Forever Yours

A/R- tada! Like I promised, chapter 23, right on time. This chapter is one of my favourites, along with the next one and the one after that. A million thanks to my wonderful beta- Elisabeth. Don't want to keep you from the story, so without delay: enjoy! P.S- More notes at the end!

Chapter 23

The next morning, Ginny woke up with a splitting headache.

She got up and started walking to the loo when she noticed the necklace setting on the floor.

Seeing it there made her feel bad. She shouldn't have thrown it. He had given it to her, but that didn't mean she couldn't treasure it.

The clasp was broken and so was one of the stones. The ring, however, was intact. So she put the necklace with the green and black stones on it in her jewellery box and got out her old necklace, the one that the ring had stayed on for six years.

She then slipped the ring on her old gold chain and tucked it underneath her shirt, as was her custom.

Just because he had abandoned her didn't mean that she couldn't still cherish all the good times they had had.

She would just forget about what had happened and look forward.

To aid her with this was Blaise. He was really into her and was constantly asking her out for dates: for lunch, for dinner and once, for breakfast even.

Ginny couldn't refuse him because her broken spirit liked his attention, and it kept her mind off of Prince.

The restaurants he took her too became fancier and pricier. He also became more affectionate with her.

During the first five dates, he kissed her hand. During the next five, he kissed her cheek.

After that, he kissed her on the lips for the first time.

The first time he had done it, Ginny had leaned back a bit, but there was nowhere to go, because the door to her apartment was behind her.

And so when his lips touched hers, her heart clenched a bit. Not because she was kissing him, because she hadn't kissed a guy for seven years now. The last guy she had kissed had been Harry, before he had gone to fight in the war and had died.

His lips were soft and he was a good kisser, but there were no butterflies. No little jolts of electricity or sweaty palms. Nothing.

She let him kiss her as they continued to see each other. Not because she was in love with him, but because he was a nice guy. He truly liked her and respected her. He also made her feel special when she was with him.

He bought her expensive gifts, even though she told him not too.

Before long, six months had passed in their relationship and they were officially a couple.

Ginny could tell he was a bit old fashioned because of his high status family, because he never suggested they sleep together or live together. He had taken their relationship as slow as he could and never did anything that would make her uncomfortable.

She still worked with Draco at the Ministry, and they continued to catch hordes of Death Eaters. Their job became a little less busy, but they still had lots to do.

He never mentioned their relationship, nor did he pester her with questions. It was an unspoken rule with them that they shouldn't discuss the relationship.

Ginny still felt odd about it. She hadn't had a boyfriend since before sixth year, and suddenly she had someone to spend her time with.

She didn't love him, and she was sure he knew that. But he still doted on her, owled her, and came over to talk to her.

Ginny thought about this as she got ready to go to Draco's one Friday in June.

They had a new case to work on, which required them to meet up out of work hours. She hadn't gone over to his house for a while now, because of all the time she spent with Blaise.

She brushed through her thick red curls and dabbed on clear lip gloss in the mirror.

The circles under her eyes had almost gone because she slept more easily these days. She had pushed Prince out of her mind so now that whenever she thought of him, she pinched herself.

It was a pretty painful punishment, but she didn't want to fall into an endless cycle of depression again.

So she thought less and tried to spend more time outside. Being with Blaise made her forget all about Prince.

Wait, that was a lie. There were some times when Blaise would be talking to her and a random thing that Prince had said would drift into her head.

So she would pinch herself as painfully as possibly, and Blaise would always ask her why she was wincing.

Ginny shook her head and picked up her files to take to Draco's.

Then she closed her eyes and Apparated to his house.

Immediately a house elf came up to her and took her things, while she fumbled with the straps of her shoes.

She could hear voices from the den, but couldn't decipher what they were saying.

Sighing, she sat on a nearby bench and began to unlace her shoes, which were being difficult.

"I'm going to...tomorrow," said a voice.

She knew that voice. It was Blaise.

"Good luck," came another voice, Draco's. "Just...how....feel."

"I will...but thanks to you....you introduced...to me. Thanks...setting us up," said Blaise.

Ginny was walking towards the den but froze when she heard that.

