Trademark smirks and Temperamental redheads

Chapter 19 - Confrontation or Denial? (Sixth Year)

Ginny was so full and sleepy that by the time Gabrielle had taken her to up to their dormitory and shown Ginny her bed, all Ginny wanted to do was collapse onto the fluffed pillow.

Their room was splendidly furnished, two large four-poster beds stood on either side of the room. The walls were pristine, painted white and unmarked by any paintings or posters.

"You get to have a room all to yourself?" Ginny asked in awe.

"I am a Prefect," Gabrielle replied with a shrug. "But it is good to have you here. It is lonely sometimes by myself. Ever since my sister left school, I haven't had anyone to talk to."

Ginny gave her a sympathetic smile. "Your room is so tidy, do you own all these books?" she asked, walking over to a large bookshelf in the corner. The volumes ranged from textbooks to novels, all immaculate with not a speck of dust in sight. Ginny noted with a wry smile that Gabrielle owned all the books written by Lockhart, including his autobiography, Magical Me.

"Yes, like I said, it is lonely having a room to myself. I often read to pass the time."

"Will I be taking classes with you?" Ginny asked, suddenly realizing she didn't have a timetable of her own.

"Yes, we are in the same year. We have double advanced Potions and Charms tomorrow. I have the afternoon free so I can take you on a tour of the Palace and the grounds if you'd like."

Gabrielle laughed as Ginny nodded her head enthusiastically. The two began to prepare for bed, Ginny had changed into her pyjamas before she realised she'd forgotten to do something.

"Gabrielle, could I borrow a quill and some parchment? I was hoping to write a letter to my family, just to let them know I arrived safely."

Gabrielle, who had been brushing her silky hair in front of the dressing table, nodded and walked out of the room, coming back with quill, inkpot and some parchment. Ginny settled down on her large four poster bed and began to write, first a letter to her parents, then Ron, Harry and Hermione, and last, she wrote a letter to Draco. Draco's letter took the longest, as she thought about how she should word it and erasing whole paragraphs every few minutes.

When she finally finished, she stood up and stretched, moving her head from side to side, trying to ease out the cricks.

"You write very long letters," Gabrielle noted, her eyebrow raised.

"Oh, no, it's not that. I also wrote letters to a few friends and my brother," Ginny replied.

"Bill?" Gabrielle asked with slight surprise.

"No, Ron," Ginny corrected. At Gabrielle's confused look, she laughed. "I've got six older brothers," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Six!" Gabrielle exclaimed. "My sister and I are ze only children in my family. You must 'ave a very big 'ouse."

Gabrielle tended to fall back into a French accent when she was excited, Ginny noted.

"Oh, no, our house is very small and crooked. But, it's home, I wouldn't feel comfortable living anywhere else," Ginny said with a shrug.

"That is very nice," Gabrielle said in such a motherly tone that Ginny laughed again. "Would you like to post your letters now?"

At Ginny's nod, they set off, the hallways echoing with the soft snoring of the portraits. The Owlery, Ginny noted, was much like the Post Office at Hogsmeade. There were shelves lined up on three walls, colour coded according to species and also use. The students' owls were located on the left hand side, while the school's owls occupied the other walls. Most of the owls were still off on their nightly hunting expeditions, and the colour-coded shelves stood empty.

As they waited, the two girls began chattering about life at the Academy.

"Do all the French wizarding children come to Beauxbatons?" Ginny asked curiously.

"No, there are some lesser Wizarding Schools for those who do not make it here. Beauxbatons is very selective; Madame Maxime picks only the best. That is why they are so arrogant here. To be offered an education at Beauxbatons is the highest honour for us," Gabrielle said matter-of-factly.

"Looks like they're chosen for how rich they are," Ginny observed, thinking about the students' rich attire. Gabrielle shot her a sharp look, Ginny, realising what she had said, began to stutter an apology. "Oh! Oh Gabrielle, I didn't mean it like that," Ginny apologized, an anxious look on her face.

"No, no. You are right, but it is surprising to hear someone speak of it that way. You see, in order to be eligible for acceptance, our family must be traced back to at least three generations of wizards and witches, as well as be in the ranks of the nobility."

Ginny's jaw dropped and she stared at Gabrielle for a long minute.

"You are surprised," Gabrielle commented, equally amazed at Ginny's reaction.

