Forever Yours

FOREVER YOURS

The next morning, Ginny woke up early, for a reason.

Last night, she had been so tired, but so relieved to be back in her dormitory that she had fallen straight to sleep without thinking of her pen name for her letters. And Professor McGonagall had told them to have it ready today. Oops, thought Ginny, it's the first day and I'm already behind.

She dressed quickly in her robes and brushed back her mane of wavy red hair, tying it into a thick ponytail at the back of her head.

Once she was satisfied with how she looked, she glanced around her room for inspiration for her penname. Scuffed Black Shoes? That was rubbish. Read-a-holic? Even more rubbish. Whoever got her as a pen pal would think her to be Hermione, even though she was very picky with the types of books she read, unlike Hermione who loved school textbooks.

Egyptian Girl? Even though she had gone to Egypt once, that did not make her an expert on the country, she scolded herself.

Argh! Ginny screamed inside of her head, after plopping down on her made bed. This was useless. She wanted something mysterious, aloof, something...unpredictable.

After fifteen minutes of just sitting there, Ginny noticed that the other girls in her dormitory were getting up, and it was becoming harder to concentrate on the task at hand.

So she grabbed her Greek Mythology book from her side table and made her way downstairs to the Great Hall. She sat down to breakfast and flipped through the book for inspiration. There was a section on Greek gods and goddesses, and it was sorted alphabetically.

Ginny unconsciously flipped to the Hs and started reading the names. The fourth name on the list of a Greek god was Helios, who was the young sun god who rode across the sky in a chariot pulled by horses to change to day from night and vice versa.

She smiled to herself. Harry always told her she was the sun in his life, always shining brightly and always so positive and happy. He always told her that she would light up his day by just smiling or being by his side. Her smile would make him forget all his troubles.

Ginny smiled sadly. Suddenly her pen pal name came to her.

She quickly took out a piece of parchment and scribbled her name down, just as Hermione and Ron came and sat down, Hermione across from her and Ron beside her.

"Hey Ginny," said Hermione, smiling at her as she took the seat in front of her.

"Good morning," replied Ginny, smiling back.

Ron yawned into his kippers and eggs. "What's so good about the morning? Bloody hell. I'm so tired."

Ginny grinned at her brother. Ron's tiredness was soon forgotten as Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati all took seats beside them.

"Can't wait for the pen pal exchange," said Parvati, pouring herself some pumpkin juice. "It'll be fun to see who gets paired up with who."

"Fun?" asked Dean. "It'll be a bloody bore. We've got to write letters to people who're in the same building as us. It's bullocks, it is."

Ginny frowned at Dean. One of the things she had hated about him when they had gone out, was the fact that he would never try anything new and would always judge things before trying them out.

Professor McGonagall entered not long after and said, "All right. So everyone should have his or her penname by now. If you haven't decided on it yet, it will be decided for you, and I assure it will be most unpleasant."

Ginny laughed with Hermione as they both heard several people quickly scramble to write something on their piece of parchment.

Professor McGonagall also suppressed a smile and then after waiting for a few minutes, said, "All right. That's it now."

Suddenly everyone's piece of parchment zoomed up to the front, where professor Sprout stood with a big hat, taking all the pieces as they came up.

"So, I'll just leave Professor Sprout at it for a minute," continued McGonagall. "So you all shall have to write letters to whoever's name you get. You all will use the school's barn owls, so that no one's owl can be tracked. Also, the owls will all know whom it is you are writing the letter to, even though it is a pen name. Ahh, Professor Sprout is done."

Professor Sprout handed the hat back to Professor McGonagall who took it into her hands and said, "Now you will all get the name of another student. If your parchment is marked with an 'X' then you're the one that must instigate the first letter. Is everything understood?"

Everyone nodded and then with a flick of the wand, all the pieces of parchment went to all the students.

Hand outstretched, Ginny grabbed onto the parchment that hovered in front of her and opened it.

Prince of Darkness, it read. Hmm, thought Ginny. Interesting name.