"Seriously, mate," said Blaise. "If it hadn't been for you suggesting her to me, I would have never thought about her like that. You gave me so many opportunities to talk to her. It's all thanks to you."

"No Blaise," Draco said. "You fell for her and I had nothing to do with it."

"But you brought us together. You did such a great job with setting up those random meetings with us. I owe you, mate. But I've got to go and pick it up. Bye, mate."

"Bye," came Draco's voice. There was a popping noise and then all was quiet.

Ginny's blood boiled as she stood there. Draco had set them up? No wonder she had seen him around so much! All of a sudden, everywhere she went was Blaise! It was all because of Draco.

There were footsteps as Draco came out of his den.

"Hey Ginny," he said when he came out. He saw her white face and said, "What's wrong?"

She stared at him and then said, "How could you?"

Oh no. She had heard everything. Draco ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Ginny, it's not the way it looks..."

"Then how is it?" she demanded, her face white. "How could you? I thought you were my friend!"

"I am your friend!" he shouted back. "I was trying to help you."

"Help me?" she repeated. "By setting me up with your friend?"

He sighed. "You guys are together now and it worked, so what's the problem?"

"You don't get it, do you? That's not the point! It's the principle of the matter," she said. "But how could you think that you could set me up with your friend?"

"You were sad, and I wanted to make you feel better! I thought I was doing you a favour."

"I don't need favours. Especially not from you! So what if I was sad? You decided to play matchmaker for me and play with my happiness?" she said, her face red now. The files in her hands lay forgotten. "I thought you were my friend!"

"I am your friend!" he said. "You were the one who said you hadn't gone out with anyone since Potter died and..."

"His name is Harry!" she shouted, tears filling her eyes and coursing down her cheeks. "His name is Harry."

Draco just stared at her. "I wanted you to be happy. I cared about you; that's why I did it. You hadn't gone out with anyone since Harry died and you were lonely. Your mum was worried about you because of that. I just wanted to help."

She bit her lip and wiped her eyes. "From now on, don't try to help me."

And with that, she went back to the foyer, grabbed her shoes, didn't even bother to put them on and Disapparated.

He sighed and stared at the spot where she had just stood. Did he just lose one of his best friends?

The next day, Ginny sat in a restaurant, waiting for Blaise to come back from the counter.

The fight she had had with Draco played itself over and over again in her mind.

He was right; they were together now, and his plan had worked. But that wasn't the point. The whole point was that he thought he knew what was best for her and decided to set her up without asking her.

Blaise came back from the counter, and the waiter came after him with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

From how Blaise was behaving, Ginny guessed that Draco hadn't told him about the fight they had had. It was irrelevant now to their relationship, and she didn't want to hurt Blaise either.

The waiter poured the champagne and then left.

"Do you remember your sixth year at Hogwarts?" he asked her.

She blinked. This was sudden. "Yes," she said slowly.

"Do you remember that we went on a date once?" he said, playing with the bracelet on her hand. Incidentally, it was the same bracelet Draco had given to her once, the one that was silver and was dripping with diamonds.

She thought back. "Yes, I remember that date."

He grinned. "I remember I scared you that day as well by sneaking up on you."

She smiled her sad smile. "You were still the same back then."

His grin vanished as he said, "So were you. You know, I threatened you that if you didn't go on a date with me I'd tell everyone you loved me. You never loved me then and you don't love me now either."

"Blaise..." Ginny started to say, but she had no idea what to say. She didn't love him, and she didn't want him to get the wrong idea. But she didn't want to hurt him either.

He held up his hand. "It's okay, Ginny. I know you don't love me, and I'm okay with it. Because I love you so much that my love is enough for the both of us. And I know you're still hurting after Harry's death, but I was still wondering...will you marry me?"

Ginny's heart skipped a beat. Had she heard wrong? No, she couldn't have because there was Blaise looking at her with hopeful eyes and a ring in his hand, holding it out to her.

"I know you're in pain and he meant a lot to you. I also know you've suffered a lot. But I want to make you happy," he said, taking her hand in his while she just stared at him with her big brown eyes. "And I'll take care of you forever. You'll never have to worry about anything, ever again. So what do you say? Will you marry me?"

