Pieces of Me

Pieces of Me

-IcyTigerChick

I'm losing

or am I winning

She's moving backwards

and forwards...

She's ugly when she's

insecure

And that makes her beautiful....

-Buffy

"Get away from me."

He smirks, hair falling ever-so slightly into his eyes. "Is that really what you want?"

"It's what I need." She shoves him away from her, dashes down the corridor.

"Weasley!"

She spins around, blue eyes glinting in the gloom.

"What, Malfoy?"

"I-" He stops, runs a pale had through his hair, then shakes his head. "Forget it," he mutters.

Ginny cocks a thin eyebrow and sprints away in a swirl of black and red and gold.

"And there she goes again," Draco says quietly, to no-one in particular. He sighs. "I am so stupid."

"No kidding."

Draco whirls around, silver eyes flashing, searching for where the voice was coming from.

A figure emerges from the shadows, hooded and discreet. "What do you want?" Draco asks, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I want you to wake up and get your facts straight."

Draco's eyes narrow to slits. "Care to elaborate?"

"Think fire, Draco." The figure disappeares back into the shadows. "Don't be bold, don't be subtle. Be somewhere in between."

What the hell was that about? Draco wonders to himself. Shrugging it off, he thrusts his hands deep into his pockets, head low, acting like some kicked puppy.

"Hey, Malfoy."

He looks up. "Ginny."

She is leaning on the side of a doorframe, one hand gripping the doorknob so tightly her knuckles are white, the other limp and relaxed at her side. "I'm really, really confused."

"Really, really confused," Draco repeats slowly. He barely hears himself speak.

No one says a word.

"What, no sarcastic comment? No cruel humor? No bloody torture?" Her mouth becomes a thin, straight line.

"Gin," Draco says suddenly. "I think I might be in love with you." He inhales sharply.

Ginny snorts. "You? Draco Malfoy, hater of everything I am? It would be a miracle if you could love anything, let alone a stupid, poor, Muggle-loving Weasley." She blinks. "It would be crazy."

"Have you noticed," Draco begins suddenly. "That crazy things happen all the time?"

"No. I haven't." Ginny snarls. "Why do I even bother?" she asks herself through gritted teeth.

She spins away for the second time that day, stomps as well as she can. Draco watches as her head turns to face him again, glaring fiercely, lip quivering. She turns away, long red curtain of hair trailing out behind her. This time, she disappears completely from view. Draco stands, unmoving. He considers sighing, then simply walks away.

*

There are pieces of me

that you have never seen

-Buffy

*

She stands like a fallen angel; strong, defiant, unafraid, yet radiant and beautiful and almost vulnerble. She gazes out onto the lake, surrounded by roses. He watches, thinking that her dark crimson hair puts the roses to shame.

The lighs from the castle have dimmed, the stars are showing up as sprinkles of silver scattered by hand across a long, dark piece of silk.

Ginny plucks a rose off the proud, regal bush, and winces slightly as the thorns prick her. Ginny's creamy hand loosens her grip on the rose, and she peers down at the spots of steadily growing blood. She closes her hand tightly, quickly, squeezing the thorns deeper and deeper into her flesh. Scarlet blood seeps through her clenched fingers, runs in rivulets down her forearm, pools in the crook of her arm, and drips slowly down, splashing slightly in the dewey grass. She inhales deeply, exhales, trying not no cry. Her teeth clench, and she releases the rose, letting the weight of it rip her skin slightly and tear free. The rose makes no noise as it lands. Ginny doesn't move, her eyes never leaving the restless surface of the lake.

Draco supresses the urge to run over. He blinks, unsure what to do. He starts to turn away, then remembers the person from the shadows. Think fire, Draco remind himself. Not bold, not subtle. Somewhere in between. Take a deep breath, Draco. He breathes in the cool air filled with the scent of cut grass and roses. He takes another shaky breath. You can do this.

He walks quietly up to the unaware redheaded girl, and places a hand on her shoulder. She recoils, takes a step back.

Ginny peers into the darkness. "Malfoy?"

"Hi, Ginny."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Her eyes appear black in the dark. Draco wonders if he should go away. Forcing the thought out of his head, Draco tells himself that going away isn't an option. Is being stupid an option? Draco wonders. Yes, be stupid. Be sexy, be suave, be kind, be whatever she wants you to be.

"Looking for you."

"Well, you've found me. Now go away."

"Just let me ask you one question."

She stares at him like the answers to all of her questions are written all over his face. Ginny sighs. "Ask it."

"Do- do you love me?"

"What the hell kind of a question is that?" Ginny places her still bleeding hand on her hip, staining the thin material a darker black.

"The kind of question that's been following me around for longer as long as I can remember." He waits expectantly for an answer.

Ginny's voice cracks. "Don't look at me like that."

Draco raises an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Like you know exactly who I am."

Who am I?

I don't know

And I don't

care...

-Buffy

Draco feels a smile twitch at the corners of his mouth. "Maybe I do."

"You don't. No one does."

"Maybe I do," Draco repeats.

"Not unless you've been bloody following me around, you don't."

Draco says nothing.

"You haven't- have you?"

Still nothing.

