Tarnished Jewel

"Are you serious?" Hermione questioned her best friend while they were sitting in front of the fire late Christmas Eve. Everyone else had gone to bed already, and Hermione and Ginny had been sitting up gossiping.

"Yes. I swear I heard her right. Dean, Luna, Michael, and I were in Hogsmeade a few weekends ago, when we saw Mandy and Terry. Both came over to tell us what they had seen.

"Supposedly Malfoy was shopping in some highly expensive jewellery shop and when he had seen them, he quickly left. Mandy thought he might have a girlfriend. Terry was talking to Tracey, who questioned Terence, who went to Malfoy and asked him what he bought. And Malfoy told Higgs that if he didn't shove off, he'd kill him. Tracey told Terry that Malfoy was hiding something, and the lot of the Slytherins were willing to bet that he was going after one of the girls outside the house to prove that he could get one of them with money and gifts. It wouldn't surprise me any, really," Ginny stated excitedly, as she leaned back in her chair.

"Ginny, you're beginning to scare me. Either you've been hanging out with the Hufflepuffs too much, or you're having too much fun spying on the other students. Either way, I'm not sure what to think. It does sounds like something Malfoy would do, but I wonder who his target is? Better not let Ron and Harry find out or there's going to be trouble," Hermione said calmly, giving her friend a sceptical look.

Hermione and Ginny had never really been friends until they had both been injured in the Department of Mysteries the year before. Ever since, both girls had taken their newfound friendship to heart. They loved spending time with each other, reading over their text, and talking about boys. Both girls knew whom the other liked, though Hermione refused to ever admit it to anyone else. Ginny was different. Ginny was more like her sister than her best friend, and Hermione was thankful for that.

Ginny watched as Hermione put her book down and moved off towards the stairs to her room. Quietly, Hermione said her goodnight and slipped off, leaving Ginny to sit alone in the Common Room. It hardly bothered the fifth year Gryffindor any. She had often found herself sitting alone, the fire crackling and warming the slight chill that had slipped into the room. She had often been found asleep, curled up in the chair, her book fallen at her feet, and a blanket tucked around her.

No one had bothered to ask why she spent her hours alone, in the dark, with a waning fire. No one cared to know why she slipped off in the middle of the evenings to wander the halls of Hogwarts or sit alone in the same classroom. No one presumed that her anger was slowly building to a boiling rage. That her heart was as confused as the rest of her, only fuelling her hate. She hated him. Hated him for what he had done to her. Hated him for beginning her down the path to a broken heart. She wanted him to suffer, like he was forcing her to suffer.

Not one word. Not a single bloody word! She wanted to scream, to run through the snow-filled fields and leave. But she couldn't. She wouldn't. She just couldn't possibly worry her family like that. Instead, Ginny Weasley pretended to be happy, to have fun. But it wasn't just her family she was lying to: it was herself. She had actually begun to believe that she was happy, until Christmas Eve. Until that night, when she knew he was there and the rumours she had heard were not about her.

How often had she sat awake, just thinking of him? She hated him for it, but she knew he was the one that had paid attention to her. He was the one that walked away from her when so many others would have believed he would have taken her, forced her to sleep with him, and then forget about her. Some how, deep down inside, she hardly believe he was like that. But like any good little Gryffindor, Ginny tried to forget. She used her rage towards Malfoy to fuel her brother's hate for Draco. She used her grief over what had happened to show everyone just how much she wasn't just another Weasley child. Like any good little Gryffindor, Ginny taunted, tormented, and played pranks on the mean old Slytherins. Quite often Malfoy had been the butt of her jokes, and no one thought anything of it. After all, everyone knew that Malfoys and Weasleys just don't get along.

She slipped off into a semi-peaceful sleep, where she was with him. Sitting in front of a fire, where no one knew they even thought of each other. Where they could sit in the comfort of the other's arms and never have to worry about what others thought. Where the only problem was moving from the embrace of the other. In her make-believe world, Ginny found peace. A peace that only lasted while she slept and faded when the early touches of the morning crept over the Earth, slipped into the dark shadows and warmed away the evening dew. But while she slept, she was happy, and while she walked the halls of the school, she either avoided him, or cursed him.

"Ginny?" she heard him whisper into her ear.

"Ginny, wake up!" he repeated.

"Ginny..." Slowly she opened her eyes to find herself looking back at a familiar pair of emerald eyes.

"Harry?" Ginny said groggily. "What time is it?"

