Picking Flowers
| VIII | Surprise!
Ginny felt altogether quite miserable as Colin and Luna ushered her along between them. The swarm of Hogwarts students that had erupted from the castle were only just fanning out into the little town, making the walk a little less crowded, but Ginny had yet to muster the excitement her best friends expected from her. The heavily overcast sky did nothing to ease her mood. Yesterday's weather had been just swell, but now rain-perhaps even a storm-seemed inevitable. She surveyed the depressing, grey clouds distastefully.
All things considered, she really should have been more enthusiastic. Because ghosts typically could not leave the general area in which they had died, there was no chance Malfoy could show up to ruin her day. This was a much needed break from him-a chance for her to forget about the ghost that haunted only her and live like a normal teenaged witch again. And she was out with two of her most favorite people in the world! She really had nothing to complain about. Colin walked proudly beside her, a perpetual grin on his face as he tugged her along, and Luna sashayed along on her other side, a pale, heavily ringed hand wrapped around her arm.
But Ginny thought of Malfoy. She wondered what he was doing, whether he was lonely in the empty castle reading yet another book pulled at random from a library shelf.
Colin and Luna stopped abruptly, tugging Ginny to a rest between them. They were on the side of the cobblestoned street, just outside Honeydukes. Through the store display window, Ginny could already see the small sweets shop packed with students, pushing and tugging at each other in order to nab their favorite chocolates in time. The sight made her smile slightly in longing, but the smile was quickly wiped off her face when both of her best friends rounded on her, their faces stern and patronizing.
Colin reached forward and pinched her cheek. She slapped his hand away in outrage.
"Good!" he said. Luna nodded as if the purpose of the whole exchange had been clear to her from the beginning.
Ginny made a face. "Is this the surprise you all promised me?" she grumbled, rubbing her cheek to emphasize her point.
"Of course not, dear," Luna answered, "The surprise we promised you...well, he's standing right behind you."
Ginny's eyes widened. She suppressed the desire to spin on her heel and investigate. "Bollocks," she said, "You're both having me on. I refuse to look." Their surprise was a person?
Colin was grinning. "You'll like it Ginny," he winked, "You've liked him since last year." Ginny's mind scrambled. Who on earth was Colin referring to? She wondered if the immense confusion she felt could be seen on her face.
"I'm getting impatient," a distinctly male voice said. Ginny recognized it immediately.
"Dean!" she exclaimed, spinning on her heel to face the boy. He had one brown hand in his short, black hair, rubbing his head with something of a self-conscious smile on his face.
"Surprise," he said, his voice clearly displaying his uncertainty, "Not what you were expecting, hm?"
"No. I mean yes. I mean..." She rounded on her two friends. Luna wore a dreamy, self-satisfied smile, and Colin looked unbelievably smug. "I don't get it?"
Colin shot her a look. "A date, Ginny! Your surprise is a date with Dean!" He sighed, as though lamenting her density, and took a step back. "Luna and I will leave you two alone, since we obviously have better places to be." He directed his next statement to Dean. "She's out of it today, my friend, but bear with it. It was the best we could do." He snaked an arm around Luna and quickly began to guide her away. Ginny felt utterly dumbstruck.
"Thanks!" Dean called after them, and Colin lifted a hand in acknowledgment before he and Luna disappeared around the block. Dean turned to her now, his brown eyes smiling and a light pinkness on his tanned cheeks. "You don't mind this, right Ginny? I...really wanted to ask you out, but I couldn't figure out how or when or..."
Ginny couldn't quite put a finger on what she was feeling. There was relief, because it was Dean and she had liked him for a while last year. And of course there was the residual confusion from that entire exchange. But there was also disappointment. Had she been expecting something else? Someone else? It took her another moment to realize that Dean was watching her with a worried expression, waiting for her to say something.
"Sorry! I mean, not sorry like that, because I'm happy it's you, but sorry as in..." Ginny shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. She was not some awkward twelve year old girl! This was Dean Thomas, and she spoke to him regularly at meals and in the Common Room. Surely she could get through one date without sounding like a wreck, no matter how muddled her thoughts were.
Dean flashed her a winning smile. "You are out of it today, aren't you?" He chuckled a bit. "That's okay, I've had worse receptions." Ginny both blushed and laughed. "You're happy it's me, though?" He chuckled again, "Now that makes me happy."
Ginny smiled. It had been a long time since she'd had a proper, one on one conversation with Dean and she had forgotten what a charmer he could be. It was remarkably refreshing. He grabbed her hand. "Since we're here," he said, leading her along, "We may as well run into Honeydukes. I know I, for one, need to restock my chocolate cupboard."
