Now That I Know

Now That I Know

By AmberNixie

Chapter Five -- You Walked Away

I held the pieces of my soul

I was shattered and I wanted you to come

And make me whole

When I saw you yesterday

But you didn't notice

And you just walked away

Cause everything you wanted me to hide

Is everything that makes me feel alive

--'I'm Still Here', Vertical Horizon--

Draco awoke the next morning to banging on the door of his room. Must be Blaise come to bug me about something, he thought groggily. His vision was still blurry as he climbed out of his bed, and he blinked several times to clear it as he walked to the door. Opening it, he saw a cheerful-looking Blaise standing outside, having let himself in with keys Draco had given him.

"Hi," Draco muttered. "And thanks for ending my beauty sleep."

"Sorry," Blaise said, as a way of greeting. "We're heading out again. The wedding plans are way behind schedule. Wedding's been brought forward."

"Excuse me? Did I just hear 'we're heading out again'?"

"Yes, you heard me correctly," Blaise answered (chirpily?), tossing Draco a shirt and trousers that had been dangling over a chair. "Get changed; it's eleven already. I'll see you downstairs."

He left Draco's room and headed (bounded?) down the stairs, whistling.

Jade was definitely rubbing off on Blaise, that was for sure. Draco had never seen him so happy.

He was reluctant to go, but it didn't seem like Blaise was letting him skip today's outing. He thought desperately for an excuse to stay home. Maybe Blaise would let him if he pretended he had something on...

"Draco! Jeez, you've been taking ages!"

Not likely.

It wasn't that he was feeling sick of the routine. On an ordinary day, he wouldn't have minded going, not at all. It was all because of Ginny. Ginny, Ginny, Ginny. The insanely irritating girl may be, well, insanely irritating. But unfortunately for him, she was endearing, too.

Draco wanted to avoid her, not because he hated her, no, far from that. But she was angry with him (she had no reason to be, actually), and he thought it best to leave her alone. Nevertheless, he didn't like it when she was angry. It was a peculiar feeling. The thought of her angry with him was not very pleasant. He had wanted to call her back when she had stormed away from him the day before. But he didn't.

He was worried about what she would do. For the first time in his life, he was afraid she, Ginny Weasley, might not want to talk to him. He didn't want to think of the consequences.

His worst fears were confirmed. Ginny was weakening him.

* * * * *

"We have to go? Again?" Ginny cried when Jade informed her that another shopping trip would take place. Blaise and Jade had found the rings and a caterer successfully, but today Ginny was to buy her bridesmaid's dress ("Consider it a present from me," Jade had beamed), door gifts were still required and a florist still had to be found.

"Sorry, Gin--we're behind schedule," Jade said, shrugging. "We really have to get everything done, and the wedding's in three weeks."

"Three weeks?" Ginny yelped. "I thought it was five weeks away!"

"Well, Blaise and I...we...we really can't wait," Jade said, a little sheepishly. Ginny tried to think of an excuse not to go. The truth was that she was afraid Draco had been insulted by her rudeness the day before. What had she called him? Oh yes. A bonehead and an asshole. And that was reason enough for her to want to stay home.

"I-I'm not feeling well," Ginny blurted out, begging inwardly for Jade to be kind to her and let her stay back...

"Ginny, did something happen yesterday between you and Draco?" Jade asked suspiciously, but felt Ginny's forehead anyway. "You don't feel warm or anything. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Actually, something did happen." Ginny's voice was feeble.

"Really? What?" Jade practically demanded. "Tell me!"

"Well, I..." Ginny didn't quite know how to begin. "Draco bought me...something, and I was incredibly rude." She shook her head. "There is no way I can face him today."

"Hey, Gin," Jade said comfortingly, "He won't be mad, if that's what you're afraid of. I'm sure he's not like that--"

"You didn't know him at Hogwarts, Jade," Ginny said. "He was a monster. And I know he's going to be angry, I know it..."

"He won't be. Trust me." Jade beamed at Ginny. She lowered her voice. "I think he likes you."

The outburst of laughter from Ginny caused Jade to reel backwards in shock. "Oh, right! First you say I'm interested in him, then you say he likes me? What next? That I'm dying to marry him and have his kids?" she gasped before she exploded into laughter once more.

Actually, the thought of having kids with Draco was very thought-provoking, and made Ginny stop laughing immediately. Would they have red hair with grey eyes? Blond hair with brown eyes? Ginny shuddered. As terrible as it seemed, she had to admit she had sometimes imagined what their children would look like...if they ever got married (and had sex....), that is.

"Fine," Jade said with mock haughtiness. "Here's proof. He bought you something. He said your name, like, "Virgiiinia,", he keeps looking at you, all interested, and he--"

"No, he does not!" Ginny protested hotly.

Jade rolled her eyes. "We could spend the whole day arguing," she said, "But Blaise is picking Draco up from his place and then they are heading straight to town. So we can sit here quarreling. No problem. Be late. Make Draco angrier."

Ginny sighed. It looked like there was no choice. She would have to go.

* * * * *

When Jade and Ginny did not see neither Blaise nor Draco even ten feet away from the meeting place, they headed off to buy Ginny's bridesmaid's dress. Two emotions Ginny liked very much swept over her--relief and excitment. Her torture would be delayed, then.

They did not go to the shop Jade had bought her dress from. Instead, they went to a much smaller one, that supposedly 'specialised' in bridesmaids' dresses. Ginny wasn't sure whether to believe the sign or not. She didn't even know whether shops that specific existed.

"Hi," Jade said to the shop assistant, a smiling, middle-aged woman. "We're looking for a bridesmaid's dress; for her." She looked pointedly at Ginny, then back at the assistant. "It's quite a classy wedding, so something rather elaborate is in order."

