A Cold Shoulder to Cry on

"So this is your fiancé, Benjamin?" said Candy Cobbler, an Australian newspaper reporter. "Quite a catch."

Ginny Weasley smiled weakly. She was twenty-one years old, engaged to twenty-six year old Benji Hodge, American born, blonde haired, green eyed Quidditch player for the Wembley Willows. He'd moved to England four years ago to play Quidditch, and he'd met Ginny a year later.

"Yes, yes she is," said Benji, beaming at Ginny, his wife to be.

Ginny had always loved Benji's green eyes; they reminded her vaguely of those of Harry Potter. Usually, Ginny went for dark haired men, but Benji's eyes had really captured Ginny's attention. She also didn't mind his light blonde hair, it reminded her of somebody, but she couldn't quite place her finger on whom.

"Have you set a date yet?" asked Candy.

"Let's enjoy the party for now," said Benji. "It's not every day I'm sent to Australia to attend an event such as this!"

"You just don't want to tell me because you're afraid I'll have it published in the papers," said Candy. "But I will be receiving an invite, and I do expect to take down a few notes for my next article in the Daily Gazette."

"We'll already have enough English reporters," Benji snapped. "We don't need Australian newspapers getting involved."

"I didn't mean to anger you," said Candy. "I'll just be on my way. Oh, look, it's Oliver Wood! Scottish Quidditch, extraordinaire!"

Ginny waved goodbye to Candy and was immediately dragged away by Benji.

"Virginia, that's Lee Jordan over there," he said.

"Oh, I know Lee," said Ginny. "He's Fred and George's friend."

"What did I tell you about talking?" Benji hissed.

"Sorry," Ginny whispered.

"As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted, that's Lee Jordan, the world famous commentator, and I want to make a good impression, so keep your yapper shut," Benji continued. "And remember, smile politely."

Ginny nodded, biting her lip to keep from tears. She straightened out her dark green robes with her left hand (her right hand being held by Benji), and followed her fiancé to the whereabouts of Lee Jordan, which was just across the beautifully decorated party hall. This was her first time in Australia, and she'd been looking forward to seeing some sights, but Benji had already planned their entire weekend, right down to the tiniest detail, leaving no room for any real fun.

"Mr. Jordan!" Benji smiled, holding out his right hand to Lee Jordan. "Pleasure to meet you!"

"And you," said Lee, shaking Benji's hand. "And Ginny, nice to see you!" He patted Ginny's head, the same way he'd done at Hogwarts.

Ginny always missed her Hogwarts days, especially when she saw her former fellow students.

"This is my fiancée, Virginia Weasley," said Benji, gesturing to Ginny.

"I know Ginny," said Lee. "I'm friends with her older brothers. But I'll bet she's told you all about me!"

Ginny was about to reply to this, but quickly retreated when Benji shot her a look of warning.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you," said Benji.

"Oh yeah," said Lee. "Too bad Ron couldn't come down, that would've been a blast!"

Benji cleared his throat (he didn't like Ron very much as they played on opposing Quidditch teams), and led Ginny away to a group of seven tall, thin, model-like women.

"They're all reporters," said Benji. "You just remember to keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking."

"Ah, Benji!" one of the women called. "Great to see you!"

"Yes, yes," said Benji. "Pleasure to see you too, Gwendolyn."

"How have you been keeping?" another of the women said.

"Very well," said Benji. "And you look wonderful, Heather. Beautiful as always."

So typical Benji; he always used flattery to get what he wanted.

"And who's this?" a third woman asked, pointing at Ginny.

"This is Virginia," said Benji. "She is my fiancée."

"Oh! I just got myself a story," said a fourth woman. "This'll be all over Hawaii."

"It's been nice talking to you ladies, but I've really got to be on my way," said Benji. "I must speak with, ah, Marcus Flint over there." He gestured toward Marcus Flint, one of his team mates, whom Ginny knew from her Hogwarts' days as the Slytherin Quidditch captain.

"Marcus," said Benji, approaching Marcus.

Marcus turned around. "Ah, Benj," he said. "I didn't see you before."

