With Me Or Against Me

Ginny didn't know when things had changed. Maybe there wasn't a specific time or place that it happened. Maybe it had simply been there all along, under the surface, waiting for the right moment to come back and kick her in the head. And it had done so, with a vengeance.

From the very first sparks of their relationship, there had been a little voice in the back of her mind warning her against starting something with Draco. They were so different. Their families hated each other. He wasn't the person she thought he was. The fireworks would fade and they would be left with nothing. The voice went on and on, but Ginny had gotten skilled at ignoring it. She was in love with Draco, and that was all there was to it.

Unfortunately, the voice was turning out to be painfully accurate. In the past two months, Draco had changed. Right before her very eyes, apparently, but she'd been too blinded by love to see it. And now it was too late.

"You don't have to do this, you know."

He glared at her. "Yes, Ginny, I do."

She folded her arms across her chest and tried to keep the sadness out of her voice. "I still don't understand why."

Draco looked resolutely down the empty corridor before bringing his icy stare back to rest on her. "I've told you a hundred times. If I join the Dark Lord now, before the war, I can move up in the ranks quickly. Probably even become his right-hand man before long."

Ginny could feel her temper mounting. "He's using you, Draco. Why can't you see it? He'll get you to do his dirty work and then he'll dispose of you!"

"The Dark Lord does what is best for his followers." His voice was cold, empty.

She felt a chill go up her spine. "He'll destroy you, Draco, assuming he even wins this war."

"He'll win. I'll win."

"How can you be so sure?" Ginny matched his glare with one of her own. "How can you be sure about any of this?"

Draco sighed, and she knew he was barely keeping his temper in check. "I just am, Ginny."

"Draco, you're being an idiot!" She could hear her volume rising but was beyond caring. "I don't want you to do this!"

"I don't care what you want!" he shouted. "I have to do this!"

"No, you don't!" she retorted. "You're not your father, Draco!"

He looked as if he'd been struck. "My father is a strong and powerful man," he said stonily. "I would do well do follow in his footsteps."

"I won't watch you throw your life away," she whispered painfully. "I can't do it, Draco. I just can't."

The muscles in his jaw tightened. "You're either with me or you're against me, Ginny. Which is it?"

Her heart stopped. Was he saying what she thought he was? She'd always supported him in everything up to this point, but now he wanted her to support him in this? He wanted her to watch him be destroyed before her eyes? "I can't," she repeated sadly. "I'm sorry, Draco."

