What Might Have Been

What Might Have Been...

Ginny stood in front of her full length mirror, checking to make sure there were no wrinkles in her spaghetti strap red and black dress, and smoothed it out one last time. She picked up her purse, and grabbed her red over-robes on her way out. She threw the robes on, and headed down the stairs. The roves were the latest in fashion, letting witches wear Muggle clothes underneath the robes, and still have them seen without seeming like they were acting too much like Muggles.

That night she would be attending the fifteen-year reunion for the graduating class of 1997 from Hogwarts. She didn't have a date, but family of the graduate could go, so she was going to support her brother. Maybe she just wanted to go because she didn't want to wait a year to visit again, or maybe it was because she had nothing else to do. One way or another, she was going, and that was it. She reached the bottom stair of her staircase, the only place in her flat where she could Apparate from, and concentrated on the school that had been her home for seven years.

She Apparated to an area right outside Hogwarts, because, of course, you couldn't Apparate onto the grounds and because no one wanted to miss the beautiful decoration outside Hogwarts. Only four years ago, she found out what they did at Hogwarts over the summer, and that was the year of her tenth reunion. They didn't do many, but when they did, they went all out. There were fairy lights decorating the entire exterior and festivities were held mostly outside by the lake, but there was a buffet in the Great Hall.

As Ginny made her way across the grounds, and towards the festivities, she saw many familiar faces of teachers, and fellow graduates. But as she passed one big tree, she spied one face that made her pale, her jaw drop open and she stopped in her tracks. He was the last person she thought would see there.

~~~

He stood in his doorway, still wondering if he should bother to go. His dark green robes were lined with black, something too dressy to just stay home in. his features had matured, turning him into an older looking 32 year old than most. His while blonde hair had started to dull, adding to the over-the-hill look, although he wasn't that old yet.

Tonight was his fifteen-year reunion and Draco didn't know of any reason why he should go. He was probably the most hated person that would be there. Some hated him for how he was as a child, but his friends, if you could call them that, hated him for giving up a promised life as a Death Eater, for an extinguished love and a career as a bust body for the Ministry.

He heaved a heavy sigh, deciding to go and see the grounds again, anything to get out of his house and away from his crazy life. Maybe she would be there, he hope, and then shook his head. It was over, there was no longer anything between them. He should just forget about the past. He reached an alley where he could safely Apparate from, and did just that, heading towards the place where he had last had the perfect and wonderful life he yearned for again.

~~~

After a half-hour of lounging in the Great Hall and eating hour d'urves and avoiding people, Draco was sincerely bored. He finally decided to go people watch, see who was coming and with whom. He stood up and headed out the door letting his amazing memory lead him outside without getting lost inside the ever-changing hallways of Hogwarts. As he stopped outside a cold breeze bit at his face, and he smiled despite himself. He looked into the distance and saw the arc, adorned by fairies of the colours of all the houses, which people entered through. He started in that direction, wondering who was already there. He was within twenty yards of his destination, when he saw a flash of red from around a huge oak tree.

'Oh great, it's Weasel,' he thought bitterly, 'Now he's going to chew me out about "breaking his sister's heart". How wonderful.'

But as the person came around the tree, he stopped dead in his tracks, because the person had longer hair, and more feminine features than he expected. Right family, wrong person.

'It's her,' he thought as his heart skipped a beat.

Ginny had seemed to notice him too, and had taken a pose of shock. Draco recomposed himself then took a step towards her thinking, 'Well, this is going to be an interesting night...."

~~~

Ginny took a deep breath as Draco drew nearer. He was wearing a friendly smile and clothes so dressy, she thought someone had forced him into them. She tried to return his smile as he took the last few steps towards he, but it was so hard to concentrate above the roaring of her racing heart. He greeted her with a friendly hug, which almost made her melt, and then a quick, "Hey Gin, how've you been?"

Her heart dropped at his just friendly tone, but what could she expect? He'd been the one to break it off. She put on what she hoped to be and equally friendly expression and said, "Great, you?"

Now it Draco's turn to be confused. Barely two seconds ago she'd seemed to be melting into him just like she used to. And now well...she now seemed like she suddenly didn't care about all that had been between them. But he didn't let this confusion get in the way of a goof conversation, so he continued his act, "Just fine."

They stood there in complete silence, not sure what to say, until longing and confusion bit too hard on Draco's heart. He gave her a sobered look, and said what they'd both been wanting to, but dreading.

"Ginny, we need to talk..." he said, and she answered with a nod.

He lightly took her hand trying to not make her uncomfortable, and lead her to a quiet place where they could talk without interruptions.