Her breathing had become laboured as she stared at him. Thank goodness he hadn't made a big scene out of it and had gotten on his knee to ask her, because she knew the whole restaurant would have been staring at her. But this didn't make her answer any easier to think about.

She was in pain. But not for the reason that he thought.

Draco had said that she hadn't dated anyone since Harry had died and he was right. Her mum had said the same thing as well.

She had spent seven years alone, and she was tired of it now. If she said no to him, who knew when someone else would ask her to marry them?

He knew she didn't love him, but he was okay with it, for some reason. And he was still willing to love her and marry her.

Ginny didn't want to spend the rest of her life alone. She was tired of the waiting, tired of the pain. She deserved someone to love her and take care of her. He was a nice guy, liked taking care of her, and most of all...he loved her. What more could she ask for?

If he thought that she would eventually fall in love with him, he was wrong. She was done with love. Her heart was wrecked and lay in ruins inside of her. She knew she would never be able to love anyone like she had loved Harry and later, Prince.

But she still wanted to be married and to not spend her life alone.

So taking a deep breath, Ginny whispered her reply to him.

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The next day, she woke up in her bed and yawned.

She lifted up her land and saw the huge, glittering diamond that was on her ring finger.

Ginny had said yes to Blaise. She was willing to get married to him.

She didn't feel regret or sadness at this fact. She just felt an odd sort of emptiness within her, a feeling that had been there for six months now.

Today they were going to tell her parents. His parents already knew, because after the restaurant he took her back to his house and told his parents.

His mum welcomed her joyously into the family and immediately asked her to bring her parents over soon.

Ginny smiled and nodded, especially when she saw how happy Blaise was. He never let go of her hand as he told his mum that they were going to have a big engagement party.

And she felt no regret. She felt happy that she was the source of his happiness and that his family was happy as well.

Slowly, she got out of bed and began getting dressed.

She picked a white ruffled dress that went just past her knees, brushed her hair out, and put a thick black headband into it.

Just as she was finishing her make-up, there was a knock at the door.

She walked to it and opened it.

It was Blaise, of course, and he had his arms laden with various packages and things.

"What is all of this?" she asked, taking some of the stuff from him.

He kissed her and then said, "Just some stuff, you know."

"Like what?" she said, opening the nearest bag. "Flowers?" She held up the bouquet of roses.

"Yeah, for your mum," he said, opening other bags. "I want her to like me."

She smiled and shook her head. "She's met you, Blaise. She likes you. Don't worry."

But he paid her no attention. Instead he asked her, "Does your mum like rye bread or pumpernickel?"

Ginny laughed. "You bought her bread?"

He nodded. "Which one?"

After helping Blaise sort through all the stuff he had bought, Ginny decided to take the flowers for her mum and one of the many cakes he had bought.

With that, she took his hand and they Apparated to her house.

He had been there before and had met her family. Her mum had beamed when she had first introduced him to them; she was that happy to see her little girl going out.

When they told her parents they were getting married, her mum started crying tears of joy. She immediately got up, hugged Ginny, and then hugged Blaise.

"Just take good care of her," she said, in between her tears.

Blaise hugged her back and said, "I will, Mrs Weasley. I will."

Mr Weasley congratulated them as well and hugged his little girl, telling her how happy he was for her.

Ron and Hermione were there as well and were overjoyed when they heard that Ginny was getting married.

Molly, like Aurora Zabini, was in a hurry to meet with Blaise's parents and start talking wedding plans. So Blaise invited them over for lunch the next week.

After such an eventful weekend, Ginny went back to work on Monday, not remembering her fight with Draco.

When she walked into the office, he was sitting in his office, as usual, beginning his work.

When she walked in to hand him a memo about their assignment, he said, "Congratulations."

She was shocked. "For what?" she asked him, just in case he was talking about finishing their latest case.

"For your engagement," he said, looking up, his grey eyes meeting hers. "Dawlish wants us to..."

And he never mentioned it again. Neither did she. They didn't talk about anything other than work or what they had to do. Things were extremely awkward between them throughout the whole week.

The whole office noticed as well. They were all used to them goofing off and listening to their laughter trickle out of Malfoy's office, but watched in awe when they got the most work done.

