Tearcatcher

By: Yukura

Disclaimer: Hey, guess what. I don't own any of the things you recognize. Yes, I know, it's so not fair. I'd be keeping Neville and Blaise, otherwise.

A/N: Wow...I can't believe I just wrote this. It's something with Blaise Zabini and it's actually not AU. It's a bit odd that the only think I got out of the 6th book was that Draco thought Blaise thought Ginny was pretty...anyways, enjoy my little story, even if it is sort of horrible. And please review!

Ginny didn't think she liked being back at Hogwarts, really. She wanted to be with Ron, Harry, and Hermione. She wanted to fight the Death Eaters. Even if she couldn't do that, she wanted to be home with her family. But no, mum had insisted that Ginny at least finish her 6th year. So, there she was, sitting alone on the Hogwarts express. Ginny hadn't really seen anybody she knew. Chances were that the only ones left at school were Slytherins. It was actually kind of surprising McGonagall decided to keep Hogwarts opened.

Ginny started reading a muggle book and hoped at least somebody she liked showed up. It was about half and hour later when she heard a guy's voice say, "Hey, Ginny!" She looked. It was Neville Longbottom. Now, that was surprising!

"Neville! You're still going to go to Hogwarts? I was certain your grandmother would be too afraid to let you do that!" she exclaimed.

He grinned and said, "Well, I told her either she let me go to Hogwarts or I'd join the Order."

She grinned back. "Neville! You are behaving like a slimy Slytherin, and we can't have that!" she giggled.

Neville made a face.

"Seen anybody good still at school?" Ginny asked.

"Luna's here, and so is Dean. I may have seen Hannah Abbot, but I'm not sure. There's hardly any people in my year. There's so many Slytherins still here, though," he said.

Ginny nodded and said, "Well, duh! They don't have anything to be afraid of. They're all Death Eaters in training!"

Neville nodded. They spent the rest of the trip playing exploding snap and talking about some of Fred and George's new prank items.

The sorting was incredinly short, with only 12 students having shown up. 5 of them were Slytherins, 2 were in Hufflepuff, 2 were in Ravenclaw, and 3 were in Gryffindor. It was really strange, she thought. A year were only 2 new students got in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. She decided that, even more than she had thought, she really hated war.

Ginny wasn't looking forward to the school year.

Ginny knew she shouldn't be crying over it. It wasn't like they were dead. They had just disappered. But it was a war, she knew she had the right to assume the worst. Of course, she knew she shouldn't be sobbing in the owlery. Anybody could walk in and see her, and anybody usually meant a Slytherin. She knew they would mock her. She knew she should get up and leave. She was too upset.

Surely enough, the door opened. She looked up, and through her tears she saw the Slytherin robes and the dark, handsome features of Blaise Zabini. She tried not to cry, she didn't need Zabini to see her sobbing. She has the spunky, carefree Ginny Weasley and she knew that she shouldn't cry.

Ginny was waiting for Zabini to make some horrible remark. It never came. Instead, he sat down right next to her. "You know, Weasley, if you're going to cry your eyes out, you should probably go some place else. Some Slytherin might come along and see you," he said, his tone kind. In fact, it was almost a little soothling. She realized that the Slytherin was trying to cheer her up. The thought was nice, but she needed to cry a little more. She couldn't help herself, though, and was soon sobbing into his chest. Surprisingly, he didn't push her away. He just held her and let her cry.

Eventually, she was able to stop. "I'm s-sorry, I..." she started to say.

"Shush, Strawberry. It's fine. Are you feeling alright now?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think."

He gave her a slight smile and said, "Good. Now, I don't mean to be rude, and if you don't want to tell me, I'm okay with that, but what happened?"

She sniffled but answered, "My brothers Fred and George've gone missing. I bet they're dead."

He said, "But you don't know that. Your brothers are smart, and sneaky. Not even Voldemort could kill them; they are far more Slytherin than him."

Ginny looked up at him, knowing he was trying to comfort her and not really minding, "Really?"

He smiled. "Of course, Strawberry."

She make a face and he grinned.