"Well, it's just - I mean," Ginny cleared her throat before continuing. "At Hogwarts, we accept everyone, including those with muggle parentage, and, nobility is definitely not a prerequisite. I'm not sure we even have anyone of the nobility at Hogwarts," Ginny added with a thoughtful expression.

It was Gabrielle's turn to be surprised.

"'Ogwarts is a very strange school. It is your Headmaster; Professor Dumbledore is a peculiar wizard. Madame Maxime often says so, but we know she is very fond of him," Gabrielle said. She turned toward the shelves as owls began to swoop in from the open windows. Ginny took this opportunity to look down onto the grounds of Beauxbatons and was surprised at its resemblance to the grounds of Hogwarts. A bare expanse of grass surrounded the perimeter of the building; a tall canopy of treetops in the distance indicated a forest. To the left, shining silver in the moonlight was a vast expanse of water stretched into the horizon.

"Who was the last letter for?" Gabrielle's soft voice came from behind Ginny. "It took you an awfully long time to write it." Ginny turned around and blushed.

"Just a friend," she replied quickly.

"Your boyfriend," Gabrielle interpreted. Ginny blushed again.

"Well, he's not speaking to me at the moment, so I'm not really sure what we are," she said with a sigh.

Gabrielle nodded sympathetically. "Do you miss him?"

"Yes, very. He's angry at me for coming on this exchange without telling him," Ginny confided. For some reason, she knew she could trust Gabrielle, and she had taken an instant bonding with the silver haired girl.

"Oh he is just jealous," Gabrielle assured her. "He is afraid the boys here will like you too much," she continued with a wink.

"I suppose," Ginny replied half-heartedly. For some reason, she knew Draco was not worried about this.

"Boys are like that, you needn't be too concerned," Gabrielle said airily. She walked around the room studying the inscriptions for each colour on the shelves.

"I think these are the owls for long distance Owl Post." Gabrielle said. Ginny made her way over to the shelves near the doorway where Gabrielle stood. The two girls stood in front of a shelf coded in bright yellow and waited for an owl to show up. Soon enough, a spotty Barn owl swooped in and perched on the shelf lightly, blinking its eyes at them.

Gabrielle reached out and smoothed a few of its feathers.

"Comment tu es beau! Peux-tu apporter un letter pour nous?" she said to the owl. In response, the owl stuck out its leg importantly and Ginny quickly tied one of her letters onto its leg. They found another owl to carry Ginny's letter to Ron. She tied the letter to Draco onto the leg of her own Snowy Owl, patting him before watching the three owls soar out into the night sky.

~~~

Draco swept into his room, his expression one of rage as he slammed the door shut behind him. He took out the letter from his pocket and glared at it, as if this childish act could somehow satisfy his urge to hurt someone. It did not of course; and in frustration, he threw it into the fireplace with one swift motion. Just as rapidly however, he fished it back out without a second thought, dropping the letter onto the carpet as the nerves of his hand protested against its contact with the fire. He ignored the pain as he bent down and retrieved the letter, examining it carefully for damage.

A brief flicker of relief crossed his face, as the letter appeared intact in his hands. Disgusted with himself, yet unwilling to throw the letter away, he held it away from his face, reading the inscription at arm's length. He could recognise her writing, short, stubby lettering that flowed smoothly one after the other, spelling his name.

He wouldn't open it, no, he couldn't. Not if he wanted to save the last of his self control and survive the year without her. He pulled out the top drawer of his desk and cleared it with a Vanishing spell. Placing the letter neatly into a corner, he shut the drawer and locked it with a flick of his wand.

He could feel his hand shaking slightly by his side, knowing he had overreacted when he had first received the letter. He had been at the Slytherin table eating dinner while he listened to his teammates' new plans for training this year. His Snowy owl had swooped in and landed lightly beside his plate dropping the letter in his lap. He fed her a few scraps of bacon before taking the letter in his hand. He almost dropped it as he recognised the handwriting, staring at the words addressing the letter to him, he looked up at his owl and realized that it wasn't his owl but the one he had given her. He had receded into a silent stupor, before Goyle poked him hard in the ribs, making Draco knock over the pumpkin juice in his surprise.

Blaise, who was sitting across from him, shot him a disgusted look and said, "Must be a letter from your little Gryffindor whore. I'm surprised she still writes to you, didn't she dump you for Harry Potter just before summer break?"

He had been expecting Draco to pale with anger, to shoot him a murderous look and make a snide remark at him. What he was not prepared for was Draco lunging across the table at him, and pinning him to the floor rather painfully, both of them covered with the remnants of their dinner.

"Don't ever call her that. In fact, if you ever mention her to my face again, Zabini, rest assured those will be the last words you will ever utter," Draco hissed, trying to compose himself. He leapt off the startled Slytherin lightly, and made his way out of the Hall, acutely aware of all the eyes that bore into his back as everyone watched him leave.