Ginny and Dean inevitably ended up at the Three Broomsticks for lunch. They had wandered much of Hogsmeade until the rain had started, and then had sprinted to the student-friendly pub under cover of Umbrella Charms. Still, by the time they arrived, there was already a line up for seats, and so they stood in the warm, dimly lit foyer chatting about this year's Gryffindor Quidditch Team. While Dean was not on the team himself, he was an avid fan and regularly attended practice games just for the fun of watching a match.
"We haven't had any practices scheduled for the past two weeks or so," Ginny mentioned, and Dean nodded.
"It's because of the Malfoy incident," he said, lowering his voice, "None of the Quidditch teams have had practice on the field. Out of respect, I'm guessing." Ginny felt her heart sink immediately after hearing Malfoy's name. She nodded, not sure how to reply. She had managed to place Malfoy at the back of her mind for most of her time with Dean, but being reminded of his dire circumstances had him at the forefront of her thoughts once again.
Dean bent toward her. "Speaking of Slytherins..." he continued, his voice even lower than before, "Did you happen to piss any of them off in a royal way? Blaise Zabini is staring at you like he wants to put an end to you with his eyes alone."
Ginny spun, following Dean's eyes with her own. Sure enough, there was Blaise Zabini, seated comfortably at a table with Pansy Parkinson and a group of other seventh year Slytherins, staring unabashedly at her. His gaze did not even falter when her eyes met his-instead, his eyes seemed to narrow even further. He was the picture of fury; brows furrowed and lips tight. Ginny looked away quickly.
There was no doubt in her mind what that was about, but there was no way she could tell Dean such a thing. She felt a flare of anger, but also of apprehension; she had done nothing to secure the wrath of Zabini. What exactly had Malfoy written in that letter?
"He looks pretty scary," Dean added, shifting in such a way that he shielded Ginny from the other boy's angry eyes. "I hope we don't have to sit anywhere near them."
Luck was not on their side. The first table that cleared was one almost directly in Zabini's line of sight. Dean quietly insisted upon sitting in front of Ginny, for which she was silently grateful. With his wide-shouldered form blocking her sight, it was easy to fall into the cheery atmosphere of the pub. There was a meandering folk tune playing just below the cacophony of voices, and the frequent eruptions of laughter and heated, but friendly, outbursts of conversation soon lulled Ginny into a cheerful mood.
One round of butterbeer in, both she and Dean had decided what they wanted to eat. Ginny was quickly discovering that he was comfortable to be around, to the point where they could lose track of time idly discussing menus.
"I'll have the fish and chips," she decided, watching as the pretty waitress jotted down her order. The girl turned her heavily lashed eyes to Dean, and Ginny could see her appraising him.
"The burger for me, and another round of butterbeer," he said, giving her a small, polite smile. The waitress batted her eyes at him, flashing a flirtatious smirk before flouncing off to the bar, where Rosmerta waited to take orders.
Ginny glanced at Dean, wondering if he had noticed the waitress's advances. He was quite handsome, Ginny found herself thinking for the first time that day. He had an attractive, full mouth and there was something about his dark eyes that made witches act like that waitress just had. Ginny flushed slightly, reminded of all of the reasons she had had a crush on him last year.
"You know, Seamus was telling me about this place that just opened a few months ago," Dean started, "Apparently, they have the most delicious pumpkin cookies. Maybe we could head over there after lunch for some dessert?"
"I haven't had a good pumpkin cookie in forever," she said, grinning, "I'd love-" She cut off as she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Without even thinking about it, she turned her head to see who it could be. The most likely candidate was an infuriated Ronald Weasley, whom she would of course make short work of. Really, at her age, Ron had no business meddling in who she went out with. But her eyes met a Hogwarts uniform. That was weird. Who would come to Hogsmeade in their school uniform? Surely not Ron. She craned her neck to get a view of the person's face.
Undone Slytherin robes and a loose silver and green tie. Ginny flew up, toppling her chair straight back onto Malfoy, who caught it instinctively. A moment passed where she just stood, her back to him and her eyes closed. She felt like she might faint.
"Ginny, are you alright?" Dean questioned, standing as well. The people seated closeby quieted and began to stare. "The chair," someone whispered. Ginny heard it clatter to the floor at last, much too late for something not to be amiss.
"Weasley," Malfoy hissed from behind her, "say something already!"
