 |
|
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Finding Each Other Dawn was blocking all attempts Draco made to talk to her mentally so he was forced to yell out loud as he chased her down the corridors. “Would you let me explain!” She just ignored him as she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower. She was crying so hard she could barely see. “Dawn! Wait!” He was having a hard time catching up to her. He was thankful for his long legs. He finally caught up to her. The blond grabbed her arm and spun her around. He felt horrible at being the cause of her pain and tears. “What?” She cried. “Please let me explain!” “What? That you’re really sorry and that I’m a great girl but Pansy is better? Spare me, I’ve heard that excuse before.” She turned to leave, but he stopped her. “No! It’s not like that....” “Then it’s what? You only pretended to like me so you could spy on Harry for Voldemort? Maybe Harry and Ron were right. You can’t be trusted.” “That’s not it.” Dawn continued as though she didn’t hear him. “Maybe you’re not the wizard of the prophecy. Must have been my foolish hoping.” Draco involuntarily flinched as the words cut through him. “Would you stop and listen to me?” “No!” A green fire erupted around her and she held a hand up saying, “Súrë.” A gust of wind came from behind Dawn and knocked Draco off his feet. He flew through the air until he hit a wall. She turned and ran down the hallway. Ginny had just caught up to them when Draco slid to the floor. She rushed up to the blond to make sure he wasn’t hurt. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine, Weasley. I don’t need your help,” he said harshly, shoving her hand away. She stood quickly and said sharply, “Are we back to that again? Malfoy.” “And why would you care?” “Because you have my best friend’s heart and you just trampled all over it,” she answered hotly. She had a feeling that what happened wasn’t his fault, but she needed to shock him out of his Malfoy defense. At Ginny’s outburst, Draco’s heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. He buried his face into his hands. “I think I lost her,” he said faintly. The redhead crouched down next to him. “What happened?” “Pansy and I were arguing. She wanted me to shape up and take the death mark during Christmas break. Then the next thing I knew she was kissing me. And you saw the rest,” he said morosely. “I didn’t think you’d cheat on her. You’ve changed so much over the past couple of months.” Draco looked up pleadingly at the redhead. “I can’t loose her Ginny. I can’t. She’s all I’ve got.” “Let me talk to her. I saw you and Pansy arguing before it happened. She’s probably just in shock, and it doesn’t help that her last boyfriend cheated on her.” Draco’s eyes widened in horror. “Merlin! No wonder she wouldn’t talk to me.” “Let me calm her down and talk some sense into her. I’ll let you know when you can talk to her.” The blond just mutely nodded and watched her walk down the hall in the direction that Dawn had gone. Ginny knocked on Dawn’s door and waited for an answer. When none came she pressed her ear against the door and could hear sobbing. She knocked again and then tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Dawn. It’s Ginny. Open the door.” All she got was silence. “Dawn, I know you’re in there open up.” “Go away.” “No, we need to talk.” “There’s nothing to say. Draco is a prick. End of story.” “You need to...” “No! Just leave me alone!” Then the door vibrated as something large and heavy was slammed into it. Ginny sighed and decided to try again later. Dawn was obviously in no mood to talk. ********** Later that night, Ginny got ready to meet Harry in the common room for their date. She had tried talking to Dawn again, but all she received was stony silence. So she was left to prepare for her date all by herself. She chose a soft royal blue sweater that made her red hair glow. Her black skirt hit just above the knee and showed off the curve of her hips. She pulled her hair back into a loose twist and left tendrils to frame her face. And by now, she was a pro at putting on makeup. She put on enough to enhance her eyes and a shimmery gloss on her lips. As she came down the stairs, she saw that Harry was nervously waiting. She couldn’t stop the soft smile that appeared on her lips when he turned around and saw her. The redhead didn’t think that someone’s mouth could open so far. “Wow. I mean you look...Wow.” “Thank you, Harry,” she said with a light laugh. “Well, um...” He hesitated before offering her his arm. She took it with a smile. They took their time getting to the Observatory Tower. The two talked easily over the events of the school year. The closer they got, the more nervous Ginny got. She kept thinking that something would go wrong any second. After putting their cloaks on, they stepped out onto the top of the tower. Ginny sucked in a breath at the beautiful landscape before her. She could see the lights of Hogsmeade across the lake and the sky was so clear that it was full of stars twinkling down at them. “This is amazing,” she said breathlessly. “Not as amazing as you,” Harry said softly from behind her. She ducked her head to hide her blush, “You don’t mean that.” “Yes, I do Ginny.” He took her hand and led her over to a couple of chairs. “There’s something I want to explain to you.” “What?” Harry took a moment to take a deep breath and try to calm his shaky nerves. “I’ll admit that when the school year started I had a huge crush on Dawn. We had gotten close over the summer and we seemed to connect on levels that I had never connected on with anyone else. “She knew what is was like to liked and wanted for what you were, not who you are. Someone had hunted her for evil purposes, just like me.” Ginny nodded her head in understanding. She could see how those experiences could bring two people together. “Then you showed