Part II, Chapter Seven: Starting Over

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start

- Coldplay (The Scientist)

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistletoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year.

- Eddie Pola, George Wyle (It's The Most...)

Time had passed since her letter to her mother. 4 months, about: it was now December, a few days before Christmas. Nothing changed between she and Draco; it was only awkward, odd, and sometimes tense. She stopped sleeping in his room, and instead made sure each night she was tucked away upstairs with the moon.

Okay, let's think. I was in the kitchen when I had my notebook last, I remember that because I was writing a particularly interesting story about a little girl who had too much to eat, based on a true story that just happened to occur as I wrote it. I think she blew up, I don't remember. ...Getting off subject. Anyway, it was in the kitchen. But... no, it's not. It has to be somewhere

Ginny sighed. She had, once again, misplaced her creative writing notebook. This was her lifeline, the only thing that she had since year 2. Since August 1st, especially, this notebook was important to her. It was all her pathetic stories, poetry, etc. Pretty much anything that popped into her head at the moment she would write down. If anyone were to read that book, they would think she was one insane girl. She wasn't, really. Just... a bit off at times.

Ah! Could I have left it in the Foyer? I think I wrote it after I wrote to mum, didn't I? Let's look, then...

She began walking from the kitchen to the foyer, passing the main room/staircase. However, she saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her stop. Something was different... though she couldn't quite place what it was. The stairs were still there, with their color coordinated carpets... the bookcases, plants, and statues were still surrounding the main staircase... So what was it?

Could it be... A-ha! The painting! It was definitely the painting. But what about it was wrong? Almost immediately her question was answered - Elye was missing.

"Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap!" She muttered to herself. "Where could a baby go? A painting. Not even a real baby! A BABY PAINTING. Where the hell would a baby painting go? Draco... have to tell Dra - DAMNIT!"

Draco, she remembered, was out and wouldn't be back until 'later,' but if he was needed, she could probably reach him at the Malfoy Mansion. So, basically, she was alone.

In a huge manor.

With a wandering painting-baby. Whatever that meant.

"Okay... maybe I'm just seeing things." She shut her eyes, then sloooooowly opened them. Damnit! Still missing! "So I'm not just seeing things. Okay. Okay, it's fine, things like this happen all the time. You always read about it in the Daily Prophet -- 'Painting Baby Goes Missing, Girl is a Wreck!'"

Ginny began pacing, then began slowly stepping up the stairs to review the painting closer. Every step she made seemed to take an eternity until finally, finally, she was in front of the painting. She stared at it closely; Fayebris and Andasar looked exactly the same. Everything was normal except for the big gap in Fayebris' arms.

"Hey... Hey you," Ginny whispered, tapping Andasar on the head. "Your baby's missing. Know where it is?"

No answer.

"Um... Excuse me, miss. Your daughter is missing," she tried again, and lightly poked Fayebris in the arm.

No movement. Not even a flicker of comprehension.

"So, what, your baby's alive and you're not? A lot of help you are!"

Suddenly, from behind her, something fell. She shrieked loudly, jumping up. She turned around, half expecting to see a large, one dimensional piece of paper shaped like Elye, but only found a knocked-over statue... and nothing else.

Ginny took a few deep breaths, wringing her fingers. "Okay. It was nothing. Just the wind... despite the fact that there are no windows in here and the door is practically bolted shut. It was just the nonexsistent wi-"

Another large bang coming from upstairs, followed by five more consistent ping, bang, boop, and clammer noises. Quickly, she ran to the foyer, threw floo powder in the fireplace and yelled, "THE BURROW!"

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

"MUM!" Ginny yelled, running into the house. Instead of seeing what she thought she would -- her mother, at the kitchen table, probably cooking something -- she saw Harry Potter. "...Not mum..."

Harry looked up. "Oh... Mrs. Weasley is um... out."

"Oh." Ginny began walking back to the floo. Just as she was about to throw the green dust into the fire, Harry called out to her. She turned around, meeting his eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um... um, no..."

Harry smirked and walked up to her. "Come on, Gin. I've known you all your life, I know when something's up."

Ginny sighed and began telling him about the missing painting, the fallen statue, and the noises. She calmly explained how she, being the strong woman she was, ran to mommy at the first sign of danger. Harry did not laugh; instead, looked quite serious.

"I don't like that manor, Gin," he said. "It sounds dark."

"Well, there are candles...?"

Harry shook his head. "Dark magic. Would you mind if I went back there with you and checked it out?"

Ginny took a deep breath. "Oh... sure, I guess..." They began walking to the floo before Harry looked at her.