On Saturday, Ginny got ready at her parents' house for the lunch at Blaise's house.

Mrs Weasley helped dress Ginny up in a mint green dress with a flower print and made her leave her hair out, telling her that she was tired of her old lady bun that she wore her hair in.

And so at one o'clock Ginny and her parents Apparated to the Zabini Manor.

Mrs Weasley was as awed as Ginny when she had first been there, but thankfully kept her oos and aahs inside.

The two mothers greeted each other heartily, and Blaise's new father and Ginny's father shook hands.

Blaise kissed Ginny quickly and then stood beaming, watching their families greet each other warmly.

"Hello," came another voice from the stairs.

Ginny looked up and saw Draco there. Of course he would be there.

"Draco! Hello dear," said Mrs Weasley, greeting him.

"Do you know Draco?" Aurora asked, a bit confused.

"Yes, we do," said Mr Weasley. "He's been over a few times. Good to see you."

Aurora smiled at Draco and said, "He's almost like my son. I'm glad he's had a chance to meet you as well."

Draco finally came around to Ginny and Blaise. "Hi," he said to Ginny, his eyes meeting hers very briefly.

"Your work partner's going to be my life partner, eh Draco?" said Blaise, jokingly, squeezing her hand.

Everyone laughed, and then Aurora led them to the sitting room.

Tea was served and biscuits were passed around.

After inquiries had been made about each other's families, the talking turned to the wedding.

"We would like to have an engagement party for them here in two weeks," said Aurora, passing fresh fruit around now.

"Two weeks? Oh my," said Mrs Weasley. "Isn't that a bit soon?"

"You won't have to worry about anything," said Aurora, smiling. "I have a party planner that I will employ for the party, and it will be for family only. Fairly small, just twenty five people from each side."

"That sounds reasonable," said Mr Weasley.

"I'm glad you like the idea. The kids can do whatever they want with their friends later, I thought. But I'd like a nice engagement party with everyone present," she continued, "because I know Blaise is anxious to get married."

Blaise smiled at her and she smiled faintly back.

After they had agreed on the engagement party, Blaise's stepfather offered to show Mr Weasley the grounds, and Draco and Blaise followed as well.

"How did you meet Draco again?" Aurora asked once they were gone.

"Ginny brought him over a few times for dinner," said Mrs Weasley. "He's such a nice boy."

Aurora smiled. "I'm glad he's found a friend. I do worry about him so."

"Why is that?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Because his parents died when he was sixteen," she said, "so it's been tough for him."

"Oh, I remember now," she said. "He changed sides after that and was quite helpful to us, which was amazing. A lot of people didn't trust him in the beginning, but now a lot of people respect him. He and Ginny have done so well at the Auror Department."

"Yes, they have," she said, smiling at Ginny. "Blaise told me all about your cases and how you caught those Death Eaters. It was very brave of you."

Ginny just smiled.

"I'm so happy that Blaise has found someone like you that he loves so much," she said. "I just wish Draco would as well. Except he's so much quieter and solitary than Blaise."

"Because of his parents' death?"

She nodded. "Especially because of that. He used to be arrogant before that, even Blaise is now. It's how we raised them, his mother and I, but after they died, all of his pride disappeared. He changed a lot."

"For the better I'm sure," Mrs Weasley said.

Aurora nodded. "For most things, he did change for the better. But for some things, I worry about him. Unlike Blaise, Draco will never ask for anything, even something that may be rightfully his. He lets Blaise do whatever he wants and looks over him a lot. The trouble Blaise gets in is only half of what he should get into because of Draco. They've been close since they were small because his mother and I were close, but after his parents' death, they became closer."

"I'm glad that at least he has someone like Blaise," Mrs Weasley said. "Blaise is such a kind hearted sincere young man. I know he'll make Ginny happy."

Ginny just smiled at her mum and Aurora. She hoped she would be happy with him.

The men returned from their walk outside and then lunch was served.

A date for the wedding was picked, two months from now. The venue for the wedding was chosen, and Aurora invited mother and daughter over to make decisions for the colour of the wedding robes and other such details.

Everyone left the Zabini house that evening smiling and talking about the wedding, which would happen in two months from now.

