A/N: Slightly whimsical - kind of how I wanted it? Green is also my favorite color :)

Prompt #44: 8/21/17

706 words, according to Google docs.

Green had always been Ginny's favorite color. Even before she met the Boy-Who-Lived, she was enthralled by the color so abundantly found in nature - she would spend every possible moment outside, breathing in the freshness of swaying trees and flowering blossoms. Her brothers had always teased her that green would clash horribly with her hair, but did she care? No, thank you very much. Green was beautiful enough for both of them.

When she did meet Harry Potter, she viewed his eyes as an indication that one day she would be Mrs. Potter, living in a house with a white picket fence and dozens of children running afoot. Why else would I be attracted to the color green? she asked herself, delighted with the beginnings of a childish crush. Green was the color she was thinking about as she wrote her first love poem, green was the color of Harry Potter's eyes, green, green, green. Green as a fresh pickled toad.

At her sorting, the Hat was dropped unceremoniously atop her head, but not before she'd taken in the Great Hall in all its splendor. She was stunned, taking in all four houses and their proudly flying banners. Gryffindor, she noticed, was a vibrant crimson - similar to her hair, she thought. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were blue and yellow respectively, but it was Slytherin that caught her young, relatively unbiased eye. Slytherin, with its dark greens and glimmering silvers and ominous serpent. Slytherin - the house which she would later learn turned out the most dark witches and wizards in the history of Hogwarts. But for now, she would sit and marvel at the color. It was, after all, her favorite.

As she grew older - realizing Harry Potter was not all that he seemed and that his green eyes, once so wonderful, had become clouded with fear and worry - her watchful eye turned to seek more interesting things. Her fascination with Slytherin had never really disappeared - she'd simply put it away for a later time. That time was now, she discovered, and pursued it with a quiet determination. She found herself staring at Draco Malfoy more and more often - thinking about green and blond hair and silver eyes and pale skin. They all complimented each other quite nicely, she thought, and though she had never really interacted with the Slytherin besides a few exchanged insults, she was intrigued nonetheless.

At the legendary Battle of Hogwarts, she was never one to back down from a fight. When her parents, insisting she stay in the Room of Requirement, had left, she followed stealthily. She'd seen one too many green flashes that night, dodging all that were sent her way, and thinking that maybe this particular shade of green wasn't pleasant at all. When Harry and Voldemort stood, wands locked, among the debris of the courtyard, Ginny couldn't help but notice the clashing of red and green, and how they met in the middle to create some indescribable color. And when red finally defeated green, she wondered if it meant anything at all.

The year after the war was anything but relaxing. Although Hogwarts had re-opened in the fall, there was still much work to be done - what with all the destruction and left-over dark magic in the air. A few of the older students who hadn't been able to finish their school work over the summer had come back to redo their seventh year - all the students had. The teaching staff that year had left much to be desired. Ginny, feeling somewhat betrayed by her favorite color, refused to look at anything resembling it - which was why she tried her hardest to ignore Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin green. After the war, the Malfoy family had tried to resume some semblance of a normal life, but society would not let them. Although the hero of the war had defended the family in court, many were still unhappy that they had escaped Azkaban, and were determined the make them pay.

So Ginny watched him, moving through the school year in an almost automated way, and seeing green wherever she went. And when she finally gathered up the nerve to confront him face-to-face, she discovered that he liked the color green, too.