"You haven't answered my question," Draco says loudly.

"You haven't answered mine," Ginny returns.

"Yes. I have been... following you. Distantly, in the shadows, in the corridors, but following. I know what you have first in the day, I know who your best friend is, and I know that you're allergic to azalea oil, but not the actual flower," Draco confesses, a splotch of magenta rising in his cheeks. He is thankful for the dark because of that.

"Ah," Ginny says in a shaky voice. "So I have a stalker." She laughs slightly to herself. Draco thinks he can hear her on the verge of tears.

He is right. Ginny's eyes sting from trying to hold back tears.

"Do you love me?"

The words scald Ginny's tongue. She wants to spit out the words, but something holds them back. Yes. I love you. I. Love. You. I have since forever. I don't know why- you're a complete bastard. But I love you. I do. She bites her tongue. Sweet and salty blood fills her mouth. Not wanting to spit it out at Draco's feet, she swallows it. It tastes bitter all the way down.

"Gin," he says gently. "Answer. I'm dying here."

You're not the only one, Ginny wants to say. But instead nothing can be heard except distant crickets and silence.

"Okay. I can take a hint." Draco turns and begins to walk away, hating himself.

Ginny's eyes fill with tears. Don't you let him walk away, Virginia Genevive Weasley. You've done some pretty damn stupid things in your life, but this will be by far the stupidest. Don't you let him fucking walk away! "I can't!"

Draco turns back, his silver-gray eyes full of question. The dim lights back at the castle still shine, giving him a faint illumination, almost like a halo.

"I love you! But I can't." Suddenly, there is a fierce gust of wind. Her hair blows out behind her, and the wind streaks the single tear running on her cheek back. "I-I can't."

Draco saunters back to her. "Why not?"

"I don't know...But I can't. M-my family, and-and-"

"Shh..." Draco presses a finger to her parted lips. "I know..." He wraps his arms around her, pulling her close. For a moment, Ginny sinks into it, sniffling.

Suddenly she springs back. "No."

"You love me," Draco whispers. He pales even more than he already is. His eyes are dead, blank. "But you hate me."

More hot tears roll down Ginny's face.
"Why are you being like like this?"

"You want to know why I'm being like this?" Ginny tucks a lock of fiery hair behind her ear. She walks slowly to the water's edge. Draco follows her, not feeling the ground beneath him. Not feeling anything, for that matter.

"Did you know that every time I look at you, I die, just a little bit. And every time I see you smile, I die just a little bit more. And every time you get furious at me and say that you hate me, I get brought back, just a little bit, because I think that maybe- just maybe- I can bring myself to hate you, too." She looks up into Draco's eyes. "Do you know what it's like, trying to hate the one person who you know you never can?"

He nods, still numb. He lookes out onto the water, which seems too have suddenly become calm. He peers down into the water, staring at his reflection.

I can see myself,

Peaceful and pale.

But underneath,

I can barely inhale...

-'All of This Past'

Sarah Bettens

"I'll still always love you."

Ginny sniffs. "So will I. Love you, I mean."

Draco blinks, then turns to face her. "The why can't you be with me?"

"My family hates you and your family. They hate your fucking name. And I'm sure the words "Ginny Weasley" aren't spoke with too much love around your house- that is, if I was dubbed significant enough to be discussed."

"Who cares?"

"Me. I care. My family means everything to me."

"So you need their approval on everything you do?"

"Draco, It's not like that-"
"Then what is it like, Ginny? Hmm?"

Ginny looked miserably out onto the water. "I've got no fucking clue."

"I'd leave them in a seond for you, Gin. But they're my family, no matter how much I dislike them, and they make me who I am."

"I know."

Ginny sits down, and begins to sob into her crossed arms. "Oh, Ginny, stop crying. I can't stand to see you in pain." There is a pause. "How bad are you feeling?" Draco asks suddenly.

"Terrible. Worse than terrible. Rotten. Completely fucked up. Like I want to give whoever's controlling my fate a piece of my mind. Or rather, take away a piece of their head with a bloody knife. Bad. Really, really, really, really bad," Ginny says angrily, ripping up a handful of grass and tossing it into the water.

"I know a charm that can take your frustration and pain away so I'd feel it double."

"You'd do that for me?"

Draco sits down next to her. "In a heartbeat."

Ginny grins, like a ray of sunshine an a rainy day. "My mum is going to love you."

Draco is confused. "Wha-?"

She leans across the foot or so separating them, and kisses him on the side of the mouth.

"I see..." Draco mumbles, kissing her back. His thin, soft lips travel down her neck, feeling like sparks falling on Ginny's skin. He finds his way back up to Ginny's lips, and after a quick last smooch, she stands up.

"It's late," she announces.

Draco stands up beside her, and brushes off nonexistant dirt. "Thank you, Einstien."

Ginny takes his hand. "Same old Malfoy."

Draco kisses her cheek. "Same old Weasley."

They walk back to the castle laughing, fully aware of what people are going to think back up at the castle, not caring as long as they had each other. And so, for the moment, they both felt like everything was right and good in the world. And that was all that mattered.

Let's take that Hell ride together...

-Buffy

~*~*~The End~*~*~

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