Mrs Weasley actually agreed with Aurora at the date of the wedding, because she also wanted to see Ginny married off quickly.

Ginny's work load was heavy as well right now, so she hardly had a chance to participate in the engagement party plans as she worked furiously throughout the week and her mother visited the Zabini house.

Every day, her mother would owl her and tell her about the new wedding or engagement detail that she and Aurora had finalised.

Ginny didn't exactly care what appetizers were served in the main meal, so her letters to her mum were just ones of assent and agreement.

Letters were pouring in for Ginny. Letters from family and old friends from Hogwarts who had received invitations to the wedding.

Aurora Zabini was a quick worker, her mum told her. Her party planner was very efficient, and the first thing she did was send wedding invitations out. Then she began to work on the engagement that was a week and a half away.

Her mum was so excited that she was finally getting married that she was going all out for her wedding, buying this and that, consulting Hermione and Fleur about every little thing, wanting her only daughter's wedding to be the wedding of her dreams.

Ginny, in the meantime, tried to concentrate on her work. She didn't want to leave all the burden on Draco because of all the wedding preparations, so she worked extra hard.

Things were still awkward between them. He was still as nice as ever, but since she had blown up at him, the easy going feeling was now gone.

Blaise sometimes dropped by during lunch and took her out, telling her hilarious stories about their mothers and what they were doing.

Her work made her stay late at night, working beside Draco in silence as they tried to get new clues for their new cases, trying to solve them.

With all the wedding preparations and all the work she had, she was extremely busy.

But she didn't mind. Because this meant that she could keep her mind off all the things that were worrying her, her marriage being one of them.

Even through all the things she had to do, Ginny felt as if she was drifting. Not really in the present nor in the future.

Her mind dwelled in an unknown place, in a sea of memories that kept bogging her down. Time had suddenly turned into a strange factor.

Sometimes it would speed up so that the day would be done before she even had a chance to sit down in her chair and sometimes the hands of the clock would tick so slowly, she could swear sometimes they were going backwards.

She still couldn't believe that she was getting married, to Blaise Zabini, of all men. She hadn't even had a chance to understand their relationship when they were dating and without realising it, she was now engaged to him.

The square diamond that he had given her before, he had taken back until their official engagement (aka the party), because that would only be proper, according to his mother.

The week before the engagement party, Aurora invited Ginny over, with her mother of course, to try the dress on that she had bought for her.

So Ginny went over to her house. Blaise wasn't home; he was gone to a work party, but Draco was there.

He didn't say much when he saw her come except a quiet hello, and then he went upstairs. Their most recent case had finished, so she guessed that was why he was over.

The dress that she had ordered for her, based on her mother's measurements, was a long brown silk gown with short ruffled sleeves and gold beadwork around the neckline. It was fairly simple, like Ginny had wanted, but still pretty and fancy.

She tried it on and it fit her perfectly. Aurora told her that there would be a makeup artist there to help her get ready, but Ginny told her that she'd rather get ready from home.

Instead of being offended, like Ginny had thought she would be, Aurora was impressed. "That's not something every girl says. I'm impressed."

Mrs Weasley had been getting ready to scold Ginny for refusing but smiled when she heard Aurora's compliment.

"Thank you," said Ginny. "I don't mean to offend you. It's just I'm more comfortable doing my own makeup, that's all."

Aurora waved her hand. "Of course. I understand completely."

Ginny and her mum left their house after eating dinner and then went home.

Molly tried to convince Ginny to stay longer, but she told her that she had work the next morning and trudged off home.

The next day work went by as usual. Draco and Ginny didn't get any new assignments but were given some recording task to do, which made the day go by even slower.

Finally, she got to go home.

When she turned the lights on to her flat, she sighed with dismay when she saw the state it was in.

Recently she had been so busy that she hadn't had a chance to clean up. She would go to work and then come home and go out again, either to meet Blaise or to her mum's house. She was hardly ever home these days.

She hated mess. She despised a dirty house. It was so gross to her that she couldn't even think when the house was a mess.

Before she started to clean, she decided to quickly write down a letter to her boss about the case they were working on.