She looked at the corner of it and saw a medium size X. So she was the one who would write the first letter. For some reason, she couldn't wait to get to know this person.

Across the Great Hall, the 'prince of darkness' opened his piece of parchment.

Draco Malfoy lazily opened the piece of parchment and saw written on it: Chariot of light.

He smirked. Since he was the Prince of darkness, it was fitting for him to receive someone named 'Chariot of Light'. Very fitting indeed.

He glanced around the Great Hall, trying to guess who his pen pal could be. He, also like Dean, thought the idea to be rather rubbish. But since it was professor McGonagall helped him through some difficult times, he just went along with whatever she did. He knew he owned her at least that much.

Back at Gryffindor table, Ginny tucked away her parchment in her book bag and then looked down at her schedule that was handed to her.

"Argh!" moaned Ron. "I've got Trelawney first. She'll probably still be predicting Harry's death ..."

He stopped in mid sentence, after seeing his best friend and his little sister looking at him in shock.

"Oh...forget it," he said, grabbed his bag and walked off.

"He keeps forgetting Harry's not here anymore," said Hermione in a soft voice, watching Ron leave.

"I thought he'd be used to it by now," said Ginny. "I guess not."

Hermione sighed, looking a bit sad herself. She took out some coloured quills and began highlighting her schedule. "I thought so too, Ginny. But certain things just remind him again and then he starts to grieve all over again."

"I'd better go," said Ginny. "I've got Potions first."

Hermione smiled at her and said, "Good luck."

Ginny took her book bag and made her way to the dungeons. On her way there, she anticipated what she was going to write in her first letter. Dear prince of darkness, she began.

"Ow!" she said as she bumped into someone.

The real 'prince of darkness' said, "Watch it Weasley."

"Watch it yourself," said Ginny back at him. "Can't you watch where you're going?"

He tilted his head to look at her. "I wasn't the one with my head stuck in the clouds."

"Oh forget it," she said, pushing past him to get to her class. Stupid Malfoy. Just because he'd turned 'good' didn't make him any less of the big, arse-hole that he was.

At lunch time, after she had eaten, Ginny took her books and things outside to the courtyard. She then got out a fresh piece of parchment and began to write.

Dear Prince of Darkness,

As you know by me writing this letter, I was the one to get the X on my parchment. So that's why I'm writing this to you. I don't know what to say, so I'll start with how are you?

It's the first day of school already. It feels as if the years are just passing by. I remember when I first came to Hogwarts, it felt like 7 years was forever, but I'm already in my sixth year. How about you? What year are you in?

Well I've got nothing else to say for now, so I guess I'll just post this and wait for your response.

Sincerely,

Chariot of Light.

Ginny walked to the Owlery and tied her letter to one of the owls. It soared into the air and took off.

She wondered who her pen pal could be...

Out by the lake, Draco Malfoy stood alone, watching the squid try to catch some birds.

He was alone, of course. He had long forgotten Crabbe and Goyle when they turned on him during the war, after his mother changed sides. It was to be expected of course, but he had thought they were friends.

His only true friend now, and had been for his whole life was Blaise. They had grown up together, because Narcissa Malfoy and Blaise's mother, Aurora Zabini, had been friends.

His father had had mixed feelings about the Zabinis. Mr Zabini was an influential man in the Ministry with a lot of power and they were purebloods and Slytherins all the way, except their one flaw (according to Draco's father) was that they did not support Voldemort.

His mother had ignored what her husband had said about them and had always socialised with them, causing Draco and Blaise to become the best of friends when they were young.

The thought of his mother made his stomach clench. It was his fault she was dead today.

If only he had taken Dumbledore's hand that day when Snape killed him. He had offered him protection for his family, yet he had been too foolish to accept his help.

He had tried to kill him the whole year, knowing that he was too weak to do it. And when the moment came, he couldn't do it.

Snape instead took the lead and Avada Kedavra-d the man before he could say another word. And Draco's last chance of protecting his family was gone. Just like that.

That night, Draco still remembered clearly. They had fled to the grounds and through the forest. Draco's heart was pounding as he ran with the rest of his father's friends, knowing that he was in for it.