"I've just been chatting with a few people," said Benji. "But that Oliver Wood's here, we can't let him take all our attention, Marcus."

"Oh yeah," said Marcus. "I can take care of him, believe me." He sneered and walked off in the direction of Oliver Wood.

"Now isn't this fun?" Benji said to Ginny. "This is what a party should be."

Ginny didn't share her thoughts on how boring the party was, but instead, nodded and kept her mouth shut, as she had earlier been directed.

"Over there, that's Billy Mortimer," said Benji, pointing at a burly man with short brown hair and bright blue eyes which stood out like a spot of blue sky on a cloudy day. "I went to school with him in America. He plays Chaser for the Salem Serpents."

Ginny nodded, and followed Benji's lead to Billy Mortimer.

Billy and Benji talked for some time, probably catching up on the past few years of life, but Ginny had tuned them out, and was instead gazing around the room, picking up familiar faces. Colin Creevey, who had been in Ginny's year at Hogwarts, was busy snapping photos of Oliver Wood with Katie Bell, who had also been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team for a few of Ginny's school years. Lee Jordan was shaking hands with Ludo Bagman, whom Ginny had met when she was thirteen.

Ginny was vaguely aware that she was being led away by Benji once again, and when they stopped walking, she was greeted by a group giggling Canadian witches.

"Virginia, this is Laura, Jenna, and Melissa," said Benji, introducing Ginny to the group of giggling witches. "Ladies, this is Virginia, my fiancée."

Ginny smiled and nodded at the witches, still not speaking.

They all waved politely at her, but proceeded to ignore her whilst they flirted with Benji.

Ginny continued to look around at the room. She really didn't want to be here; she missed Hogwarts so much. And she missed her family and friends, and England. She missed Ron and Hermione, and their one year old daughter Hailey. She missed Fred and his wife Angelina, and their two year old sons Gred and Forge (who were twins), and she missed Percy and Penelope and their children, Alyssa, Norman, and John. And she really wanted to see Charlie again, along with his wife Jane, and their four year old son, Damien. She also missed Bill and George, who were both still single.

Ginny sighed, earning a glare from Benji.

As soon as Benji was done talking with the Canadian witches, he led Ginny away, yet again. This time, he took her out into the corridor outside the hall.

"Oh, great," said Ginny. "I needed to use the toilet, anyway."

Benji smirked. "All right," he said. "But you almost screwed it up for me in there; I thought I told you to not make a sound?"

"Oh, well, don't worry," said Ginny. "I'll certainly try harder. But first, I need to use the toilet."

"Okay," said Benji. "I'm going back in there, take your time." He turned away and walked back into the hall, leaving Ginny alone in the corridor.

"Oh, I will," Ginny said to the closed door after Benji had gone. "Believe me, I will."

The truth was, she didn't really need to use the bathroom, she just wanted to be away from that so called 'party.' She needed to be in a place she could be free to think.

She sighed and sat down on a stool which was placed outside a door marked 'Stars.'

She hadn't been sitting on the stool for five minutes when Benji emerged from inside the party hall. But he wasn't alone. He had his arm around a blonde woman, and in his right hand, he held a goblet from which he took a great swig before tossing it aside.

"There's a private room over there," said Benji, pointing down the hallway, his words almost slurred. "No one will find us in there."

"You know zis place so well," the woman said, her voice accented heavily French.

"Oh yeah," said Benji, leading the woman down the corridor and to a door at the end. "In here."

The two disappeared through the door, leaving Ginny staring open mouthed for a few seconds. "That bastard!" she muttered under her breath. "As if I didn't even exist!"

She let out a cry of fury and jumped to her feet, tugging her engagement ring off of her finger and flinging it at the wall. "That bastard," she sobbed, leaning back against the wall opposite the door marked 'Stars.' "How could he?"

She slumped down against the wall until she was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, hugging her knees. She took a deep breath, trying to fight back tears, but it was no use! She gave up finally, letting the tears stream down her face. She buried her head in her knees, shaking with raging, upset emotions.

