This chapter is dedicated to Missy. Love ya girl!

Part II, Chapter Ten: Flowers bloom dead

Oh, as if it wasn't hard enough
I'm so tired of waking up
Feeling bad
You haven't been the kind of place I have
Could it hurt you now
To let this pass?

Oh, as if it wasn't hard enough
You want to make it so much harder
Now in another world
I could learn to forget
But 'til then I'm here
Making room for new regrets

Now some flowers they never bloom
And some flowers just bloom dead
The way you make me feel
I could collapse
An epidemic I cannot outlast
How could you feel used
When I feel trapped?

- Wallflowers (Some Flowers Bloom Dead)

It's been a long cold winter
Even we could not hide
These feelings of love we lived for
Are now somehow dead inside

- not sure who it's by (Evergreen)

Ginny woke up, blinking away the odd bursts of sunlight coming through the window. She didn't remember where she was until she saw her Future of Hogwarts sweatshirt framed on the wall. It was then she remembered - she was home. She looked around; her mother was running around the room, cleaning things up. She reached over to stretch and her hands hit a tray of food that was laying on her bed: it had eggs, orange juice, pancakes, and bacon on it, along with a small flower. Ginny smiled to herself as she moved the tray aside and stood up.

Molly turned around and grinned at her daughter. "Hullo, dear! How did you sleep? Good?"

Ginny shrugged. "I suppose."

"Good, good. Well, go get freshened up, your breakfast is right there."

Ginny nodded and walked to the bathroom, leaving her mother to contemplate what exactly was going on in her only daughter's life.

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Ginny began walking downstairs and heard voices fill her ears. Just the sounds made her want to dance, and made her forget -- for a fraction of a moment -- about Draco. She stopped halfway down to listen to the conversation.

"It was too bloody cold for camping, dad, I told you! Camping is done in the summer, not the winter!" Ron was whining.

Fred lifted a stiff finger to shake at Ron. "I d-don't see w-what the p-p-r-r-roblem is, R-R-R-Ron. It's n-n-not th-th-th-that c-c-c-c -"

"I don't see what the problem is, Ron. It's not that cold," George repeated.

"I w-w-was say-y-ying th-that!" argued Fred.

George rolled his eyes. "You were taking too long."

Charlie shook his head. "I thought it was nice. Cold... but nice."

"I saw that park ranger checking you out, dear brother, and I saw you do more than check her out!" George said, elbowing Ron and winking lewdly.

"Boys," came the ever-knowledgeable warn from Molly. Even though she wasn't listening to the conversation, she knew when her boys were behaving badly.

Ron blushed. "Someone better change the bloody subject."

"Language, Ronald!"

"Fine," Bill said, "I don't think Tom and Jerry will ever recover."

"Tom and Jerry?" asked Ron.

Bill grinned and whispered something in Ron's ear, causing him to laugh out loud.

"Boys," Arthur warned as Molly began whipping up some hot chocolates and coffees. Deciding this was a safe time, Ginny began to walk downstairs.

"Well, my 'Tom and Jerry's are suffering, also, and -" Ron trailed off. "Oi! Ginny! What are you doing here?"

Ginny opened her mouth to think of an excuse. However, her mother supplied one for her, explaining that she was "feeling homesick."

"Aw, well, too bad you missed the trip!" George exclaimed. Fred opened his mouth to speak up, but George continued. "And Fred wants to know how the ferret is."

"Still furry?" asked Ron. Charlie laughed and began drinking his coffee.

Ginny looked down at the ground. "Uh - well - he's - erm..."

"That good, eh?"

She shrugged, trying to look uninterested. "He's not important. I heard you went camping? How was that?"

And they all began talking at once, laughing and recalling funny times that happened during the trip -- Ron tripped over a snowball, Fred and George got attacked by a rabid squirrel, Arthur found a tennis ball in the snow and found out what's inside of it. It wasn't very interesting, but Ginny hung on every word in rapture. This is what she needed. She needed to be home.

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

"What are we doing out here again, mum?" Fred asked, finally being able to speak complete sentences without stuttering.

"I think this is a bad idea..." Ron moaned as he rubbed his ears vigorously.

"Yeah, Fred just learned how to speak again and we're outside? In zero degree weather?" George added.

Molly rolled her eyes. She knew that telling the boys to put their coats back on and go outside was a bad idea, but it was the only thing she could think of that would cheer Ginny up without Ginny knowing she was trying to be cheered up. You see, Molly was supposed to be dumb; she was supposed to believe Ginny every time she said 'I'm fine.' So she played along, acted goofy and mom-like... but you could only see your daughter broken for so long. It's a maternal instinct to want to grab some tape and fix her.

"I think this is a bad idea..." Ron whined again.

"Shut up, Ron. You too, George. It's not zero degrees," Ginny snapped, liking the feeling of being outdoors.

George feigned hurt. "Well you came home in a nice mood. Are you this sweet to ferretboy, or were you just saving it for us?"

"George. Leave Ginny alone."

He opened his mouth in protest, but got glares from every direction (mum, Charlie, Fred...) and decided to keep his words to himself.