They reached Lord Voldemort's hideout late that night, and the Dark Lord had been most upset with him. His mother was in the room when he scolded him and told him that he would give him one last chance.

During the month that Voldemort planned for the war, Draco's mother found a way for Draco to be safe and found him refuge with the Order. She also stayed at the Order for several days, but then she would disappear as well, so that the Dark Lord wouldn't become suspicious of her whereabouts.

Soon though, he discovered that she had betrayed him and his cause and ended up killing her the day before the final battle started. His father died, on the Dark Lord's side, during the final days of the war and in a week Draco Malfoy was an orphan.

Fortunately for him, all his parents' money, property and such were left to him. A week after the war, he returned home and walked through the empty house, feeling more alone than ever.

His parents hadn't always made him feel loved or wanted when they were alive, but he always knew that he had a future whatever happened, and they would always be there. The love that his mother had shown for him during the last two months made the pain of losing her even worse.

But instead of spending the rest of his summer in his big lonely house, Aurora Zabini, who was a close friend of Narcissa's took him into her home. It so happened that Draco's mother had written to Aurora and had instructed her that if anything were to happen to her, Draco was to live with them, no matter what he said, and she had willingly agreed. Mr. Zabini also agreed and so, instead of wallowing in his depressing past, Draco enjoyed his summer with Blaise and his younger sister Maura.

He felt comfortable at Blaise's house, because his parents made it sure he knew it was his home now as well, but he couldn't help but wonder at what would have happened if he had taken Dumbledore's offer. Would his mother still be alive today? Would he be an orphan, like he was now?

"Draco! Draco!" came an urgent voice from his left.

Draco blinked and looked up. Blaise was standing in front of him, blocking his view of the giant squid and its mid afternoon snack.

"What?" said Draco, looking away.

"What's up?" asked Blaise, sensing his friend's mood right away.

Draco felt something like appreciation somewhere deep inside of him, at the bottom of his bottomless stomach. It was so way down, buried deep beneath guilt, depression, worry, anger and sadness that he hardly felt anything.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at him. Just like Draco, Blaise had grown up to be handsome. He had dark hair and slanting eyes and was well built, after joining the Quidditch team last year as well as practising quidditch with Draco. His mother was the famous witch Aurora Zabini, and she was supposed to be one of the most beautiful witches in the entire wizarding world.

"Nothing," said Draco, sitting down underneath the tree. "I'm fine."

"I didn't say you weren't," said Blaise.

Draco turned his head to look at him to see if he was joking. Blaise's mouth twitched as he smirked.

He punched him lightly on the arm. "Very funny Zabini."

"You know...hey look," said Blaise, pointing to the sky. "Looks like someone's sent you a letter."

Turning his head to look at the sky, he saw a Barn owl flying towards him. It stopped in front of him and waited patiently until he untied the letter from its leg. It flew off instantaneously.

"Hey wait!" Draco said. "I've got to reply!" But the owl paid him no heed, and ignored him, just like everyone else was doing.

Sighing, he opened the small scroll and read the letter quickly. Chariot of Light seemed to be a very boring person. He wasn't even sure if it was a boy or a girl.

Dear Chariot of Light,

Who are you to question me? I don't wish to tell you what year I am in. I don't think that's any of your business. You also seem to be really into this pen pal idea. Seems like a pile of rubbish to be, but I am assuming you 'are giddy looking forward to this letter' so I won't keep you. Inter-house unity never got that far and I doubt it will this time as well. It's just a waste of time.

Prince of Darkness

He quickly rolled it up and tied it.

"Where are you going?" asked Blaise, once he saw Draco getting up from his spot under the tree.

"Off to mail this stupid letter," Draco mumbled. He walked into the castle, glad for a distraction. His annoyance on the stupid pen-pal idea replaced his guilt and anger about other things, even if it was for a short while only.

He started to walk to the Owlery, but then a low bell rang within the castle and he stuffed the letter back into his bag. He then made his way to his Potions class.