"I don't want it to be weird between us anymore. I really didn't mean to hurt you. I just... couldn't spend all my time thinking about you. Although we're not together I still love you... just... as friends. I understand if you don't feel the same way."

"Harry," she said, "I don't want things to be weird, either. You did hurt me, but I did evoke some of your anger myself. What we have done in the past should stay in the past, okay? Being friends with you sounds wonderful."

They each threw the dust into the fire and distinctly said, "THE MANOR" as they spun into the swirling green flames.

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

"Oh, my..." The words melted on Ginny's lips as she looked around; everything was either knocked over, chipped, or just missing. "The painting baby strikes again!"

It would have been funny, if it wasn't so true. Because honestly, the truth was that the painting baby (for lack of a better name) was still missing, and still wreaking havoc.

"Alright, well... it's missing, and it has to be somewhere. So I guess we could start looking in the foyer...?"

Harry nodded, and so it began. After a few minutes, Harry opened up a wardrobe, and craziness ensued. All of a sudden, over a dozen green and silver nymphs flew out, pulling Harry's hair and Ginny's. They were grabbing things, throwing things, pulling things...

"What's - going - ON?" Ginny yelled over the overwhelming manic giggle of the nymphs.

"Don't - know -" replied Harry, his knees buckling as a few nymphs hit him from behind. The nymphs were everyone, zooming around like little maniacs. As Ginny stumbled near Harry to help him up, the nymphs began spilling endless circles around them until they seemed to form one big green-and-silver sparkling blur. As they collapsed, Ginny found all thoughts disappearing until the only thing she could hear was the fluttering of wings and the whispers of many dulled voices.

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

Draco walked in the room and gasped: what the bloody hell had happened when he was gone? As he looked around, the shock only got bigger.

"Weasel? Are you here? Are you...okay?" he called, walking around in circles. He heard some sounds from the foyer so he followed the noises until he saw Ginny laying on Harry underneath a blanket of something silver, green, and glittering. "What the fu(you can imagine the last two letters here)?"

Ginny jumped up, waking Harry. They were a bit confused at first, but Harry understood Draco's accusations right away and stepped away from Ginny, putting his hands up.

"Listen, nothing happened -"

But Draco wouldn't hear it. "Get out."

Ginny finally came to and stared, wide eyed at Draco. "Draco, seriously, nothing -"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, SCARHEAD!"

Harry shook his head. "Goodbye, Ginny. I hope you find the portrait baby."

"I SAID OUT!"

With a pop, Harry apparated to his flat, leaving Draco and Ginny in uncomfortable silence.

"So is that what you do while I'm not here? Shag Potter?" he asked dryly, venom dripping from his voice.

"Draco, stop. It wasn't like that. He just came over to..."

Draco cut her off. "I always thought you were smarter than that, Weasley. You bloody cried over him - I guess he's decided you're not replaceable anymore, are you? I'm sure you mean a whole lot to him as he goes home to his girlfriend."

Ginny shook her head and stood up, tears filling her eyes. "NOTHING happened! If you would just let me explain -"

"There's nothing to explain," he spat.

"Yes there is! Elye came out of the painting, and so I got scared and ran to get my mum, but Harry was there instead, and -"

Draco shook his head. "I knew it wouldn't work between us, no matter how hard we tried. We're just too different, always were and always will be."

"I thought we were supposed to forget about our past," whispered Ginny. "We were supposed to start new... We were supposed to learn how to -"

"Why the bloody hell would you do something like that? Were you even thinking? He's made you cry how many bloody times already?"

Ginny stepped away from him, tears filling her wide brown eyes. "You're exactly how I thought you would be. Cold and heartless until the day you die. You'll never be able to show any empathy, or love - you don't even know what 'love' is." She took her ring off her finger and threw it on the floor. "Take your bloody ring back, I won't need it anymore." With that, she ran out of the foyer and out the front doors.

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

As I row, row, row
Going so slow, slow, slow
Just down below me is the old sea
Just down below me is the old sea
Nobody knows, knows, knows
So many things, things, so
So out of range
Sometimes so strange
Sometimes so sweet
Sometimes so lonely

...You just have to go, go, go
Where I don't know, know, know
This is the thing
Somebody told me
A long time ago

Ginny was running, running, running as fast as her small legs would permit. She had no direction, no plan, no idea of what was going to happen next. She let her legs set the course and let them take her where they wanted. She found herself brushing through trees, bushes, forests. Leaves fell down, mud splashed on her flowered pale green skirt and on her beige boots, water dripped from the trees from a storm that occurred practically days before.

