Forever Yours

A/N- Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. Hopefully you all enjoy it and don't complain too much. Lol. Enjoy!

Chapter 9

By the weekend, Ginny had tried to convince Hermione to write to her pen pal (a.k.a Ron Weasley) to tell the girl he loved (a.k.a Hermione) that he loved her.

On Saturday morning, a blizzard hit the castle.

Instead of going outside and having snowball fights, Ginny decided to stay in and finish up her homework.

When she was done, she picked up a piece of parchment and a quill and began writing her response back to the Prince.

Dec. 9. 97

Dear Prince of Darkness,

I hope I don't have any unfinished business here on earth. I would not want to come back, ever.

Do you think you would?

I don't know...unless you die very young, like my friend, then why would you want to come back?

The life you have as a ghost is an imitation of this life as well, right? You can't eat, sleep or do anything.

I'd rather live my life here to the fullest and hope that I don't come back.

This topic is so depressing...can we stop discussing it?

Chariot of Light

At that moment, down in the dungeons, Draco looked up from his Astronomy homework to see a letter beside him with his name 'Prince of Darkness' on it.

He set down his quill and carefully opened the letter. He read it and then set it aside, wanting to finish his homework first before replying.

Several floors up, in the Gryffindor common room, sat Ginny talking to Hermione.

"He says he's afraid of telling her...er, me," said Hermione, "that he loves me...or her."

Ginny smiled. Hearing Hermione confused was an interesting thing. "You have to push him, Hermione. Keep telling him that he should tell her."

"Why can't I just tell him that it's me?" Hermione asked. "That would be so much simpler."

Ginny groaned. "Because, Hermione! It won't be that romantic then. You should tell him after he tells you that he loves you. That is how it should be." Ginny sat up in her armchair by the fire and said, "Hello, Hermione, there's something that's been eating away at me that I ought to tell you."

She batted her eyelashes and then imitated Hermione's voice, saying, "Yes, Ronald, what is it? I love you, Hermione, dearest. I truly do. Oh, Ronniekins, I love you too. Oh and by the way, I was your pen pal. And now we can live happily ever after."

Hermione giggled and Ginny laughed. They were both laughing so hard that they didn't notice Ron step into the room, soaking wet with his nose red and snow on his clothes.

"What's so funny?" he asked, walking up to them.

They both stopped immediately. "Nothing," they mumbled.

He looked at them suspiciously. "Fine, don't tell me." He stalked off.

Hermione gazed after him and Ginny rolled her eyes. "See, Hermione? You have to tell him to tell you. Or you just have to tell him that you love him."

Hermione sighed. "I'll think about it. I don't want to ruin anything. What, with Lavender and the whole 'just friends' thing, it's so complicated. I'll be back."

With that, Hermione got up and went up to her dormitory, while Ginny waited for her.

After a few seconds, her gaze rested on a piece of parchment on the armchair Hermione had been sitting on.

She unfolded the paper and found Hermione's unfinished letter to her pen pal.

It read:

Dear BLL,

I agree with you. Whatever you say to this girl may just ruin the relationship you have now, even though it is as shaky as you describe it.

You must also think of your girlfriend. You might just break her heart and I think no girl deserves that. It makes sense for you not to say anything.

I'm sure this girl will learn to live without your love. It's better to live without something than to have it and mess it up and wishing that things had gone differently. Rather than ruin your friendship, just leave it the way it is.

I hope you find my advice helpful.

Sincerely,

The letter was unsigned. Hermione had left it so that she could come back and sign it.

Tears formed in Ginny's eyes. She had never thought that the war and the loss of Harry would hurt Hermione that much.

The letter that sat in Ginny's hand spoke volumes to her about the state of Hermione's heart. Ginny was someone who could read people's emotions well.

Hermione was afraid. That was why she wouldn't tell Ron to tell her that he loved her or that she loved him. She had lost Harry, her best friend, and if the attempted relationship between her and Ron didn't go well, then she would lose both her best friends.

Ginny didn't want Hermione to lose her best friend. She wanted both her friend and brother to be happy, which they would evidently be with one another. They were hurting without one another.

Without another thought, Ginny picked up the eraser and Hermione's letter, thankful that it had been written in pencil.

Quickly, she wrote the letter again, disguising her writing as Hermione's small script. She folded it up again and placed it on the chair just as she heard Hermione's dormitory door open. She saw that she was walking downstairs.

In her hand was a book that she opened as soon as she sat down.

"Oops," she said. She picked up the letter she had sat on, picked up the pencil that Ginny had left on the table seconds earlier, and opened the letter. She signed her name and then watched as the letter disappeared.

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief when the letter disappeared. Her biggest fear was that Hermione would read the letter over again, but she hadn't.

The afternoon passed by quickly as the two girls chatted and laughed.