Ginny was so busy crying, she didn't notice the door marked 'Stars' open. She also didn't realise Draco Malfoy had just stepped out into the corridor, a smirk on his face.

Draco looked at the hunched figure which was Ginny Weasley, trying to make a little sense of the scene. There was a gold ring encrusted with a large ruby lying on the floor not far from Ginny's sobbing figure.

Draco raised his eyebrow and walked swiftly to the spot where the ring was lying. He stooped down and quickly retrieved the ring, studying it for a moment. It wasn't the nicest ring he'd ever seen, but it was probably expensive, considering the size of the ruby, and the fact that the band was pure gold.

He walked over to the hunched sobbing figure and tapped her shoulder. "You dropped this," he drawled.

Ginny looked up at him, face stained with tears. Ginny's eyes widened when she saw him. "M-Malfoy?" she sobbed.

"Why, it's Ginny Weasley," said Draco. "What are you doing here, Ginny Weasley?"

"What does it look like?" Ginny snapped.

"So nothing's changed," said Draco, sounding as though he'd much rather be somewhere else. "I quite remember a day much like this seven years ago," he continued. "I found you huddled in a corner at Hogwarts."

"I remember that day," said Ginny, struck once again by memory. "That was the day I found out Harry and Parvati were still with each other, even though they'd barely looked at each other at the ball just over a year before."

"Hmm," said Draco. "You weren't the only one; I hadn't even known they were friends before that, and I was supposed to be the centre of gossip."

"Oh you were, were you?" said Ginny. "Is that what you're doing now? Doing a little work for the Daily Prophet?"

"Oh no," said Draco. "Pansy works for the Daily Prophet."

"You two still together?" said Ginny.

"We were never together," said Draco. "We were just friends, and we still are."

"So then why are you here?" asked Ginny.

"I play Quidditch for the Englefield Green Dragons," said Draco. "I would've been playing for Wembley, but that pillock Benji Hodge took my position. Wembley's missing out on a Hell of a Seeker. They'll just have to settle for less."

"Doesn't Raymond Perks play seeker for Englefield Green?" said Ginny.

"Wow, you know your Quidditch," said Draco, impressed only the very slightest.

"My brother plays Chaser for the Canons," said Ginny, with a little shrug.

"Ah yes," said Draco. "How could I forget? Read about him everyday, married the Mudblood two years ago, and they had a daughter last year, what was her name? Helen?"

"Hailey," Ginny corrected him.

"Yes, that's it," said Draco. "But you still haven't answered why you're here. Am I right in assuming it's a situation much like the one at Hogwarts seven years ago? You were crying like a newborn Mandrake when we saw you. And then you ran away, screaming like an undisciplined five year old."

"I wouldn't have run away screaming if you hadn't been so mean," said Ginny, her face brightening to red at the memory.

"I'll try not to point out the truth too much this time," said Draco. "But I'm just so honest, it might be difficult."

Ginny glared at him.

"Does it have something to do with this?" asked Draco, holding out the ring. "See, I read this article in the Daily Prophet only a month ago, and it was about you. You and my new arch enemy Benji-the-pillock Hodge."

"It was probably true," Ginny sobbed.

"I like the way you used 'was' instead of 'is'," said Draco. "Makes me think something terrible happened not too long ago. Am I right?"

Ginny sniffled.

"All right, so you and Hodge were engaged, and this hideous ring (d'you call it a ring?), was your engagement ring, but something happened to split the two of you up, so you wanted to get rid of this hideous piece of jewellery," said Draco. "Am I right so far?"

"No," Ginny sobbed. "We're still together."

Draco snorted. "And right now, you're in denial," he drawled. "Which is too bad, because I saw him with another woman earlier today."

"What did she look like?" Ginny asked, looking up at Draco, wide-eyed.

"Oh, I wasn't mistaken," said Draco. "It wasn't you he was with, she was far prettier. And she had curly brown hair."

Ginny's cheeks flushed dark red.

"Was that mean of me?" Draco asked, in mock sympathy. "Did I hurt your feelings when I called you ugly?"

