Draco's Love

As winter approached, Draco and Ginny found it more and more difficult to see each other secretly. Luckily, Hermione understood how much Ginny needed to see Draco, and helped her sneak away from Harry and Ron.

The day before winter holidays, Ginny and Draco met in the Room of Requirement. They spent hours in each other's arms.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" Draco asked.

"No, Mum and Dad are going to, er, Romania to visit my brother, Charlie," Ginny lied; her family was really going to be in London, at Grimmauld Place, for the Order. "What about you?"

"I have to," Draco said gloomily. "My birthday is on the 24^th."

"That should be loads of fun," Ginny said enthusiastically. Noticing Draco's lack of excitement, Ginny added, "Or am I way off base?"

Draco nodded. "It will be my seventeenth birthday."

"And?"

"Being the son of a Death Eater, I am being forced to receive the Dark Mark," Draco explained. "Ginny, I'm going to be a Death Eater."

Ginny stared at him, speechless.

"Not that I have a choice, of course," Draco went on. "My father is in the Dark Lord's inner circle. You and I both know that it will only be worse if I don't go."

"I know," Ginny said, fighting back tears. "And I know that you're different; you'll come back to me. You won't forget about me."

A single tear slipped from her eye, trickling slowly down her cheek.

"Ginny," Draco whispered, wiping a tear off her cheek. "They could place a hundred memory charms on me and I wouldn't forget you."

~~~~~

The day of Draco's departure arrived after a long night of endless tears. The thought of him leaving and becoming a Death Eater brought tears to Ginny's eyes once more.

Hermione had explained to Harry and Ron that it was just hormones and it was nothing to fuss about. This caused them to avoid Ginny, allowing her to talk to Draco one last time.

"I'll write," Draco told Ginny, as he grabbed her hand.

"Can I write back?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," he said. "Your letters will help me keep what's left of my sanity."

"Living with your father can't possibly be that bad."

"I'd rather spend a lifetime in hell," Draco told her. "But only if you were there."

"I could be your scarlet woman," Ginny said with a grin.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's what Mum calls them," she added.

"Well, I don't care what colour woman you are, or what your last name is," Draco told her. "Because, I love you, Ginny. Nothing will change that."

"I love you too, Draco," Ginny wept.

"Crying won't change anything, Ginny," Draco whispered. "It will only make my heart ache more."

Ginny wiped the tears from her face. "The last thing I want is for your heart to ache. I think I'd die without you."

"I don't think heartache would kill me, Ginny."

"All I know is, the day you die, my heart will ache for you, and I, too, will die."