The next day, Ginny was sitting in the Great Hall, eating her lunch when Hermione came and sat down.

"He says he's going to tell her that he loves her!" she said once she sat down. "What do I do?"

"He is?" Ginny said, raising her eyebrows.

Hermione nodded. "The letter was confusing. He said he agreed with me, but then went on to say that he should tell her."

"That's good!" said Ginny.

"Good? Ginny, this is not good!" said Hermione with tears in her eyes.

Ginny put down her fork and looked at her friend. "Listen to me, Hermione. I know you're scared that things will be messed up, but unless you try this out, you'll never know. You love him, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"You already know that he loves you," said Ginny. "Half the battle is won. Unless you guys try this out, you'll never know if you were meant to be together or not. I really want the best for you both. I can see that he's hurting without you, and you are hurting without him. I have a feeling that everything will be fine."

Hermione hugged her. "I hope you're right, Ginny."

Ginny hugged her back. "Please don't kill me if I'm not."

Hermione laughed and then helped herself to some shepherd's pie.

The two girls finished their lunch and then went up to the common room. Hermione sat down to knit some more hats for the house elves while Ginny read.

Within a few minutes of sitting down, Ginny received a letter from her pen pal. She had replied to his letter, telling him about the Hermione/Ron dilemma.

In the letter, the Prince of Darkness praised her.

December 10, 1997

Dear Chariot of Light,

What a nice thing to do. I'm not surprised at all that you would do that, because you are a nice person. You should be surprised if I ever committed such an atrociously nice act.

Athena and you must be very good friends for you to want such happiness for her.

This is such an odd thing to see in today's world, you know. It's strange to see a friend doing so much for her friend's happiness, when I have seen people of the same blood curse their relatives and ruin lives of their families.

You still have faith in love after all you have seen? I don't. I don't think there could be love in this cold and dark world after fighting the war.

In the letter, you wrote: don't be scared to try something new. It's better to do something new and watch it fail than to not do it at all and wonder all your life whether it would have been successful or would have failed.

Is this something you believe? Do you think you could love someone again after the loss of that person you lost? The person that means a lot to you is whom I mean.

Prince of Darkness

Ginny picked up a piece of parchment and wrote back her reply.

Dec. 10. 97

Dear Prince of Darkness,

Ha ha, very funny. I'm sure you're not as 'bad' as you make yourself to be. It's my belief that there is good in everyone, including you.

We are good friends. In both our families, we're the only girls. Well, she's an only child, so I suppose the case is different. We do connect with one another well. I sometimes feel as if she's my sister, because we spend so much time together. I care deeply about her because the death of this someone...someone important as you put it, impacted her as well.

Of course I still have faith in love. The war did not change my vision or my belief in love. The fact that the war snatched the person I loved more than anyone in the world does not mean that love does not exist in the world. You just have to find it.

If you have seen Athena and her...friend and how much they miss each other because they're not together, you would know that there is love in this world and it does exist.

As for me, I don't know if I'll ever be able to find love again, love as great as Helios'. If it's in my destiny, then perhaps I'll love again, but if not, then not. I'm more than happy living with his memory in my heart.

Sincerely,

Chariot of Light

Down in the dungeons, Draco read the letter, a half smile on his lips as he read. His pen pal was quite a character; he had to admit. She almost didn't seem real for the world they lived in.

He couldn't wait for the day that he actually met her to put the face to the thoughts and ideas that belonged to her.

Just as he was sitting down to write his response, Blaise came from into the common room and sat down beside Draco.

"What are you doing?" he asked him.

Draco shrugged. "Writing to my pen pal."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "You write to your pen pal a lot, mate. You should get out more. Get some sunshine. You do remember what that is, right? Sunshine?"

Draco laughed and punched Blaise lightly on the arm. "If only you knew her, Blaise. She's...different."

Blaise raised an eyebrow at him. "And you know her?"

Draco nodded. "I do."

"But Draco, that's only on paper! You've never even seen her before. How do you know what she's really like when you haven't seen her?"

Draco ran a hand through his blond hair. "You wouldn't get it, Blaise. When I write to her, we talk about things. Serious things. She offers me advice. We have this connection. It doesn't have anything to do with what she looks like."

Blaise smiled. "All right, all right. I believe you. What about the Christmas Ball? What are you going to do?"

"Meet her, of course," he answered.

"What if she doesn't look like how you imagined her?"

Draco shrugged. "Looks have nothing to do with it."

Blaise contemplated it. "Hmm, that's true, I suppose. But, what if she's in Gryffindor?"

Draco raised his eyebrow. "She's not."

"How do you know?"

He sighed. "I just do. She can't be a Gryffindor."

"What if she is?" Blaise said. "Then what?"

"She's not, believe me. A Gryffindor would never talk like that," Draco assured him.