"Not as sorry as I am."

~~~~~~~~

Ginny stood in the empty corridor, shaking like a leaf. She rubbed her arms, trying to calm the trembling, but her whole body seemed to be beyond her control. He was gone. She had let him down and now he was gone.

"What have I done?" she whispered.

"Miss Weasley?"

Ginny looked up in surprise. "Professor McGonagall. I was just..."

"Come with me, Miss Weasley." McGonagall turned and headed down the corridor.

Ginny followed without question. She didn't think she was in trouble, unless Professor McGonagall had found out about those dungbombs in the Common Room... but any fear of that escapade being discovered paled in comparison to the fear that enveloped her now - the fear that Draco was lost to her forever.

McGonagall led the way into her office and motioned for Ginny to sit down in one of the large armchairs. Ginny complied, still wondering what was going on. "Professor, I..."

"Would you care for a cup of tea, Miss Weasley?" Ginny just nodded, completely bewildered. McGonagall poured two cups of strong tea and handed one to Ginny before taking the other herself and sitting in the other armchair.

"Professor," Ginny tried again, "am I in trouble?"

"I sincerely hope not, Miss Weasley," the older woman answered, a sad note in her voice. "But someone else may be."

Ginny frowned. "I don't understand."

McGonagall sighed. "May I tell you a story?"

"Alright," Ginny agreed, still confused. "About what?"

"About a young lady very similar to yourself."

Ginny couldn't quell her curiosity. "Someone here at Hogwarts?"

"She was at Hogwarts, yes; but this was a very long time ago," McGonagall said, "and she didn't start out here. She grew up in a very wealthy pureblood family, an only child who was given everything she ever wanted or needed."

Ginny took a sip of her tea and listened intently as McGonagall continued. "The girl received her letter and headed off to Hogwarts with high hopes. She would be the greatest witch of her age and show the world the wonderful things she could do."

"Did she?" Ginny asked.

"She certainly tried. But things don't always go the way we plan, do they?"

Ginny let out a dry laugh. "Definitely not. What happened to mess up her plan?"

"She met a young man."

"I should have guessed."

McGonagall smiled. "Yes, she met a young man named Thomas and they became best friends. They were inseparable from the first day they met. They did everything together, and the girl was happier than she'd ever been before."

"And Thomas? He was happy too, wasn't he?"

"It seemed so, but eventually the girl realized that Thomas was miserable, and she didn't know why. Every day at Hogwarts seemed to make him more and more withdrawn. The only time he was himself was when they were alone."

Ginny frowned. "Couldn't she have asked him what was wrong?"

McGonagall shook her head. "He didn't want to talk about it. Simply said that he was 'dealing with things' and didn't want to discuss it. Naturally, the girl was worried, but she knew better than to try and force him. So she ignored it as long as she could."

Ginny took another sip of her tea. "How long was that?"

"Unfortunately, it took her years to get him to open up, and by that time she had fallen in love with him." McGonagall held out a plate. "Crisp?"

"No, thank you," Ginny declined politely, determined to hear what happened next. "She was in love with him?"

"Naturally," McGonagall confirmed. "She'd loved him since the day she met him, and eventually that love became deeper and consumed her. It consumed both of them. But even as their relationship developed, Thomas grew more distant. He was cold, brooding, and even cruel at times. She couldn't explain it, and it frightened her. But she thought that their love would be enough to carry them through whatever they faced."

"And was it?" Ginny asked, leaning forward, her hands tightly gripping the teacup. "Was it enough?"

"It was at first, until she began to see what was happening to him - what was truly happening behind his façade of indifference." McGonagall set down her cup with a sigh. "Soon she discovered that Thomas was no longer the boy she knew, but a man on the brink of evil."

Ginny gasped. "What did she do? Did she say anything to him?"

"Yes," McGonagall nodded. "She confronted him. Told him that he was destroying himself and that she couldn't stand it any longer. She said that she wouldn't watch him throw his life away."

Tears pricked at Ginny's eyes. She could feel the intense agony of this unknown girl who was so much like herself - in love with someone who was on a path of self-destruction and helpless to do anything about it. "What did he say?" she choked.

McGonagall passed her a handkerchief. "He said that he would do what he wanted, and she was either for him..."

"Or against him," Ginny finished in a strangled voice. "Oh, Merlin. She let him walk away, didn't she?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"That she did," Professor McGonagall replied sadly. "She told him that she was sorry, but she couldn't watch him hurt himself like that. And then he left - walked out of her life forever."

Ginny wiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. "What happened to him? Did he destroy himself like she thought he would?"

"Yes, in many ways." Ginny thought she saw tears in her professor's eyes and the older woman spoke. "He fell deeper and deeper into the Dark Arts and forgot all about the girl. Forgot how much she had done for him, how much she had loved him. He cut himself off from everything related to her until eventually there was no room left in his heart for love. He had destroyed himself by cutting out his very heart and soul - his first and only love."

Ginny sat, stunned. "He walked away from her and turned evil. He became..." She looked up in sudden realization. "Thomas... Tom."

McGonagall nodded. "Voldemort."

"Oh," Ginny breathed. "Oh, no... the girl! Did she know what Thomas became?"

"Yes, she knew. And she regretted it so much."

Ginny frowned. "She regretted it? But she didn't do anything."

McGonagall shrugged slightly. "Perhaps not, but she always wondered if things would have been different if she hadn't let him walk away. If she had just told him she loved him one last time, maybe he would have stayed."

The words hit Ginny hard. The story was like looking in a mirror and seeing her own life in the reflection. Draco was on his way to ruin, and she could either stand by and watch or do everything in her power to change his mind. And she certainly didn't want a lifetime of regrets.

She set her empty teacup on the table and stood. "Thank you, Professor. You've given me quite a lot to think about." She crossed the room and paused at the door. Turning back, she asked, "Professor, what happened to the girl?"

McGonagall smiled sadly. "She went on to become a great witch, and showed the world what she could do."

Ginny nodded, but had to know one last thing before she left. "Who was she?"

The sad smile became even sadder. Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and said, "Me."

~~~~~~~~

Ginny raced through the corridors, her mind filled with Professor McGonagall's last words to her. "Don't make the same mistakes I did, Miss Weasley. Don't let love get away just because you're afraid of what might happen." There was so much to consider, but at that moment, Ginny knew that there was only one place she needed to be.

She ran through the open doors of the castle and out onto the grounds, her eyes searching frantically for any sign of him. She knew that he most likely had gone down to the lake, as was his usual practice when he needed solitude. Struggling for breath, Ginny pushed her legs forward until she finally spotted him, alone under a tree by the water's edge.

"Draco!" she called out in a raspy voice. He turned at the sound of his name, but turned away again when he saw that it was her.

"Go away, Ginny," he said coldly, pushing himself to his feet and starting to walk away.

Ginny reached out and grabbed his arm. "Draco, please. Let me speak."

"I think you've said enough for one day," he snapped. "I don't want to discuss it anymore."

"Well, I do!" she countered, not releasing her grip on his arm. "So will you give me a minute of your time or not?"

He hesitated for a moment before nodding curtly and turning to face her. "One minute."

She jumped right in. "I meant what I said before, Draco," she began. "I don't want to see you throw your life away for a worthless cause." She felt his muscles stiffen but she kept on. "And I still don't understand why you have to do this."

"I've told you, Ginny, I..."

"But I love you, Draco."

He stopped and met her gaze. "What?"

"I love you," she repeated, "and that means I'm with you in this." Her voice trembled at the words. "I'm behind you the whole way, no matter what happens."

Draco frowned. "I don't understand."

She rolled her eyes. "Bloody hell, Draco!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "I'm in love with you and I'm not going to let that pass us by just because I'm scared out of my mind at the prospect of what you have to do!"

He laughed - the first real laugh she'd heard from him in ages - and reached out a hand to touch her cheek. "You love me, Ginny?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "I do."

"Well, that's good," he replied, "because I love you too, and I'm scared out of my mind at the prospect of what I have to do."

She smiled grimly at her own words being repeated back to her. "We'll get through this, Draco. We will."

He nodded. "I know. We'll do it together. We'll be scared together. We'll fight together. We'll make it together. I promise."

It was a promise sealed with a kiss.

FIN