"It's not that I care about!" Ginny snapped. "I just saw him with a blonde girl!"

"Blonde?" asked Draco. "She wasn't by any chance French, was she?"

"Yeah, she was as a matter of fact," said Ginny.Â

"Damn the pillock," said Draco, ears turning slightly pink. "First he stole my position on the team, then he took my girl." He sat down beside Ginny, letting the ring slip out of his hand and fall to the ground with a little clink.

"So what have you been up to the past three years?" Ginny asked. "That's how long it's been, hasn't it?"

"I think so," said Draco. "Last time I saw you was that day in the Leaky Cauldron when you said you were meeting someone. Was that someone Benji-the-pillock?"

Ginny nodded, biting her lip.

Draco smirked. "You really amaze me," he said. "You still want him, don't you?"

Ginny shrugged, not wanting to speak.

"So answer me this, Ginny," said Draco. "What did you see in him? Was it his silver blonde hair? Because it's probably fake."

"What, and yours isn't?" said Ginny.

"My hair is all natural," said Draco. "You should know that, you went to school with me for six years."

"Well how do I know it's real?" asked Ginny.

"I'll prove it," said Draco. "But not just yet. Back to the subject you keep avoiding; what did you see in Benji-the-pillock? Was it his eyes? Because green eyes are so over-rated."

Ginny bit her lip again.

"And you can't let go," said Draco. "Typical. You fell in love with the green eyes, and now you don't want to forget. Even if he treats you like shit, you still want to be with him."

"How would you know he treats me like shit?" asked Ginny.

"Does he?" asked Draco.

"No, not really," said Ginny.

Draco snorted. "He probably tells you to shut up all the time," he sneered. "But then, who wouldn't; you're so annoying."

Ginny's cheeks flushed to a dark shade of pink.

"Do you remember that night in the Forbidden Forest five years ago?" Draco asked, his voice filled with something remotely like emotion. "I don't think I'll ever forget that."

"Why are you bringing that up?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," said Draco. "What's wrong with it? Does it bring you a feeling of guilt?"

"Why?" asked Ginny.

Draco chuckled coldly. "Do you know why Finch-Fletchley broke up with you the next day?" he asked.

"I'm vaguely aware," said Ginny. "Word gets around fast at Hogwarts."

Draco smirked. "And who do you think told them?" he asked.

"You, of course," said Ginny. "But I was over that in no time. Besides, I've got Benji now."

"Get over the pillock," said Draco. "He's no good for you. But it wasn't me who told everyone about the incident in the Forbidden Forest."

"It was just one kiss," said Ginny. "No need to refer to it as some sort of terrible fate."

"You called it the incident three years ago," said Draco. "Just thought I'd be nice and call it something you're comfortable with."

"What happened to us anyway?" Ginny asked, a distant look on her face.

"We grew up," said Draco. "We moved on. I left Hogwarts, and then next time we met, you'd found someone else. But I don't think I really cared; I'd never thought anything of you and I."

"Me neither," said Ginny. "It seems so long ago."

"Well, it was, sort of," said Draco, getting to his feet. "And it's all over now, so we'd best pretend we've never met; wouldn't want past feelings to get in the way."

"Help me up," said Ginny, holding her hand up.

"I don't want to get your germs all over my hand," said Draco.

Ginny rolled her eyes.

Draco shook his head as though amused, but helped her up anyway.

Ginny stomped on the engagement ring, which was still lying on the floor. "I never liked that thing; it clashed with my hair," she said.

"If I were to buy you a ring, I'd get you a green one," said Draco. "Or maybe a black diamond. But nothing would make you look any better, and that's the cold, hard truth."

"Thanks, Draco," said Ginny. "Thanks a lot."

"Well, considering we've both been abandoned," said Draco, casually. "Why don't we go into that party together and show them what we're made of?"

"Am I allowed to talk?" asked Ginny.

"Darling, you can sing, if you want," said Draco. "But please try not to sing around me, no one wants a deaf Seeker."

"I wouldn't want to make you go deaf," said Ginny. "I can't boast about you if you're deaf."