Blaise got up and stretched. "I sure hope you're right, for your sake. Let's go outside. Come on."

Draco got up, donned his scarf and gloves, and the pair went outside.

A few hours later, Blaise and Draco came in from outside with their faces red and their hands cold. It was time for dinner, and students were bustling out of their common rooms to come down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Ginny and Hermione were on their way down when they saw Blaise and Draco coming in from outside.

Ginny and Draco's eyes met for the briefest of seconds. Ginny glared at Draco while Draco stared at her without any expression or emotion.

The moment passed, and Ginny looked away at the painting on her left, breaking her gaze with Draco.

Dinner was a jovial event as the kitchens had prepared extra puddings for dessert to make up for the dismal mood of the castle.

After dinner, Ginny made her way up to the common room, while Hermione stayed to talk with Professor Flitwick about an assignment that was due.

She sat down by the fire with her book again when a letter appeared.

December 10, 1997

Chariot of Light,

Sometimes, I really envy you. You sound like you have loving and caring family and friends, who look out for you. Your world isn't cold and tainted like mine is.

I suppose that's wrong to say, because you lost Helios who was very important to you. Your world is as cold as mine.

Random question, what's your favourite colour?

Prince of Darkness

Ginny smiled and thought of Harry's ever green eyes that gave her so much comfort when she gazed into them.

Dec. 10. 97

Prince,

My favourite colour is green. Not light green, lime green, or dark green. Just green.

What's yours?

Chariot

Draco smiled when he read the letter. His pen pal's favourite colour was the colour of Slytherin? Interesting.

He was sure that she wasn't in Gryffindor now.

December 10, 1997

Chariot,

My favourite colour is black. It's my favourite shade, or however you put it.

Black is just black. There is no dark black or light black. It stays the same forever.

Prince

Ginny dipped her quill into the ink and wrote:

Dec. 10. 97

Prince,

Well, I'm not surprised your favourite colour is black. I was expecting, actually.

What's your worst fear? Mine is darkness. Whenever I go to sleep, I have to have a candle burning throughout the night beside me. I know it's childish, but I can't help it. The dark frightens me.

Chariot

Draco quickly wrote back:

December 10, 1997

Chariot,

Isn't it apt that you, someone who is afraid of the dark got paired with someone who relishes in it?

Fear not, soon, I will make you get over your fear of the dark. Darkness is nothing, compared to the other evils in this world.

My worst fear is being judged. Looking into someone's eyes and knowing what they think of me, however wrong it is, makes me cringe.

People judge me all the time. I can see it in their eyes when I look. They still hold me responsible for something that I am deeply sorry for. I wish I was forgiven, but still, day after day, I see the same judgment in people's eyes.

What are your favourite and worse memories?

Prince

Ginny read the Prince's response and wrote back:

Dec. 10. 97

Dear Prince,

Everyone judges people, no matter how much they think they don't. It's a human characteristic that everyone has.

I admit I also judge without meaning to, but I know I shouldn't.

To tell you the truth, I judged you when I first started writing to you. I thought you were a completely different person than the person I know now.

I'm sorry I judged you. I can understand how it's your worst fear, because people can judge so badly that the person they see in their minds becomes their vision of you. No matter how much you try to change that vision, it never can be changed.

My worst memory? Hmm, this is an easy one. It was when I was much younger, around 6 years old. My parents were going to a wedding and had arranged for my aunt to baby-sit my brothers and I. I had been playing when I found this door underneath the stairs, and I went in to explore it when the door locked and it jammed.

My parents left, calling a goodbye as they Disapparated while I screamed and shouted for someone to let me out.

My aunt was forgetful and not that great a babysitter. After ten minutes of my parents being gone, she noticed I wasn't around and called for me. She was almost deaf, so she never heard my cries.

My brothers told her that I must have grabbed my dad's leg just before they had Disapparated, taking me with them. She stopped looking for me and believed my brothers.

My parents, of course, thought I was at home. I spent the night in the cellar under the stairs, crying and wailing in the dark. Finally, my parents came home and my aunt realised that I wasn't with them.

They finally found me and thankfully, never let my aunt baby-sit us again.

My favourite memory was my sixteenth birthday party this year. My parents planned a surprise party for me. It ended up being fun, but in the beginning I didn't like it at all, because I hate surprises. They invited my friends from school and it was fun.

What are your worst and favourite memories?

Chariot of Light

A/N- all right, so how was it? The next chapter...(dramatic music) is the ball! Yay! Finally, I know eh? But the characters had a lot to go through before they could get there. But this chapter won't be for a while as I am bombarded with work right now. So sorry in advance! But I promise you that the chapter will be good (duh!) and I'll make it a bit longer than my usual chapters. Hopefully you'll like it...whenever I write it that is. :P hehe, anyways please review! Xoxox.