"Nine," Harry replied, and took a seat in front of her. "Ron wanted to open his presents, but Hermione and I convinced him to let you have some extra sleep. We didn't want to move you and risk waking you. So we just left you."

"Thanks. Shall we go get him?"

"No, he and Hermione have gone down to get breakfast. I said I'd wait to open my presents with you." Harry smiled at her and handed her a present.

She opened each one hoping that one, just one, would be from him. When Harry handed her the last one and said it was from him, her heart sank visibly. He said nothing and watched as she opened it. Her eyes widened as she looked at the porcelain Angel figurine. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at Harry.

"It's beautiful," she said, placing the figurine on the floor with the rest of her stuff to give him a hug.

"It's a Guardian Angel, so that you'll have someone looking over you when you want to be alone," Harry replied.

"Thank you."

"Why don't we go get something to eat before we miss it completely and the Morning Owl comes?" Harry questioned her, offering his hand to her.

She said nothing as they walked towards the Great Hall; she really didn't know what else to say. She loved the gift he had given her, but was disappointed all the same. Why couldn't there have been a gift from the one person she wanted one from? She hadn't bothered to send him anything, why should she expect him to send one in return?

As they entered the Great Hall a few moments later, Ginny took in the scarce number of students that had remained behind. Six students sat at the Ravenclaw table, and two of them were from Hufflepuff. Ron and Hermione were sitting with Dean, Seamus, and Luna at the Gryffindor Table, while Draco Malfoy sat with five other Slytherins around him. She caught herself staring, but as she went to turn her attention away from him, Ginny noted the look of horror in Malfoy's cold grey eyes.

Taking a seat at the Gryffindor Table, Ginny watched Malfoy storm off. The other Slytherins as equally dumbfounded as she was. Even sitting there, surrounded by friends, Ginny wanted to walk the school alone, wanted to follow Malfoy to find out what had pissed him off. She barely heard Ron's comment, and when he repeated it a third time she asked him kindly to repeat it a forth so she might answer him.

"What's between you and Harry?"

"What? Ron, have you gone bonkers? There is nothing between Harry and I, and there never will be. We're friends, that's it," Ginny said, leaving Ron no room for argument as an owl dropped a letter in front of her.

Ginny immediately noticed the writing, snuck the letter inside her robes, and excused herself from the table. She really didn't want to explain why she had received an owl from Malfoy to her brother. She really didn't want to listen to Ron go on about how evil Draco was, how he was only using her to prove to his friends that he could get her. She had seen the hurt in his eyes when she walked into the Great Hall with Harry, she had seen the look of humanity in his eyes a little under a year ago, and she knew then that he, like her, was hiding behind a false mask to keep his true feelings hidden.

When she was alone in a secluded hallway, she opened the letter.

"Meet me!" was all it read. Simply put. No need to expand; Ginny knew where.

She was on the fourth floor, three doors away from where she was supposed to meet him, when she stopped. The parchment clutched in her small fist. Did he still want to see her after what had happened in the Great Hall? Would he be in that room waiting for her? Would she just find another disappointment waiting for her? Was she up to another one?

Slowly, Ginny crept forward. Her hand reached out and grasped the door handle. She let go of it, grasped it again, and repeated the cycle over again. She had to know, had to know if he was inside waiting to see if she would show up. She had to know why he had chosen today as the day to meet and speak to her again. She needed to know what was going on between them.

Ginny pushed the door opened and stepped inside. She looked around the classroom; it was only a year ago Draco had pinned her to a wall where he could have easily taken her virginity, but he hadn't. Disappointment crept over her facial expressions, and she refrained from crying. Why? Why had he asked her there and not shown up?

"So, you came?"

Startled, Ginny snapped her attention to behind the door. There, leaning up against the cool concrete, wisps of blond hair falling into his grey eyes, Draco stood.

"Only to see what the hell is wrong with you. You know I couldn't possibly pass up another chance to embarrass you," Ginny said calmly, it would seem the tables from a year before were turned. She was in control for the moment.

"Surprised Potter let you leave," Draco hissed.

Ginny laughed. "I listen to no one, Malfoy. No one will tell me what I can and can't do. Not you, not Harry, not Ron, no one. I do what I please."

He stood there, saying nothing, simply watching her as if he had never seen her before. A year ago she would never have laughed in his face. A year ago she was terrified of him. What had happened to change her? Had he been the cause of her change, or had it been the accident in the Department of Mysteries?

"Cat got your tongue, Malfoy?" Ginny purred, walking towards him.

"Was it for show?"

"Was what for show?" Ginny asked, confusion spreading across her slightly pink cheeks.