Then Ginny stood up. "I'm going to go write to my mum. Thank you."

He just nodded. "Try not to worry too much about your brothers. You're a lot prettier when you are smiling."

Ginny had started to get a crush on Blaise at that point. She knew it was stupid, and it was. Blaise only acted that nice because they were alone and she was upset, and Ginny knew that. Blaise acted like a right old asshole all the rest of the time. But, occasionally, when it was just them walking in the hallway, he'd give her a small smile or greeting, or a compliment.

"Hey Strawberry, you look nice today."

"Wow, Strawberry, have you been sneaking away to beauty school? You're looking better and better every day!"

"I heard about how good you did today in Charms, Strawberry. I suppose it only makes sense, you are quite incredible."

Ginny hated how Blaise would act so mean and then so nice, but she practically lived on his compliments. Fred and George still hadn't been found, dead or alive. She'd probably go insane if it wasn't for Blaise's occasional little kindness. It was a little sad, really, that she had come down to that.

Ginny was always afraid when reading the mail anymore. She was always afraid that she would find out something bad had happened to somebody she loved. And, sure enough, one day she got a letter from her mum that said:

Ginny,

Ron has been killed by Death Eaters.

Saturday you'll come home for the funeral. You'll be staying home, too.

Love,

Mum

At first, Ginny couldn't cry. She wouldn't believe it. It couldn't be true. Not Ron! And, Fred and George, they were still missing!

Ginny felt her eyes water, though, and soon she was sobbing. She didn't know what to do. She knew that Neville and Luna were right down the common room as the two were now dating. She knew they'd comfort her, but she knew she wanted Blaise. But...she couldn't go running through the hallways crying looking for some stupid Slytherin.

And yet, she didn't think there was anything else she wanted to do.

It was Wednesday, and she would be gone Saturday anyway. What did it matter if she made a big idiot of herself? Her brother had died!

She went down the stairs and out the common room, holding back tears so that nobody would see. She knew they wouldn't let her go if they knew. She couldn't let them know because she needed Blaise to hold her and let her cry like he had before.

She knew where he would be. She always found him in the library. So there she went.

She walked in, and sure enough, he was sitting at his table by the door. She looked at him, and the tears started spilling out again. He noticed right away and got up. "Strawberry, why don't we go outside, it's a pretty nice day."

Ginny followed him, the tears slowly dripping out. She knew she could cry soon.

And once they were outside Blaise sat down and Ginny sat down too. Soon, it was just like before. Except this time Ron was dead and she knew it. There was no way to stop feeling upset. She would never see her brother again. She thought about how Ron had been an annoying prick at sometimes but how he was still a great brother. It was so horrible.

She knew Blaise would want to know what happened so she gave him to note. Once he finished reading it he held her closer. He never said a word the whole time.

She knew it was nearly an hour until she stopped crying. "T-thank you so much, Blaise."

He nodded. "I know you aren't okay, but are you better?"

She nodded and said, "I-I'm kind of thirsty. Can we go to the kitchens?"

"Of course."

He helped her up and held her hand as they walked to the kitchens. She tickled the pear, thinking off how the twins had told her about it. She wanted to cry but she didn't have any tears left. She asked the house elves for some tea and sat down on Blaise's lap. She didn't care what he thought, but he didn't seem to mind anyway.

"So, you're leaving Saturday, then?" he questioned.

She nodded.

"That's too bad, Strawberry. I think I'll probably miss you," Blaise said, smiling.

She looked up at him, surprised. "Really? Will you really miss me Blaise?"

He nodded. "Strawberry, I'm sorry I've been so mean to you at times, but I do have to keep up my reputation. If I was to be nice to you, a Weasley Gryffindor, then everybody would think I was against Voldemort, and since I'm a Slytherin, that just wouldn't do."

"Are you a Death Eater...or are you ever going to be?" she asked, unable to control herself.

He looked her in eyes and said, "No, Strawberry. I don't really think muggleborns are any worse than purebloods and I definitley don't care enough about it to kill anybody."

Ginny smiled. "I'm going to miss you too, Blaise."

He smiled and said, "Good. You'd better miss me."

