

"Okay," he said gently, walking her to the couch. "Okay." He sat down and Ginny did as well, curling up into a ball next to him. She kept her arms and head in the same position and Draco lightly put his arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you..." she whispered. Then she thought of something. "And Draco?"

Draco shivered; it was the first time she had ever said his name. "Uh... yeah?"

"You're doing everything just right."

He smiled to himself as she let the tears come freely, crying onto his shoulder as if it were her last lifeline. And as she did so, Draco found his one weakness; the one thing that threw down his stone walls. Her.

Author's Note: Well... I can't tell whether I liked this chapter or didn't, hehe. In some aspects I did like it but HARRY just PISSES ME OFF. However, it was necessary. I mean, if Harry wasn't a jerk, how else would Draco find out his weakness, EH? Anyway, thanks for all the fab reviews, guys. And to the reviewers who said they love the weird house-ness, don't worry... that's coming up. You guys just need to be packed with Draco/Ginny fluff, first!

As always... I don't own the songs written at the front of the chapter. Wish I did though, Bob Dylan is a great poet.

FYI... Everyone should go see Narnia! It's ammaazziiinggg and if you like Harry Potter you'll love this movie, honest! The war scene fantabulous.

Xx, Liz