The ground was going from rough grass to softer moss, causing her to slip and slide a bit. She was no longer in viewing distance from the manor, but she could still see the top of it's highest tower where she once 'slept' - and that was too close for her. She began getting closer to the wooden gate that she once tried opening, the one that led to the beautiful forest. Without stopping, she threw the gate open and continued running - and it allowed her to enter.

The forest was magical; this much she knew for sure. She could tell in the way everything shimmered and the way there was some sort of consistent noise that reminded her of the tempting magic she read about in fairy tales; The type of magic that was always there in the forms of needles, ready for you to prick your finger and fall into a deep slumber, never to awaken unless you were kissed by the love of your life.

She ran, not paying attention to much, until finally she couldn't breathe. Her lungs felt as though they were on fire, and her legs throbbed insanely. She finally took a look around her surroundings and gasped; in front of her, there was a large waterfall that spilled out into a deep lake. Because of the winter, it was now icy and frozen - but still beautiful. Everything was frozen in place. Beautiful rocks surrounded the edge, providing a seat-like place for her to sit. She lightly sat down next to the lake, sighing. This, right here, was so peaceful.

But then there was a rumbling in the distance, a cold breeze. A whisper in the air: 'Ginny. She looked around, but no one was there. Thinking it was just in her head, she closed her eyes - but the voice returned. She opened her eyes and saw a woman coming out of the ice. Her long hair was thin, flowing and blue, and her eyes were as clear as water. She wore a damp, form-fitting light blue gown.

"Ginny. Don't you love it here?"

Her brain automatically answered: yes.

"Then you should live here with us," the woman purred, smiling. "Forget Malfoy and his silly little schemes. He doesn't deserve you. You'd love it here. You could do anything you want; all the magic of the world would be in the palm of your hand."

Yesyesyes, her brain responded, yes. All she wanted was to touch the lady's arms, hands, feet, hair, skin... Maybe then the magic would be with her...

"All you have to do is go into Malfoy's room and get his ring. The one with the serpent, yes? Just get it and bring it back to me. Then you can stay here forever."

Forever. The word echoed Ginny's mind as she nodded, half-there, grabbing her shoes and stumbling out of the forest at top-speed. The trip seemed shorter than it had before, and she found herself almost immediately up to Draco's room, sneaking around, walking on her tiptoes. She peeked around the corner; no one was there. Good. She climbed up the final twisty-turny steps and slowly opened Draco's door - he was laying in bed, eyes closed, deep in sleep. She looked around for his ring - his lifeline. He didn't always wear it, did he?

Her question was answered as she caught sight of his silver, glimmering, beautiful ring. Captivated, she reached out and grabbed the ring. In a blink of an eye, Draco's arm shot out and grabbed her wrist, causing her to gasp.

"What are you doing in here, Weasel?"

Ginny stuttered incomprehensibly. "I - the - and - your ring was dirty?"

"And you sensed that from outside and decided to clean it for me?"

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest. "It doesn't bloody matter, does it? Justgivemethering."

"Why?" He asked, though he had a flicker of an idea of why she needed it. "I don't usually give away valuables to people who shag in my house."

"I DIDN'T SHAG -" She took a deep breath. "Just give it to me. Pleaasseee?"

He opened his mouth to say something but the moment he did, she grabbed the ring and was out of the room in a flash. He chased her, following her down the steps, out of the house, and through the woods. They ran to the forest and it began to dawn on him what was happening.

"Weasel, listen to me, do not trust the lady of the lake!"

"You just don't want me to have magic more powerful than you! Because if I did, you know the first thing I'd do was get rid of your bloody family!" she yelled back, willing her legs to run faster.

"You don't know what you're saying!"

That just added fuel to her fire. "I'm sick of you telling me everything I don't know! One day I'm going to tell you about the things YOU don't know, then won't YOU be surprised?" She ran, ran, ran until finally she reached the lady of the lake.

"Do you have the ring, Ginny?" she asked, putting her thin, long arms out as if to hug Ginny.

"Yes, yes I do! Here it -"

"Accio ring!" Draco yelled, the ring flying into the palm of his hands.

Ginny saw fire. She turned around and ran to him. "Give me that back! Give it to me, you stupid git!"

"She's not to be trusted, Weasel. Just listen to me!"

"WHY SHOULD I?" She threw herself into him, but he stood solid, faltering slightly. She kicked his knee and he yelled out. Ginny ran to the ring, which was now on the floor, and picked it up. She tripped to get it to the lady. Right before they had a chance to connect - hand to ring, ring to finger - Draco stood up and concentrated on difficult wandless magic.

"Suovamarus!"

