"So, where do we begin?" Blaise asked laconically.
"At the beginning of course," came the answer from Gin.
"Right, so...the Quidditch pitch?" he laughed.
She rolled her eyes. "Where else? It shouldn't be that difficult, though, so why don't you two start on the entrance and I'll take the pitch. I'll talk to the centaurs when I'm finished and then join you inside. How does that sound?"
He shrugged and looked over at Luna who was studying her eggs rather intently, "Works for us." Luna looked up for a second and smiled.
The Quidditch pitch took a little more time than she had anticipated, but it really wasn't that difficult. The stands she had already repaired needed to be redone because they were being held up mostly by magic and she wanted them to be able to stand on their own. That involved conjuring quite a few segments of board. Unlike the front doors, the needed support beams were small enough for one person to conjure alone.
Once she had the stands up, she made her way out onto the field to address the problem of the goal posts. Three of them had fallen down and all of them were the worse for the weather. Finally satisfied with her work, she took a seat and surveyed the finished project.
While she was contemplating whether or not to go ahead and cut the grass, Draco walked up. "Should have known you would start here," he said by way of announcing himself.
"You would have done the same," she answered.
"Probably," he took a seat next to her. "Here," he handed her a tattered notebook with loose pages sticking out. "It might help. I've come up here periodically to study the spells. You know how much I enjoy archaic magic. Anyway, I haven't really completed anything, but those notes should be a good starting place for a few things, like the moving stairs. They stopped a few years ago, but I had a chance to study them as they slowed down." He didn't look at her while he spoke.
She took the book gently. "Thank you," was all she could say, and before she could recover he had stood to leave.
"Just be careful in there," he said as he walked away.
She watched him disappear. He really hadn't changed that much at all. He was still closed off to everyone, even her. Trying not to wonder just how much his last statement had meant, she heaved a sigh and made her way to the forbidden forest.
She was still a hundred yards out when Firenze appeared. When they met, he greet her with a solemn bow.
"It is a great pleasure to see you again," he said, "I never got to thank you."
"Yeah, well," she shrugged, "it was mostly Dray who convinced them to allow your return." She never was very good with recognition. He was referring to a few well placed words just before the final battle that had resulted not only in the centaurs rescinding Firenze's exile, but also joining in the fight. "Anyway," she quickly changed the topic, "we were wondering if you would know where Hagrid is and whether or not you believe he would return to his old position if asked."
Firenze smiled. "So you do intend to reopen," he observed. "Hagrid loved this place and left with a broken heart at its closing. I am certain he would return and joyously. The inhabitants of the forest will be glad for his return and will gladly contact him if the position is certain."
"This school will reopen," she answered firmly, "and we will be as glad as you for his return." Both had carefully avoiding making any statement that sounded as though he was doing her a favour by relaying a message or that she was doing him a favour by allowing him to.
On her way back toward the castle, she took a detour by Hagrid's old hut. With a distant smile on her face, she set about restoring it. It wasn't that difficult, seeing as it was small, but it also appeared that it had seen sporadic care over the years. Perhaps the centaurs were more fond of Hagrid than they liked to admit.
Picking up Draco's book, Gin made her way around to the main entrance. Blaise and Luna had made quite a bit of progress. All of the debris was cleared out and they were working on closing any gaps or correcting any cracks in the walls and ceiling.
"It looks good," she said with genuine admiration. Luna beamed over at her before returning to her work.
"Thanks," Blaise smiled.
"The centaurs are going to contact Hagrid for us, so we don't have to worry about that." She opened a door to the side of the hall.
"That's great," Blaise came over to where she was. Looking at the book in her hand, he commented, "I see Draco stopped by."
Ignoring his comment, she continued her inspection of the small room. "We should clean this one out and set up and office of sorts."
Sighing and leaning up against the wall, he crossed his arms. "Gin, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'll be working in here, unless you guys are ready for a lunch break." It was getting past that time.
"Gin..." he tried again.
"Don't make me relive right now, Blaise," her voice held a warning a note.
"Fine, would you like to schedule a time? We can pencil it in," his tone was a bit sarcastic but he was worried about her and didn't like the way she was keeping him out. "I had forgotten how much the two of you are alike." He was comparing her to Draco who never let anyone see his emotions.
She turned on him with flashing eyes. "You want to schedule a time? Great, how about the Tuesday after never?" She was all but yelling. "I left seventeen years ago because I didn't have anywhere to stay. No one wanted me here, no one had room for me. Now I'm back and the parts of my life that caused both the most pain and the most joy are once again staring me in the face. I came back to find that nothing has changed, nothing has worked itself out. I still can't see my family because the old 'request' still stands. I still can't talk to Dray because he keeps himself so damn far away."
She was just standing there, staring at him, as she spoke and it was a bit unnerving, even for him. "I thought that time healed all wounds, but I was a romantic fool. In seventeen years I have not gone without invitations from interested men, and I accepted quite a few, always hoping I'd be able to forget. Every time I would end the evening with an apology because once again I found my heart undeniably in the possession of one who doesn't want it."
Blaise swallowed hard. He knew her statement was untrue, and he knew she knew it as well. Draco did want her, and that was the problem.
She continued. "You judge me for being closed off and condemn me for being cold, but tell me Blaise, how the bloody hell else am I supposed to survive? You want to know how seeing him again makes me feel? Ask, Blaise, ask me again. I've told you why I can't, and if you think it isn't rational enough, please, ask again and I'll see if I can't answer."
He ran a hand through his hair. "No, Gin, you've answered the question, a question I should have known better than to ask. I'm sorry. You are not the same. Your behaviour is, but your motivations are not and I have grown too used to his ways and see them only in that light. I am sorry."
She sat down on a pile of rocks. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry I went off on you; I just...nothing has changed."
A great many things had changed, but too many of the important things had not.