Ginny's All That

May 1.

Since that day, Ginny kept to herself. She was really just confused and frustrated. How could she let herself fall for his stupid charm? She should have trusted her first instinct and told him to stay away from her. But now she was stuck. She felt used; she felt like garbage.

It was Saturday again, and now there were two weeks left until the year-end dance. She had no choice but to go now because she was nominated for Princess. Unfortunately, she no longer had a date, although she knew that Draco would take her if she said she'd go with him. She was not willing, however.

She glanced over at her beautiful green dress that he bought. She desperately wanted to take a knife to it and rip it to shreds, but knowing how much money it cost, she couldn't bear to. Instead she just pouted and fell back to sleep.

*****

He reached down into his pocket and felt the butterfly clip in his hand.

Since that day he had carried it in his pocket wherever he went. No one knew about it, and Ginny seemed to have forgotten it, but somehow he felt close to her. It was almost as though he believed that one day she'd remember it and have to talk to him.

No such luck so far, however.

Blaise and Draco had not spoken either. He felt betrayed; if they were really friends then he would have backed off that morning in the Great Hall. He wouldn't have mentioned the bet, and he certainly would not have told Ginny what the terms were. Not like that. However, Draco did tell Dex to relay to Blaise that the bet was not off. He fulfilled half of the bargain, and if she was crowned, Blaise was still running throughout the school naked. Nowhere in their terms was it stated that she had to be his date. Any prospect of that was pretty much gone.

*****

May 8.

Ginny walked into the Gryffindor common room and sat by the fireplace. It was another Saturday - another day she'd spend alone.

Harry walked over to her about ten minutes after she had sat down. They hadn't spoken for weeks, either. He was silent for quite some time.

She was planning on ignoring him when he said, "Ginny, I'm sorry about all of this."

She snorted semi-sarcastically. "It's fine, Harry," she replied irritably.

"Ginny, I want you to go to the dance with me," he blurted out.

She did need a date, and he was on the ballot as well. She pondered the thought.

"I know we aren't dating, but I just thought -"

"Sure, Harry."

She gave him a half smile, which was more than she had smiled in the last few weeks. "I just don't want to see you go alone," he said as he smiled back at his beautiful friend.

Well, at least now she had someone to go to the dance with. Maybe everything will be okay, she thought to herself.

*****

Pansy sat next to Draco in the Slytherin common room.

The pair of them had not had a real conversation since they had broken up, and Draco had no intention of having one now. Unfortunately, Pansy had other ideas.

"Draco, just ask me to the dance," she blurted.

He rolled his eyes. "You want to go with me?" he asked.

She squealed and hugged him. "Oh Draco, I am so happy! You know, students who have completed their seventh year at Hogwarts can't attend dances," she explained. "I was so worried that I'd have to go stag!"

"Well we sure wouldn't want that," he replied. His voice dripped with sarcasm. "How is old Andrew anyway?"

"Just fine!" she said giddily.

"I'm so glad." He rolled his eyes at his old friend again. Draco did not really care so much about Pansy breaking up with him anymore, and he truly was glad that the pair of them could just get along again. "Goodnight, Pansy," he said as he left to retire for the night.

*****

May 14.

The dance was set to be the next day, and Ginny wanted to be prepared. She spread her gown across her bed and picked out a classic black heal to wear with it. She wanted her emerald-studded butterfly to wear with it also, but she could not find it anywhere.

She searched the girls' dormitory and the common room. She frantically looked around in all of the places that she knew she'd be likely to leave something. Calmly, Ginny took a seat in the common room to rationally think back to the last time she remembered wearing it or seeing it.

Then she it dawned on her.

Draco.

*****

Draco sat on his bed, staring at the door and holding the butterfly clip in his hand.

Someone knocked at his door.

He got up to answer it, slipping the hair jewelry into his pocket. When he opened the door, he was very surprised to see Ginny standing there.

"Hi," he said in a tone that indicated that he was both surprised and confused.

"Draco, the night we..." she trailed off. "Did I leave my butterfly here?" she asked. He said nothing, so Ginny continued in an attempt to trigger his memory. "It's a hair clip. I wore it the night I came here. It's silver with green emeralds." Draco still did not respond. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" she asked, defeated.

He tensed. He knew he ought to return it to her, but just couldn't. It was the only piece of her that he had left.

"No, I haven't seen it," he lied.

"Oh," she said, disappointed. "It's just, well - well, it goes so nicely with the dress..."

"And your eyes," he added without thinking.

She bit her lip nervously.

"Are you wearing the gown?" he asked her, almost sheepishly.

She nodded. "I was planning to wear the dress that you gave me," she said. "Draco, unless you want it back. If you do, just tell me. I can go get it now."

"It does nothing for my figure," he joked.

She smiled despite herself. "Well I thought maybe Pansy..."

"No," he said firmly. "I'd never take back a gift."

Ginny nodded. She was secretly very happy because if he had asked for it back, she'd have had nothing to wear.

"Well, I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"Ginny," he said as she turned to leave. She stopped and looked at him "Stay with me."

She bit her lip again. It was apparently her signature nervous habit. "You know, I really ought to go."

"Please."

"Goodnight, Draco," she whispered.

He grabbed her hand as she reached for the door. They locked eyes briefly before Ginny turned her head. She did not, however, snatch her hand away from his. He held onto her hand for a moment before letting go.

"Ginny, I really hope you win," he said sincerely.

She smirked. "Is that just so you don't have to run through the Great Hall naked?" she asked.

He smiled a little. "You heard about that?"

She nodded gently.

To his surprise, she came and sat next to him on the bed. He was even more surprised when she took his hand in hers.

"I want you to know that I am going to the ball with Harry."