"I think this is a -"

Molly glared at Ron, and he stopped.

The troop followed Molly around to the back of the house, each step leaving large footprints in the snow. Finally Molly stopped, pointed at a small patch of ground by the back of the house, and smiled. The boys stood around it, not really understanding the meaning, but Ginny smiled and felt her heart leap.

The snow was melting. Where there was once frost and cold, a small flower had begun to sprout up. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she hoped Draco was melting. She hoped leaving made him realize what a bloody git he was... because the flowers were blooming.

"Well that was anticlimactic," Ron sighed as they walked back home.

Ginny felt like she could dance. "No it wasn't! Winter is ending, Ron! It's melting!"

Her brother stood there, clueless, as she did a cartwheel in the snow. Then she spun around about five times, fell down, and made a snow fairy. As she gained her balance again, she started running down the hill towards the house. Arthur was coming outside, and Ginny bumped into him screaming "WINTER IS ENDING!"

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

"I told you it was a bad idea!" Ron said with a small smile. What a surprise: Ginny was sick with a cold.

Ginny frowned. "Bloody snow. I can't wait 'til it's gone!"

"Don't get so excited, Ginny, we saw what happened last time..."

"Oh, shut up, Ron."

Molly bustled into the room with a bowl of extremely hot chicken soup. "Eat up, dear - and don't burn yourself!"

Ginny grinned, happy to be home and treated like a little girl. "Thanks, mum," she managed to get out before another coughing attack hit her.

"Toldddjjjaaaa..." Ron chirped as he ran out of the room, being chased by a shoe Molly charmed to smack Ron on the bum.

"Is he eighteen, or five?" Ginny asked between slurps.

Molly smiled. Her daughter was back. "When you're done with that, I think you should take a nap. If you need me in here, I'll come."

Ginny nodded. "Okay, mum." Molly began to leave the room, but Ginny called her. She turned around. "And mum? Thanks."

She grinned at her daughter and slowly closed the door behind her. Ginny put her bowl on the table beside her and snuggled into bed, closing her eyes and willing sleep to come.

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

Pop.

Even half-asleep, Ginny could tell the sound of someone apparating. And by the sound of it... they were right in her room.

"Ginny?"

Ginny's spine straightened. He is not in my room! I'm dreaming.

"You awake?"

No, I'm not awake, you bloody prick!

"I know you are. Come on. Wake up."

Ginny's eyes opened and she growled. "Get the hell out of here, Malfoy. Get out of my house." Draco's back was towards her, and at her words, he turned around. Ginny almost gasped at the way he looked -- his eyes were dark, sullen. His hair, no longer shining and silver, was like dust. For a split second, she felt sorry for him. But the moment was gone as fast as it had come. She wasn't ready to leave yet, to go to a place where it would be dark always. Her winter was just melting. If she went back home, winter would be

"Come back," he said. He sounded so defeated, so tired.

"I thought you were different. I thought you changed. I thought you had feelings for me!" Ginny yelled. "How stupid was I?"

"You weren't stupid. I was."

Ginny nodded, her mouth twisted into an un-delightful sneer. "You're right. You were. For thinking you could come in here and bring me home just like that." She snapped her fingers.

"I knew you wouldn't come back right away. I wanted to try."

"Then you were even stupider than I thought you were."

It was quiet, their eyes in a silent battle. Ginny's hazel eyes were filled with anger as she glared from his eyes to the door.

Draco shook his head. "I can't believe I came here for you. And for what? You won't even come back home."

"That's not home. THIS is home. That's just a place of residence."

Draco backed up a bit away from her bed. "You're so not worth it."

"You're right," Ginny said quietly. "But I'm sure Sera's worth it."

"You bloody idiot!" he yelled. "I wasn't with Sera! She came in my room! She did everything! You came in just when I was about to stop her!"

Ginny laughed coldly. "Isn't that convenient. You should probably get back, Mrs Porter's waiting for you."

"I bloody told her to leave me alone! I came here for you. NOT for bloody SERA! If I wanted Sera, don't you think I'd be out there getting her? Do you know how easy it would be?"

"Yes. I do know. I saw you 'getting her' yesterday."

Draco shook his head once more. "I'm done trying. Have a nice life. See you on your eighteenth birthday." With that, he apparated to his home - not Ginny's.

Ginny looked at her hands as she saw him disappear. She couldn't help feel a bit of sadness as she watched him go, but she kept it to herself. She wouldn't let him get to her.

Author's Note: Well... I don't really like this chapter, mainly because I'm sick and I've been sick as I was writing it. So I pretty much feel like shit. That's why poor Ginny is sick, too, haha. But you'll find out more about that later. Review please!

PS: I'm deciding on what stories to write once I'm done with this. If you don't mind, can you vote on which you'd rather read?

Title: Deals with the Devil

Idea: This time in battle, the trio won't have to fight Voldemort... they'll have to fight one of their own friends.

Or

Title: The Name of the Game

Idea: When Ron has yet another girlfriend, Harry informs Hermione that he's just doing it to make her jealous. So Hermione does the only thing she can do: plays his game.