"Elaborate, eh?" The woman murmured to herself as she selected a dress from a nearby rack. "Try this."

Ginny stared at it.

"Do you...er, have one in a smaller size?" she asked sheepishly.

"It is rather big for her," Jade mused.

"I'm sorry, this is the smallest," the assistant said, looking genuinely sorry. "It's our newest creation, and it would have looked nice on you." She smiled at Ginny, who smiled back tentatively, somewhat embarrassed at her tiny size.

After fifteen minutes of fruitless searching (everything was simply too big and Ginny was horrified to find she was actually wishing she were fatter), the woman finally plucked a small dress from a rack in a corner.

"This is the smallest dress we have," she said. "It's nice, but it is rather old." She handed it to Ginny. "It was made for a very petite woman."

Ginny took the dress from her carefully. The material felt terribly fragile in her hands. She gently pulled the protective plastic away from it, and when her eyes fell on it, she was struck speechless. Even Jade gasped from her place behind her.

"Damn," Ginny heard her friend murmuring in shock.

They feasted their eyes. It was a backless halterneck with a corset style front. A single white rose on the left side of the waist held a silk wraparound knee-length overskirt, which skimmed the white skirt underneath. It took Ginny's breath away.

"Try it," Jade breathed enviously.

Ginny could only nod.

She took it to the fitting room, where she undressed oh so slowly before sliding into the dress, her eyes tightly shut. When she had done up the front and zipped up the side, she opened one eye. Then the other.

That is not me. That cannot be me.

The dress fit her like a second skin. It hugged her waist and hips snugly, and she could only stare at her reflection in the full-length mirror. Indeed, Jade was right. The slim cut dress rendered people speechless. She hardly dared move. It felt old, and it was indeed fragile, like how it had felt in her hands. She had to admit, the sight of herself, in the dress, was very fascinating, and she could probably have stood there all day ogling her reflection if not for the fact that Jade was hammering on the door outside, obviously very eager to see the dress.

Ginny held her breath and unlocked the door.

Jade's eyes lit up in very obvious jealousy.

"Oh, my..." The words died on her lips as she gazed at Ginny.

"Is it that bad?" Ginny joked weakly.

"No...no...it's gorgeous..." Jade's already large eyes grew even larger.

The assistant sashayed over. "Oh, it's lovely on you," she marveled. "Nobody bought it because they couldn't fit into it, you see; and it's such a pity...it really is beautiful."

She might as well have been talking to the wall. Neither Ginny nor Jade spoke. They were both too entranced by the magnificence of the dress.

"There are some slight adjustments we need to make to the corset, though," the assistant said briskly, immediately dragging Ginny back out to the main area of the shop and undoing the lower half of the corset. "It's a little tight here..."

Blaise showed up just then, without Draco, and Ginny felt her heart sink. He really is angry with me, she realised, and excused herself for a moment to talk to Blaise after Jade had gone crazy when she saw him (and had turned him into a living teddy bear by hugging him so much he could barely breathe).

"Hi, Ginny," he said. "Nice dress you've got there."

"Thanks," she said, smiling briefly. "Listen, is Draco here? Because if he's not, I need you to...uh, thank him for me." Her voice dropped in volume drastically as she went on. "See, he--he bought me something. And I was...kind of rude when he gave it to me. I forgot to thank him." She began to blush. "So if he's not here I was wondering if you could...thank him. For me." She paused, and looked hesitantly up at Blaise. "I don't want him to be angry with me," she said in a tiny voice.

Blaise listened intently before a knowing smile spread across his face. "He could never be angry with you, Ginny," he said. "And he'll be here."

Ginny had never felt so strange in her entire life. She actually wanted to see Draco Malfoy. And as she stood patiently while the assistant retied the corset, then spun her around so she was facing the back of the shop to adjust the overskirt, she was forced to bite her lip to supress a smile.

* * * * *

Draco stood outside the shop Blaise had told him to meet at; another bridal gown place, only this time for bridesmaids' dresses. Bridesmaids' dresses?! The things they thought of nowadays.

He wondered whether he should go inside. He knew Ginny was bridesmaid, and he knew he would see her there. What would she do? Somehow he didn't want to think about that.

He steeled himself and opened the door, before stopping in the doorway.

Ginny was standing at the far end of the shop, surrounded by Blaise, Jade and some assistant adjusting the back of her dress (well, there was no back to the dress, actually, and he swallowed hard just thinking of it). Her hair was swept over one shoulder, exposing her delicate-looking back. And when he heard the assistant say, "Turn around, miss, it should look perfect now," his throat went dry.

She obeyed.

Draco stared.

She looked up for the briefest moment, and their eyes met. She blinked before looking down, a beautiful blush spilling over her cheeks. Blaise and Jade, who had earlier been absorbed in attending to Ginny, realised something was up; they both looked up and saw him, standing there like an idiot, staring at her.

"Draco, you're here," Blaise announced.

"So, how does she look?" Jade asked him, grandly gesturing at Ginny.

"Oh...very...nice," Draco mumbled. This is so unlike me, he yelled at himself. Usually when it came to complimenting a pretty girl's gorgeous getup, he had no problem. In fact, it was a major part of life. But when it came to complimenting Ginny, he was lost for words.

What was he supposed to say, anyway? You look breathtaking, and you have no idea how much I would like to rip that dress off right now and do things to you right here, right now...his mind was wandering terribly.

Ginny began to feel uncomfortable. The attention everyone was heaping on her become rather difficult to bear, and she excused herself quietly before retreating to the fitting room.

"Interested in her now, Draco?" Blaise asked, sneering a little.

Draco muttered something about how stupid Blaise was being, threw him a dark look and left the shop.