Faint

 Chapter 8: Hear Me Out

She walks through the portrait hole, angrily swiping at her wet cheeks. She lets out a long, slow breath and pushes her hair away from her face.

"Ginny?"

The voice sends relief and anxiety flooding through her. She opens her eyes to see Harry standing in front of her, his black hair standing on end and his eyes wide with concern. He steps forward and places his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you ok?"

She tries to speak, but chokes on a sob and settles for shaking her head. He leads her to the chair in front of the fire and she sinks down into it, burying her head in her hands. He lets her cry, his hand resting lightly on her arm.

"Gin, what happened?" he asks softly, as she wipes her eyes.

She gives a sniffle and chooses to ignore the question. "Why aren’t you at Hogsmeade?"

"I wanted to talk to you," he says impatiently. "What happened?"

She looks into his eyes, so full of caring and worry, and her heart turns over. "I can’t," she chokes out.

He tenses. "It’s about Malfoy, isn’t it?"

"How...?"

"I saw you in the corridor together."

"Oh... god.... Harry...."

He stands up suddenly, making the twisting feeling in her stomach ten times worse. Before she can say a word, however, he is striding toward the portrait hole with a grim expression on his face.

"Harry, where are you going?"

But he is already out the door.

*

"Malfoy!"

The blond boy turns around, smirking when he sees Harry.

"What do you want, Potter?"

Harry advances on him, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "I have waited so long for a reason to do this."

Draco barely even has time to blink before Harry’s fist slams into him.

*

Ginny sits on her bed, her fingers tracing designs over the blanket. She has cast a spell around her to play music only she can hear. It is a Muggle group, with rather angry lyrics.

I am a little bit insecure, a little unconfident

Cause you don’t understand, I do what I can, but sometimes it don’t make sense

I am what you never want to say, but I never had a doubt

It’s like no matter what I do, I can’t convince you for once just to hear me out

She gives a start when she hears her brother’s voice from the common room, and waves her hand to cut off the music.

"Harry, what happened to you?"

Oh gods...

She springs to her feet and races down the stairs. In the corner of the common room, with Ron and Hermione on either side, is Harry. She pauses on the bottom step, her heart catching in her throat. Even from here, he looks bad. His nose is bloody and one of his eyes is swollen, turning purple. His lip is busted and his glasses are splintered. At that exact moment, he looks up and his gaze meets hers. Ignoring the confusion of his friends, he makes his way over to her. Ron follows suit, and Hermione trails behind.

"Guys, I need to talk to Ginny," he says, never taking his eyes off her. Ron glances back and forth between them but Hermione grabs his arm and tows him away, shoving an open book under his nose.

"What is it Harry?"

"Do you love him?"

"What?" At a glance from him, she shakes her head. "No... I mean, NO."

"Then why?"

She sighs. "I don’t know. . . He made things easier, if only for a while."

"Easier? How the hell did Draco Malfoy make things easier?"

She looks down at her feet, all too aware of his eyes on her. "I have . . . nightmares. Always have, but they got worse after the Triwizard Tournament. I don’t know how things started with him, but they did. I went to his room when I woke up, and he made me forget. I wasn’t me when I was with him. I was someone else. And that was better."

"So what happened?"

"I’m not sure . . . I guess I started to need more than that . . . He doesn’t love me. He can’t love me. I was a toy to him. A trophy. And then you came along . . . I got so confused."

"I’m sorry."

"No... don’t be . . . I left him this morning. He didn’t think I would. He said no one else can give me what he can. But he’s wrong."

Harry’s eyes widen as he takes in her words. "He is?"

She nods and steps closer to him. He leans his face toward hers.

"I love you, Ginny."

And then his lips are on hers, and it is everything she felt the first time and more. This time, there is no confusion. This is where she belongs, and this is who she belongs with. His hands are wiping away the last of her tears, his lips are warming her heart, and his love is cleansing her soul. She knows that when she awakens that evening, ghosts’ whispers still in her ears, he will be there to hold her. No more games, no more guessing. Only love.

*~*fin*~*