His heart sank. "Oh." He looked at her. Her hair poured over her narrow shoulders in long, delicate waves. Her face looked tired a little puffy from crying. But she still looked beautiful - there was just something about her that made her look perfect without trying. "I'm going with Pansy," he stated after a few minutes. "Her boyfriend finished Hogwarts last term, so he's not permitted to be her date."

She smiled a little. "I'm sure you'll both have fun."

He looked down at the floor. She was still holding onto his hand and looking gently at him. He attributed his feelings for her to moments such as these. She didn't have to ever speak nicely to him again and it would be justified. But here she was, comforting him, and treating him almost like a friend. In that moment he realized how much this girl meant to him. Before a few weeks ago, he'd have never given her the time of day. Now, however, all he wanted was to sit with her. But in his heart, he knew that these minutes that they were spending alone meant nothing. They were not friends, and they were not on good terms. Draco sincerely doubted that they'd ever be.

"Draco," she said calmly after another short while. "I just want you to know that I don't regret being with you." It was one of the hardest things that Ginny had ever had to say. "Those few hours meant a lot to me."

He looked up at her, and peered deep into her eyes. Some of the sparkle that had been absent the last time he had really looked was back. He didn't look for long, though. He had felt so guilty about everything that had happened that it almost burned him to look at her for more than a moment. But he felt a little better knowing that she was going to be okay, even if they weren't.

She continued speaking to him. "I want you to know that I had fun spending time with you those few weeks, and the night we had sex - well, I wouldn't take it back for the world."

He looked down. "Ginny, I -."

"No." She looked at him and said firmly said, "I don't think there's anything left to say."

She got up to leave. Draco realized in that moment that it was over. That brief, but heart wrenching, discussion that they had was the end. Ginny probably never intended to speak to him ever again.

"Wait."

She tensed up as he approached her. He reached inside the pocket of his robes and he grabbed her emerald butterfly. He reached up and gently combed it through her fiery red hair, just behind her ear. He kissed her softly on the cheek and stepped aside so that she was free to leave. And she did. With a slight nod and a half smile, Ginny left his dorm. It was over.

I really blew this one.

*****

She stepped outside into the hall, and turned to look at the door to his room.

All she wanted, more than anything, was to knock on his door and jump into his arms and kiss him. She wanted to make love to him again, and tell him that the time they spent together was a revelation for her. He would lay her down in his bed and hold her tightly, and whisper sweet nothings into her ear as he looked deep into her eyes. And they would have the moment of pure ecstasy together, and although it only lasts for a moment, it would feel like forever in his arms. And then the bliss would set in, and she'd close her eyes and realize how perfect it was. She would fall asleep with him in his bed, and he'd hold her all night...

But she couldn't have that. It was over.

She walked away from his door and told herself that she would not see him alone again. She simply did not have the strength to say no to him, and she didn't know that she really wanted to say no to him anyway...

*****

Harry stood in the shadows and watched as Ginny exited Draco's dorm room. An intense feeling of jealousy and rage washed over him. He wanted to confront her, and he wanted to punch him. But he stopped himself when he realized that she was hurting.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that she wanted Draco, and it broke his heart to know it. Breaking up with Ginny was one of the biggest mistakes he'd ever made, but in that moment when he saw her take a deep breath and walk away from his room, he realized that he was about to make a bigger one.

When she was out of sight, he knocked on Draco's door.

When Draco answered it, Harry saw his expression drop. Harry knew that Draco hoped it would be Ginny standing there. "What, Potter?" he asked Harry. He wasn't being rude or even cold toward him, but he clearly was not in the mood to talk.

Harry walked into the dorm, despite Draco's attempt to will him away. "Ginny loves you," Harry said calmly to the blonde Slytherin seeker. "All she wants is you, and you are just going to let that girl walk away. Are you really that thick? Malfoy, you'd have to be a complete git to let that girl go."

Draco ran a hand through his hair and sat down on his bed. "I blew it, I know that," Draco responded. "Is that why you're here? Did you want to brag to me that you got the girl?" His last few statements were harsh and rough.

"I may be going to the dance with her," Harry said calmly. "But in no way is she mine."

Draco snorted sarcastically. "She'll always be yours."

Harry stared at him. "How do you figure?"

"The same way I will always be hers, even if she isn't mine," Draco said, looking down. "She lost her virginity to you. She will always care about you. I'm just a notch in her headboard."

"You think that's all you were to her?" Harry asked roughly. "Draco, her heart is breaking. I love her more than anything in the world. I'd give up anything in my life to have her, and yeah, I slept with her. I slept with her and then I broke up with her, and that makes me the biggest dick ever. I regret what happened every damn day, and I know now that I haven't a prayer of a chance with her." Harry stepped closer to the other boy and got into his face. "It is not too late for you. You need to win her back, or the pair of you will be miserable forever."

Draco stared at Harry. "It's over," Draco said sadly. "She told me it's over."

"Not if I can help it."

"Why?" Draco asked. "Why do you want to help me? Why do you want her to be with me?"

"Because I love her as much as you do," Harry said sadly. "And I want her to be happy again, even if the only way for that to happen is for her to be with someone. Even if that someone else is a person I don't much care for."

Draco felt his heart beat through his chest. Before that moment in time, he had almost felt dead. He had, in only a few moments on that fateful morning, taken a girl that he had cared about and not only broke her heart, but also embarrassed her terribly. He had every intention of telling her about the bet eventually, but not like that. She meant so much to him, and now here he was with Harry. Harry wanted to help him. It was not only amazing because Harry loved Ginny so much, but it was even more so because it wasn't as though Draco and Harry were friends. Draco knew that if he was going to get her back, this was his one and only chance.

Draco straightened up his posture and said, "Alright then. What's the plan?"