~~~

He sat down at his desk and took out a quill and inkpot, grabbing a spare piece of parchment. Taking a deep breath, he dipped his quill in the inkpot and began to write.

"Dear Virginia," he said quietly, as his handwriting covered the page. He paused for a moment, then frowning, crossed that out and began again.

Ginny,

It's the first week of school, another two years and I can get away from this place forever. How are you finding Beauxbatons? I hope it's miserable and boring for you, maybe then you'll change your mind and come back to me. It was a strange summer for me, every day I was struggling with myself over whether I should hate you or miss you.

Speaking of the summer, it was a period of transformation for me. It happened. After all our arguing and all your tears, I've been marked. My arm will never be flawless again. The mark is rather ugly actually, it keeps me up at nights burning, burning through my skin, deep down through my bone marrow. It's not as bad as it sounds really, most of the time I can barely register the pain.

My mind is only filled with you, your smile, your laugh, the reasons that you left and how I couldn't stop you. There's this empty space inside of me, I'm not sure where really, maybe my heart, if I have one. It's surprising the effect you have on me, even when you're not around. It's embarrassing, a member of the Malfoy family fawning over a poor pauper's girl. I could be punished for this you know? You ought to visit my house one day; we've got the most extensive collection of torture devices in all of Britain.

Somehow, I doubt they'd be very useful on me, I'm already filled with pain and suffering. It's strange, the more I try to ignore the emptiness inside of me, the more it eats away at me, filling up with pain just to spite me. Some nights I lie in bed in a half daze, my body numb, just feeling this tightness in my chest while the Mark burns away at me.

Depressing, no?

We're going to grow further apart. This is only the beginning. You'll become more beautiful and mature; you'll make new friends and forget all about me. I'll follow the Dark Lord's orders, probably even lead an attack on the school one of these days. Will you hate me then? Will you look at me and feel revulsion for what you see? To look at me and think: Death Eater. That's okay. I'll only return the favour by looking down my nose at you and see you for the poor, useless and pathetic Weasley girl that you are.

This is our fate you see, our time together was a blessing, but it could never have survived. There's never been anything like you in my life, and I'm sorry it has to be this way. Maybe if I hadn't fallen in love with you, then I wouldn't be sitting here writing this sappy letter to you, nursing a broken heart. You see, it's all your fault really.

I don't mind though, because you are my only proof that I do possess the ability to feel, you will be my sole reminder that I am still human when I begin to carry out the terrible things I was destined for. Will you cry for me then? Like an angel witnessing my fall? Or hiss at me and wish I would burn in hell?

I miss you Virginia. I wish you were here.

Draco silently read over his letter, smiling wryly to himself. He walked over to the fireplace and dropped it into the fire, watching as the edges of the parchment turned black and began to curl into itself. It was enough, for a moment it had felt right, but there was no way he could send that letter, they were on two different paths now. Two different paths that would never meet, that could never survive each other.

Translations:

Comment tu es beau! Peux-tu apporter un letter pour nous? - Gabrielle

Aren't you a pretty one? Could you carry some post for us?

Author Notes: Sorry about how short this one is, don't worry I will make it up in the next chapter =) I just thought this was the appropriate place to stop and give you all some time to savour it before we move on =)

I know it's all become a bit intense and all, but I think it'll work out for the best. I'm going into crazy letter-writing mode ^-^ It's very sappy, very corny, and makes you very squirmy, I know, I could barely sit still while I was writing it. >,< Normal Draco will be back next chapter or the chapter after at the latest. Oh and for all those who reviewed and said they liked slimy!Blaise, well, I wrote that bit in as a guest appearance for him. hehe hope you're satisfied with it.

Next chapter: Draco finds it hard to escape the memory of Ginny, and reverts back to an old pastime. Ginny settles into life at Beauxbatons. Draco and Harry have a run-in, and Draco gets told off? =)