She stuck her tongue out. With Blaise, it was easier to keep Ron's death out of her mind. She was still upset, certainly, but...Ron wouldn't want her to be upset. Or at least, Ginny knew if she ever died, she'd want everybody to not cry over her. She'd want them to get over it quickly. She knew that she still loved Ron and she'd always miss him, but it didn't really make sense to stay upset. Ginny was starting to figure she should've bene a Hufflepuff, though.

"I really like you Strawberry. Like...I want to snog you senseless like you. Maybe...after the war, when Potter wins, we could, you know..."

"Go on a date?" she asked, giggling.

"Yeah, something like that."

Ginny leaned up and kissed him. She knew, it wasn't a good kiss on her part. But Blaise returned the kiss with such passion that is kind of surprised her. She knew he wanted to snog her senseless and she knew he wouldn't because she was still upset. Still, when he broke the kiss he started kissing all around her neck and her cheek. Then he whispered in her ear, "I'll take that as a yes." His hot breath tickled her ear.

She snuggled up against him. "I wouldn't have figured the great Blaise Zabini would ever like a little Weasley like me."

"You're quite adorable, though. And smart. You can't quite blame me, Strawberry," was Blaise's reponse.

She giggled. "Will you write to me sometimes?"

"Sure, Strawberry. You look tired, love, you should get some sleep. You ought to go to your dorms."

"Nah, I think right here is good enough," she said, and soon enough she was asleep in Blaise's arms.

It was Saturday, and Ginny felt a little guiltly. She knew that her family would all be in tears, and she knew she wouldn't. She had cried on Wednesday and on Thursday and a little on Friday but then she didn't feel like crying anymore. Instead, she got out a photo album and thought about how much fun Ron had been. She talked to Neville and they shared all the stupid and great things Ron had done. Ginny was done mourning. She was sad, certainly. But crying wouldn't bring Ron back and she'd rather just remember him. Sure, he'd never be there to yell at Blaise for liking her and she'd never get to see Ron and Hermione married like she'd always figured she would, but she wasn't going to think that way.

And she did have Blaise now. She was surprised, actually, how sweet Blaise really was. Yes, he was a Slytherin, and he was sneaky and a bit mean like a Slytherin, but he did like her and they had a lot in common. She had spent spent some time with him on Thursday and Friday. Ginny was glad that she'd be able to write him letters.

It was weird that as rare as Slytherin/Gryffindor romances were that one would come up in the middle of a horrible war. But, Ginny figured, the truth that they could die at anytime was brought out during wars and that's what made people realize it was stupid to hide feelings.

Ginny made sure she had everything and went up the the fireplace. The floo network at Hogwarts had been blocked off because of the war but they were opening it up for a minute so Ginny could go home. She'd already said bye to Blaise.

Ginny threw in the powder and stepped in. Soon, she was home. Her mum grabbed her into a huge hug. "Oh, Ginny! I love you so much!" her mum exclaimed.

Ginny hugged her back just as much. "I love you too mum!"

Everybody was sad, but they were Weasleys, and they were like Ginny. They had cried all they felt they should and really could and now they were telling a lot of stories. Hermione and Harry had shown up of course, along with Remus, Tonks, and quite a bit of the Order. Percy came too. Ginny was really glad that he could at least show up for his brother's funeral.

Fred and George showed up too. Apperently, they had been on a top-secret mission but they weren't going to miss Ron's funeral for the world. Ginny was glad she hadn't lost them.

About a week later, a dark brown owl dropped off a little letter for Ginny.

Strawberry,

How are you and your family doing? I miss you already, but at least I can still compliment you. I'm not actually sure how you look at the moment, but you are Ginny Weasley so I'm assuming you are looking quite lovely.

I think you ought to write Longbottom and Lovegood a letter, they look like they miss you already too. Can't blame them, seeing as you are absolutley wonderful.

Tell Potter, if you see him, to hurry up and destory Voldemort. I don't think I'm patient enough, Strawberry.

W.B.S. (write back soon),

Your Tearcatcher

A/N: Please review! I'd really like to know what you all think and any tips would be so nice!