~~~

Ginny sat down on the grass next to Draco, trying to ignore the burning desire in her heart. She was alone with him for the first time in ten years. And all the emotions she though she had lost over the years had flooded back the instant she saw his face again.

Draco waited for her to situate herself, looking at her the whole time. She looked at him, signifying that she was ready, and Draco took a deep breath and started.

"Ginny, ever since we separated, there had been this little part of my heart that pines for you. Wants you to be near me, to hold you and love you again."

Ginny's heart jumped at these words in hope.

"But I'm still able to live my life without you Ginny. I've moved on, and I can take the pain."

~Sure I think about you now and then

But it's been a long long time

I've got a good life now

And I've moved on

So when you cross my mind~

Ginny's heart dropped to the floor and tears stung her eyes. She tore her eyes away from his face, so he couldn't see the tears start to trickle down her face. It was too late though, because Draco always on alert had noticed them coming and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ginny, I don't mean it as anything against you. I love you, I really do. But we decided that we can't live out lives together and be successful. My life is different now, and it could never be the same with you in it"

~I try not to think about what might have been

Cause that was then

And we have taken different roads

We can't go back again

There's no use giving in

And there's no way to know

What might have been~

Ginny nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. Her job with the Prophet would never be the same if she was always wanting to be with him and not at her job. But that couldn't stop the love that she felt from attacking her.

Draco felt that behind her confident expression, she wasn't all that confident, but more confused so he went to explain it further.

"I know that if in my life I ever wanted a long term 'til-death-do-us-part' relationship, it would be with you Ginny," he went to say more, but Ginny decided to actually speak up, and he backed off, allowing her just that.

"So why didn't we Draco? If I loved you, and you loved me, why couldn't we just work around it?"

Draco seemed at loss for words, and he sighed, "I thought we agreed that we couldn't make that kind of life with out career paths."

~We can sit and talk about this all night long

Wonder why we didn't last

Yes, they might be the best days

We will ever know

But we'll have to leave them in the past~

Ginny nodded her head.

"Fine. If that's the way it is, then we'll just forget about or feeling. Who cares about our emotions anyway?"

Ginny turned away from Draco and moved to get up. Draco was shocked, but reached out for her arm, keeping her on the ground.

She turned back to him and her eyes were wet with tears waiting to spill over.

~And try not to think about what might have been

Cause that was then

And we have taken different roads

We can't go back again

There's no use giving in

And there's no way to know

What might have been~

Draco's heart squeezed in pain at the look on her face, and he took her by the shoulders.

"I love you, Ginny."

"I love you too, Draco," Ginny whispered, a smile spreading over her face, and tears brimming over her eyelids and spilling down her face.

Draco reached out his hands, and wiped the tears away gently with his thumbs.

~The same old look in your eyes

It's a beautiful night

I'm so tempted to stay~

"And I'd love to be with you, but I can't. I can't give you the love and attention you need with my job. It just won't work, it never would have."

Ginny bit her tongue to avoid crying again, because she knew at this point that it was pointless. She had known it before, but Draco had just gotten it through to her. She swallowed hard, then met Draco's eyes and gave a slight smile.

~But too much time had gone by

We should just say goodbye

And turn and walk away~

Ginny got up off the ground, followed by Draco.

"I'd love to talk some more, but I have to find my brother. He is why I'm here, after all."

Draco laughed and nodded. She stepped forward and he wrapped her in a hug. When she pulled away she kissed his cheek, then turned and walked away.

Pain still pulled at Draco's heart, but he managed to smile when she turned and waved. Then he walked away towards the exit to get home before he'd regret what he had just done.

~And try not to think about what might have been

Cause that was then

And we have taken different roads

We can't go back again

There's no use giving in

And there's no way to know

What might have been~

Ginny walked around like she knew what she was doing, but she knew she had no purpose. She was still coming to terms with what had just happened, feeling the loss.

Someone came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, and she was snapped out of her somber world. She looked up at Ron, who was standing looking at her with concern.

"Ginny, you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, swallowing her sadness and placing a false smile on her face.

"Okay. Come with me, everyone's over here," he said pulling on her arm, dragging her towards the lake. He continued talking to her, but she didn't hear most of it, having gone back into her stupor.

~No we'll never know

What might have been~

Ginny spent the whole night spending time with her friends, and actually had some fun. When she went home though, she cried the unshed tears.

Draco had just gone home and sat in his empty house, but he hadn't cried. He wasn't a crying kind of man, but he felt the loss.

But when both woke the morning after, they took the day with a new bounce in their steps. For although they felt the pain, after ten years, they finally could accept letting go, and were able to move on.