"Holding Potter's hand, of course."

"No," Ginny replied honestly, "he offered me his hand in the Common Room. I was... disappointed this morning, and he picked up on it. He's my friend, and he won't turn his back on me! He cares about my feelings, and he just wants to see me truly happy!" She was forcing herself not to lose control, not to scream at him.

"Disappointed? Why?" Draco questioned, sincerity heavy in his voice.

"You left me standing in this classroom, you said I was precious and you walked away. You didn't look at me, you didn't ask me to meet you, you didn't write, nothing. You just picked up where you left off and forgot about me." She took a step back, afraid that her protective barriers were going to break and every hurt feeling, hurt word would leak out and she would shatter. "I can still feel your breath on my skin. I hate you for it! I really do."

"Then why are you here?"

"I wanted to know why. I wanted to know why you left me here. Why you left me to wonder if you were just playing a coy game of breaking my heart. I needed to know if there was a reason behind this meeting. Why you waited so long to even ask me to meet you again. Just answer me that...please." She choked on a sob and forced herself to regain composure.

Realization dawned on his face as he took a step towards Ginny. He had never meant for her to hurt like this, he had his reasons for avoiding her; but now he hardly believed she would listen to them. He was lost in thought when she screamed at him for an answer.

"I was afraid..."

"A Malfoy afraid?" Ginny outright laughed in his face. "Malfoys are afraid of nothing. They make the rules, they break them, and they take what they want."

"Damn it, Ginny! Shut up and listen!" Draco hissed, which shut Ginny up. "Now, as I was saying. I was afraid that my father would hear that I had simply walked away from you, not done what he wanted, and come to finish it himself. I was serious with what I said. He wouldn't look at you like I would. He wouldn't care how much he hurt you. He would break you, and use you. And when you became a bore, he would kill you. You needed to hate me, or he would have taken you."

Ginny stalked up to stand in front of him, her lips curled in disgust. "I would have taken my chances. Do you think he could simply find me? Do you think Dumbledore would let him? You're a coward! A bloody coward! I hate--"

Draco grabbed her by the shoulders, and roughly pressed his lips to hers. She fought back against him, but again failed and slumped against his chest. He slid his hands down her arms and waist, and rested them on the small of her back. He kissed the top of her head and held her while she cried. Who would have thought a Malfoy would comfort a Weasley?

Releasing her, he lifted her chin to look into her eyes.

"I have something for you," he cooed, and walked away from her over to a loose brick. He pulled it out and returned to her with a package in his hand. "I wanted to give it to you in person. Besides, I won't have Potter and Weasley thinking any differently about me."

Ginny looked down at the package in his hand and ran her fingers over the green and silver wrapping. She should have known that it would be wrapped in Slytherin colours. She smiled weakly, taking the parcel out of his hands. As she opened it, she felt some of the pain she had earlier felt slip away. She felt happiness and joy return and fill a void she had been ignoring.

The wrapping paper fell to the floor, and Ginny was left holding a velvet box in her hand. Her eyes fluttered up to look at Draco. She really didn't want to open the box, she couldn't afford anything that was inside, and she certainly couldn't accept anything like that.

"I... I can't accept this. I don't want to open and have to give it back," Ginny whispered, and handed the box back to him.

"There's a no return policy on it. It's yours now," Draco replied, opening the box for her.

She gasped and reached out to touch the teardrop shaped jade stone with her fingers. Her hand fell down around her side, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Draco... it's beautiful."

"A precious jewel for my precious jewel," Draco whispered, as he moved to put the necklace around her neck.

"So the rumours that Draco Malfoy was caught in a Jewellery-shop are true." Ginny laughed and leaned up against him. "Who would have thought?"

"Yes, who would have thought?" Draco replied, holding her in his arms. "We should be getting back to the Great Hall before someone gets suspicious and comes looking for either of us."

"What are you going to tell Tracey and Terence? They both think you're hiding something?"

"We're all hiding something, Ginny. Tracey and Terence can guess all they like, they'll never know what I bought, or who got it. For all they know, if could have been a present for my mother."

Ginny laughed, kissed Draco, and walked out of the classroom, leaving him to stand-alone. Instead of going back to the Great Hall, she slipped off to sit alone in the common room. She had changed into a turtleneck shirt, to hide the necklace, with her jumper over top. She curled up in her favourite chair, with her favourite book, and drifted off to sleep, only to dream of him again; at least she knew she was his and he wasn't trying to hurt her.

You could remove one of the 'her's.