Eternal Memories

Standing atop the woody cemetery, Ginny stood freezing as the cold rain soaked her thin blouse over her shoulders. She could not help but wonder what anyone would say to her if they saw her here, the sister of one of the most famous men in the wizarding world, and the presumed lover of the other. Ginny had watched Harry, Ron and Hermione come home, battered and beaten, but unbroken. She had cheered with the rest of her family and friends as Harry had then grinned and shown them a broken wand, the last that remained of Voldemort. There was chaos throughout the wizarding world then, and she did not hear of him until days after the final battle. She had hoped that what she had heard at first was untrue, that he had survived, like the hundreds of deatheaters that now were awaiting trial at the ministry. But in her heart, all she could feel was a clutching despair, and she knew that she had lost him. At night, when no one could hear, she would imagine his voice in her ear, sadistic as ever, yet filled with the love that she knew he had for her. To the others, he had been just another deatheater. To her, he had been her life and her love.

Her knees buckled as she neared the smooth black grave she was here for. She had vowed when he had left her that there would be no tears, but Ginny could not help but sink down into the wet muddy soil. Reaching forward, she traced her fingers over the cool silver engraving, her hands stalling at the Malfoy seal that embossed the headstone. All she could read was his name and nothing else. He had given up everything for his family and their cause, even her, and in the end, the only one left remembering him, was her. She should have hated him for that choice, but she could not bring herself to despise him for it. She could have sat there for hours, just staring at what remained of him, but she could not delay for much longer. She was leaving tonight, back to the castle that had started her despair over him.

Ginny had not been back to Hogwarts after the war's end and now, she had no desire to either. Everywhere she would go, she was sure to see his silver eyes, staring at her, mocking her, while at the same time gazing at her with boundless affection. She would remember the cold feel of his skin in the winter while they walked, huddled, around the lake late at night, so that no one could see them. She would never forget these things he had given her, memories filled with his seldom laugh and quick smirk. These thoughts only brought forbidden tears to her eyes, and she wished for a moment that she could rid herself of the bittersweet ache that gripped at her heart. Giving a backward glance, she tore her eyes away and kept walking.

Her mother was waiting when she got home. There was know a permanent crease between her brows, and Ginny knew that she worried about her. She gave a slight smile as her mother asked her if she was finished with what she had wanted to do, and even as she nodded yes, all she could think about was his fingers sweeping away her hair and brushing it behind her ears.

It was no different then she had imagined it would be at Hogwarts. She talked with no one, and nor had she the desire to. She knew that they could all feel something different about her, and they were right. At night she could not sleep, and she recalled the time that she had snuck out with him into the kitchen and stolen food from the house elves. On her bed, she tossed and turned, and she could hear her roommates groan as they were woken up again by her movement. Grabbing her robe from the table, she walked out of the room, and into the common room. Looking into the fire no longer brought her the calm resolve it once had. She pushed open the fat lady and walked into the hallway.

Without even wanting to, her feet began taking her along the familiar path to the astronomy tower, where she had met him every night and watched the moonlight create shadows on his face as he gazed upon her. His blond hair, shining as if it was white. Reaching the stained glass window where they had always met, she instinctively reached out to the stone wall and pulled open the loose grey stone that was there. Whatever they had needed to say, they had written and left there. She had expected it to be empty, but on the bottom was a small white piece of parchment she had never seen. As she opened the crumbled parchment into her palm, the tears she had long prevented from coming fell onto the paper until the words inked upon it became blurry. Her head rested against the wall, and she could feel her legs giving way as she sank onto the freezing floor.

The words resounded in her mind, Remember me they said, and her head could not wrap itself around his idiocy. Remember him? His voice would not leave her until her dying day, and his face offered her the only pleasure she had left when it appeared in her dreams while she slept. She still held on to his green shirt that he had left with her the day he had decided to be reckless and jump into the lake for a swim. Whenever she felt a quick tap on her shoulder, her heart would quicken as she turned her head, expecting the quick kiss he gave whenever they were alone in the halls. No, Ginny thought, she would never forget Draco; he had taken away her heart and never given it back. Yet, even as she suffered each day with his memories, she would have had nothing else.