That wasn't Malfoy's voice she had just heard. There was no way he could be here, right? He shouldn't have been able to leave the castle. She was going insane. She was stark raving mad already.
Dean's concerned hand on her shoulder brought back some of her composure. "Ginny?" he questioned again, his voice alarmed.
She blinked. "I'm sorry," she said hurriedly, "So sorry. Need to go to the loo." She stepped over the fallen chair, not even bothering to right it in her hurry to escape the situation. Nodding off the worried questions of several people, she all but ran to the bathroom, slamming the door securely behind her and placing her back against it for good measure. She shut her eyes, trying to put a handle around her racing thoughts. Malfoy was not here. Everything she knew about ghosts said he couldn't be, which meant that he was definitely in the castle right now.
Someone pinched her arm and she yelped, her other hand flying to the abused skin even as she refused to open her eyes.
"You know I'm here. You should be used to me by now." His voice sounded real and close.
Used to him! This was not a matter of whether she was used to him or not! This was a matter of him being somewhere he shouldn't be, of him ruining a day that had been perfectly fine without him!
"I've lost my mind, haven't I?" she questioned, surprised her voice wasn't shaking, "I've finally gone over the edge."
"You're exaggerating this whole situation," he said evenly. She heard him take a step closer to her, and she pressed herself farther onto the bathroom door. "Just open your eyes and calm down. I need you to do something for me."
"You shouldn't even be here right now. You can't leave the place where you died. There's no way you're here."
"I thought you would have figured it out by now, Weasley. Not so bright, are you?"
"Figured what out?" she exclaimed, suddenly angry. She opened her eyes, and there he was; uncomfortably close to her, so that she had to look up in order to see his face clearly. He filled her line of vision; the broad shoulders blocking her from seeing anything else. Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy. That was all she could see, all she could think about-and he had the nerve to call her 'not so bright?' She placed her hands on his chest, curling her fingers in the fabric of his robes, hating how warm he was-and shoved him away from her, right back onto the sink.
It was quiet for a moment. The anger of a moment ago was gone, but now the air felt thick between them. Ginny, plastered against the door and Malfoy across from her, braced against the sink where she had pushed him. It took her a moment to realize that she could only see her own reflection in the mirror behind him, and the realization caused guilt to wash over her.
He took a deep breath. He was watching her with dark eyes, his blonde hair fallen haphazardly onto his forehead from her earlier violence. He looked tired. "I can go wherever you are, Weasley," he said finally, "Didn't you wonder why I needed you to go onto the pitch with me, even though that was where I'd died?"
Ginny felt like sliding to the floor and curling up into a ball, both from the utter ridiculousness of his statement and the unexplainable regret she felt for being cold to him. Instead, she just stood, staring at him, feeling so many things at once that she wasn't sure what to say or where to begin. She had thought that this would be a break from him. Even though her thoughts had wandered to him more than once throughout the day, not seeing him had been doing wonders for her. She'd even been enjoying her date with Dean, however much her feelings for him had faded since last year. All of this was almost too much for her.
But Malfoy was dead. Ginny caught another glimpse of herself in the mirror behind him. Her eyes were wide and her face was pale-but she was alive. She had to go back out there and apologize to Dean and continue on with her day, no matter who was haunting her and how sad it made her feel to know it.
"Look Malfoy," she began, her voice steady, "Let's talk about this later. I'm in the middle of something right now." She turned around to open the door, but suddenly his arm was there beside her head, pushing it closed.
"Your little date with Thomas?" he sneered, and she was surprised at the sudden anger she heard in his voice.
"Yes," she didn't turn to face him, "You said it yourself: I have friends to go hang out with, and he's one of them." His hand slid off the door as though he had lost his strength, giving her a clear invitation to leave. Despite herself, Ginny turned around to face him, and he stepped back. For some reason she was reminded of yesterday morning in the Great Hall; his face showed no expression, but there was something about his posture..."I'm alive," she said, as though that explained everything, as though that was her excuse for saying something so cruel. Her hand twitched, and for some reason she reached for him-but he stepped back again.
"Don't touch me," his voice sounded venomous, and his eyes flashed dangerously.
Her hand returned, limp, to her side. Her chest ached. She turned around and left without looking back.
Author's Note: So it's been a long time since I updated. My excuse is that first year university is hard. I still have a lot of notes for this story, and I fully intend to complete it-just slowly, on my own time. Poor Draco, though. Ginny was way too mean in this chapter, even if she felt bad about it afterward! Review and tell me what you think!