Ginny sucked in a cold breath and retreated her hand as the beautiful lady turned into a red ball of fire. It was ugly, dripping with red gush that looked like blood. Ginny took many steps back and held onto Draco's arm, the magic tarnished. She no longer felt compelled to touch the flesh of the lady.

"Bursitimo!" Draco yelled, and the lady fell away with a shriek, flying into the distance.

"What... what did you do to the lady?"

Draco looked down into Ginny's eyes. "Just let you see her for who she really is. She's one of the curses that Godric left behind to scare you away from here. That's the one thing my mother did tell me about the curse."

Ginny looked at her hands, glancing at the ring. "Here... here you are."

He took the ring, slipped it onto his finger, and began walking back. As he did, snow began to lightly fall, and Ginny felt tears corrupt her clear eyes. She cried because of what she and Draco had, for a short time, and how she ruined it by going to Harry. She wondered why it mattered to Draco so much - why the thought of her being with Harry made his skin crawl so. But she tried to push it from her mind, walking slowly back and hugging herself to keep warm. The snow began flaking in her hair and collecting on her eyelashes, and as she cried, it was as if her tears became ice... just like Draco.

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

The owl post came the next day, sending along Christmas presents from family and friends. Her mum bought her a beautiful, thin, white antique lace dress that she said belonged to her great-great-great grandmother, Ron and Bill bought her a small computer game of Quidditch, Percy bought her a 'emergency safety kit,' Charlie bought her a book of dragons, the twins bought her a new pygmy puff (her old one died, poor dear), and her father bought her a sketchbook along with charcoal. Hermione bought her a romance-slash-vampire novel called 'Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer, and Harry added his present along with hers - a beautiful emerald quill and stationary with her initials on them.

There was one package left that Ginny didn't know what to do with - one from Draco. Letting her heart get the best of her, she ripped it open... and found her beautiful engagement ring inside with a new necklace that had a small Slytherin snake dangling on it. Along with it was a note: Have a nice Christmas.

Looking at her jewelry box, she began to formulate an idea.

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Draco wasn't fond of Christmas fun and such - he preferred to sleep alone in his room with the curtain drawn and a sound repelling charm on the door. He thought Christmas was far too giggly, romantic, fluffy. Draco thought people did stupid things on Christmas 'just because it was Christmas.' He didn't buy presents for anyone, didn't receive them either. That was why he was surprised to see, later in the day when he finally woke up, a small present on the chair next to his bed.

It was wrapped in green wrapping paper and tied with a silver bow. As he gently went over to open it, he felt a familiar feeling in the back of his throat. Inside the box was a thin silver chain with the Gryffindor lion dangling on it. He knew that it was Ginny's for certain - all students got a necklace with a pendant such as this during their first year. He had given her the same type for Christmas, though he wasn't certain why. He just felt that the ring looked too lonely by itself in that big box...

He opened the small card, written in green ink, and read it:

Merry Christmas. I'm still waiting for the day to tell you what I know and you don't.

Can we start over?

Love (which was crossed out) Sincerely (which was crossed out also) Love,

Ginny Weasley, fondly known as 'Weasel.'

Draco smiled to himself and slipped the chain over his neck and underneath his button up shirt. He opened his door to go and get Ginny and say thank-you, but found she was already in his doorway, poised to knock. It was silent as they looked at each other, saying nothing. Ginny looked down, and Draco took the opportunity to surprise her with a small, gentle kiss. As they broke away, Draco couldn't help but smile as she blushed heavily. He couldn't stand the way she looked... the way she blushed... everything about her was too overwhelming. Although he was still angry about she and Harry... he couldn't be mad for long, at least not today.

Besides, it was Christmas.

Author's Note: Sorry if this is rushed - wanted to get this out before the maintance thing, and I'm sorry if you think that I skipped ahead too quick - but do you know how depressing it is to write about August when tomorrow is Christmas? I hope you do like this chapter though. I've been writing it all day to make the day go faster. Is it just me or is Christmas Eve the longest day of the year? I think it is. I swear, it's been 6 o'clock for the past 4 hours! And anyway, I had to have Ginny and Draco get back together. Well... not together! But you know. Whatever, now I'm rambling and it's STILL 6:47. Gosh! By the way, the song halfway through the chapter was "The Rowing Song," don't know who it's by but it was on a radio station once so I wrote it down in my planner, heehee.

Anyway, fond wishes to all of you during this season, whatever holiday you celebrate. Have a good one!

Xox, Liz

PS: I just checked over this chapter twice, and guess what time it is. 6:59! HOW PATHETIC IS THAT?