She started to sit down on the couch when there was a squeak.

Ginny jumped and looked at the sofa. There was an owl fluttering on the cushion of the sofa where she had just been about to sit.

The owl looked vaguely familiar as she took the letter from its claws. But then again, she got dozens of owls these days, from great aunt's to Hermione and her mum, several times a day.

She patted the owl and it flew out the window as she slowly opened the envelope.

As soon as she saw the script, her heart skipped a beat and she gasped.

Ginny suddenly felt dizzy as she looked at the oh so familiar black, even script. What...?

It read:

June 13, 2003

Dear Chariot,

First of all, let me apologise profusely for not having written to you in the past six months. Things have been so busy that I haven't had a spare second to write, let alone think.

But more of that later, the last time I heard from you was on Christmas. I wrote to you and you never wrote back... perhaps you forgot?

These six months have been slow torture for me without having your letters to read and to reply to. But work has suddenly gotten a lot tougher, and some of my co-workers have been troubling me.

But enough of that now. The only thought on my mind for the past six months has been that I want to see you...badly.

It's been six years since we started writing, and I think it's time we finally spoke face to face. You've given me so much strength and inspiration that I want to thank you properly.

Meet me at Tower Bridge tomorrow (Saturday) at six thirty, if you can. I'll bring the teddy bear you first gave me, what was his name? Mario. I'll bring Mario the bear so you can recognize me.

I can't wait to see you. I've waited for this moment for six years now. I'll be waiting for you.

Forever Yours,

(your) Prince

Ginny's heartbeat quickened. The Prince!

He hadn't ignored her...or forgotten her? Her letter had somehow never reached him. But how could that be? She had sent the owl, hadn't she?

She thought back to the day she had written to him. She had written it in the room she was in and then...she had tied it to the owl's legs. But then...there had been a knock on the door and she had tied it quickly and let the owl leave.

She closed her eyes as tears started to course down her cheeks. Her misery for the past six months had been her own fault. No one else's.

The letter hadn't been secure properly and probably fell off as Pig was flying away.

These past six months, Ginny had fallen so deeply into sadness because she had thought that he had abandoned her...left her. But now...it had all been her stupid fault!

He had never received her letter asking him to meet her. She had thought he had received it, but he hadn't.

All this time she had been wondering what he thought about her and why he didn't want to meet her, and all along, he had just been busy.

Her heart felt lighter than it had ever felt before. She wiped her tears off her face and smiled. Now she could meet him! Nothing would stop her.

She began to jump up and down when something began to nag her. What was it?

Tomorrow was her engagement! Oh my god, she thought. She sat back down on the couch.

Tomorrow she was getting engaged to Blaise, but that was when Prince (her Prince!) wanted to meet.

It was unfair for her to lead Blaise on and continue on with the engagement when she was committed to someone else.

But was she committed to someone else? She didn't even know how Prince would turn out to be in person, so she shouldn't cancel the engagement...yet.

The party started at seven tomorrow, but she had to be there at six to get ready.

Ginny rubbed her forehead as she thought of how to manipulate the time problem. But it didn't matter.

She would get there...no matter what happened. And no one would be able to stop her.

A/N- so???? Was that too rushed? I hope not? So they're engaged! Oh my god, I can't wait to see what you guys think. So before I forget, a million thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed last chapter! I was so overwhelmed with the amount of reviews. It was quite shocking, but very fun to read them all. So thank you all- to the old reviewers as well as the new! I would mention names...but that would make this already long Note even longer...you all know who you are and how much I love you. Muhahaha, so my evil plan worked...okay, well it wasn't evil. But I did get some of you to review who never did. And that was what I was hoping for. But I hope I didn't destroy your poor nerves by the wait with this chapter (got to love Mrs Bennet!) and that it met your expectations. Luckily, my beta seemed to have heard your pleas for more, because she is almost done with the next chapter and then there is only one more after! -Sob- The story's almost done... Next chapter: the meeting! And I don't just mean any meeting...-raises eyebrows- I mean THE meeting between Chariot and Prince! I'm almost as eager as you guys...to see your reaction of course. And yes, twilight is the best book ever...after HP. Keep the reviews coming! Xoxox :)