up and my heart and stomach kept doing these weird flip-flopping things and I couldn’t understand it. I was too wrapped up in my feelings for Dawn. It wasn’t until Halloween that my brain started to get an inkling of an idea.” “What idea?” “I was angry that Dawn had decided to go with Malfoy. Then I got even madder when I saw you enter with them. I was furious that he was dancing with you, talking with you, and making you laugh. I kept thinking that it should have been me.” “Why didn’t you do anything?” “Because my brain kept saying that you were Ron’s little sister and that he’d kill me if he ever found out.” “And now?” “I don’t care what he thinks or do. I like you Ginny. A lot.” He reached out and took her hands into his own. Looking into her eyes he said, “If you want me, that is.” Ginny had the sudden urge to pinch herself to check and see if she was dreaming. Harry finally wanted to be her boyfriend. But a small concern still clouded her heart. “How do I know that you only want me cause you can’t have Dawn?” She asked fearfully, dropping her gaze to their entwined hands. “Look at me Ginny,” he waited until she brought her tearful eyes up to meet his. “You’re the one who calms me with just a touch of your hand. My heart flutters every time I see you. You make me feel like I’m the man everyone expects me to be. Dawn doesn’t do any of these things to me. Only you.” Astonished brown eyes stared into sincere and hoping green ones. She had no idea she had that kind of effect on him. Dawn and Draco had tried to tell her, but she hadn’t believed them until she had heard the actual words from the object of her affections. “Ginny, please say something,” Harry said with a tremor. He was scared that he had taken too long to figure things out and she no longer wanted him. “Yes, Harry,” she said with a smile. He decided to finish what he had started the night before and leaned in to press his lips lightly to hers. She responded by opening her mouth, touching her tongue to his lips. Harry immediately responded, deepening the kiss. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. When they finally broke apart, Harry shifted so the two could cuddle while still looking out over the castle grounds. She felt so good and right in his arms, Harry wondered why it had taken him so long to figure it out. “Ron is probably still going to kill you,” Ginny said lightly after a moment. “I know,” Harry said with a sigh. “Do we really have to tell him?” Ginny just laughed and kissed him again. *********** The next morning, Ginny marched herself right up to Dawn’s door. Without knocking, she pulled out her wand and said, “Alohomora.” She then entered the unlocked door. She found Dawn curled up on her bed, absently petting Latyar. The redhead couldn’t help but gasp at her friend’s disorderly appearance. Dawn had obviously slept in her wrinkled clothes and her hair was a tangled mess. “Dawn,” she said softly. “How could he do this to me?” Dawn asked Latyar sadly. She hadn’t acknowledged Ginny’s presence. Ginny walked over and sat down on the bed next to Dawn. “Draco didn’t do anything, Dawn.” The brunette looked up with bloodshot eyes. “How can you say that? You were there. You saw him.” “Yes, but it wasn’t his fault. Pansy kissed him to break you two up.” Dawn’s eyes went wide with hope. “Really?” “Yes. I saw them arguing before it happened.” “Oh my god! I said some awful things to him. What if he doesn’t forgive me?” “I’m sure he’ll understand. But you really need to talk to him.” “I’ll go now.” “Um, Dawn.” “Yeah?” “I’d clean up a bit first, if I were you,” she said, wrinkling her nose. Dawn took a look at herself in the mirror, and with a shudder, agreed. ********* As she walked into Draco’s secret room, Dawn couldn’t help but feel shocked by Draco’s appearance. His normally slicked back hair was mussed and hung in his face. He sat slumped in a chair looking forlornly out the window. Dawn couldn’t help but realized that Ginny was right and that he was hurting as much as she was. “Thought I’d find you here,” she said softly. Draco had been wallowing so deep in his misery that he hadn’t heard her enter. Startled, he turned around to look at her. “What do you want?” He asked defensively. “To talk.” “Oh, now she wants to talk,” he muttered to himself. “I talked to Ginny,” she began. He looked at her apprehensively. “And what did Weasley have to say?” The conversation wasn’t exactly going the way she had hoped, so she tried a different tract. “I’m sorry.” “For what?” “I had caught my last boyfriend making out with some girl in the halls of my old school. So when I saw you kissing Pansy in the Great Hall I panicked. I....” Draco was watching her carefully as she talked. When she had first come in he had only seen her neat and groomed appearance. But now he could see the dark circles under her bloodshot eyes and the pinched, drawn expression on her face. His heart broke knowing that he was responsible for her pain. He got up and walked over to her as she was continuing to explain what Ginny had told her. He enveloped her in his arms and pulled her gently to him. He whispered softly into her hair, “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who is sorry.” Dawn wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his shoulder. “But she kissed you, not the other way around.” “But I should have stopped her.” “You had no way of knowing that she was going to do that.” Draco couldn’t help but start chuckling. She pulled her head back to look up at him. “What’s so funny?” She asked. “Us. Apologizing to each other and then insisting that the other doesn’t have to.” Dawn let a small giggle escape. “It is kind of funny.” “Not too bad for our first fight.” “But we haven’t got to the best part yet,” Dawn said mischievously. “And what’s that?” For an answer, she pressed her lips to his. Previous Chapter The Slayer... Menu Next Chapter |
