Goodbye To You

Chapter Two

Their "usual" place was his room in the Slytherin dungeons. With him being a prefect he had his own room that you couldn't find. Unless you knew where to look.

Draco was sitting in front of the fire when she walked in. His elbows were on his knees and his hands were folded under his chin. He looked so solemn and fierce.

"You know I love you, Gin, right?"

Her face flushed like it always did when he said those three words. "Yes, I know," she replied, slowly half scared of what he was about to tell her.

"Don't ever forget that." He turned around, meeting her warm brown eyes with cold steel.

"What's going on, Draco?"

Draco stood up and walked over to her. "I'm engaged," he said quickly, hoping that it would hurt less. It didn't.

Ginny swallowed, feeling her heart slowly rip in two. "Since when?" she choked out, trying her hardest not to cry in front of him. That's one thing she'd learn in the time they'd been together. Show no emotion, it's a weakness..

He watched as her eyes filled and he wanted nothing more than to hold her. But he couldn't, not ever again. "Lucius informed me last week. I'm marrying Blaise Zabini."

Hope shined in her eyes. "But we can still see each other, right? At least until you graduate."

Draco shook his head sadly. "Lucius found your letters after I got back from Diagon Alley. He forbade me to have any kind of affair with a Weasley. Or else he'd do something I'd regret."

A lone tear spilled down Ginny's cheek. "Like what?"

"Hurt you," he answered in a quiet voice. "And I'd rather you be alive than dead."

Fire flashed in her eyes as the whole situation hit her in the face. "So that's it then? 'Had a nice go, maybe I'll see you later'?"

"I don't have a choice, Virginia! Do you want to die?"

"What's the point of living if you're not going to be in my life?!"

Draco ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You're not the only one who's hurting here, Gin. I don't want to marry Blaise! And I will not stand by and watch you die," he added quietly.

"And you couldn't have told me on the train?" she raged at him, not really caring what she was saying any more. "Or did you want to get one last quickie in before you dumped me?"

Hurt slipped into his eyes and Ginny regretted the words the minute they were out of her mouth. The hurt passed quickly to be replaced by ice. "You know I don't think that way. I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you."

Ginny snorted before hitting him soundly in the stomach. "I shouldn't have expected so much from a Malfoy," she said in utter distaste.

"You could have found a way." She gave one last hurt glance and turned and walked out.

~*~

Draco tried getting her attention over the next few weeks. He would stop her in the hallway and she'd brush him off like he was an annoying fly. He watch her in the Great Hall, hoping to catch her eye. But either her back was towards him or she'd stare blankly ahead of her.

She returned every single letter he owled her and every gift he'd ever given her. And lately, he noticed, she was hanging out with Potter, much to his dismay. She carried on as if nothing heart breaking had ever happened.

Couldn't she see how much this was killing him? How much it hurt to see her acting like her usual self?

But he wasn't allowed to care about any of that. Not with Blaise sitting next to him, her face unemotionally blank.

He vaguely realised Blaise was staring at the same spot he was, but at the guy next to Ginny Weasley.

After three months of Ginny avoiding him, he finally realised he single handedly managed to ruin the one good thing in his life. All because he was too gutless to stand up to his father.

He pushed his food away, suddenly not very hungry.

~*~

Ginny recalled how she and Harry first became good friends. After Ron and Hermione finally started dating their sixth year, he felt like a third wheel and left them alone. He spent most of his time in the library if he wasn't on the Quidditch field.

That's how he got know Blaise Zabini. Well, sort of. He and Blaise were teamed up for a project in Potions. They met every day in the library for a week, only to argue in hushed, angry whispers. And then Harry finally got up the nerve to kiss her. It was down hill from there.

They spent the next three weeks of the project amicably in each other's arms. And the next six months.

Ginny walked into the Gryffindor common room one day, not long after Draco broke up with her, and found Harry staring gloomily into the fire.

She plopped down next to him. "All right there, Harry?"

"Just peachy," he mumbled.

Ginny smiled a little, but there was no real emotion behind it. "Girl trouble?"

He sat back and looked at her carefully. "Well, it used to be."

They stayed up that night telling each other their respective stories. They consoled each other because no one else knew what they were going through. Neither of them had gotten over the hurt, but their hearts healed a little.

And here they were four years and some odd months later, about to be married. Just days after Blaise and Draco's upcoming nuptials appeared in the Daily Prophet.

Ginny grabbed the bouquet of flowers she was going to carry. "Okay, I'm ready."

Hermione looked at her nervously. "Gin, Harry won't be upset if you walk out now. He's still in love with Blaise and you have yet to get over Draco."

Ginny turned to her, picking up her fluff of skirts. "This isn't going to be happily ever after, Hermione. This isn't a romance novel."

She brushed past Hermione and opened the doors.