Disclaimer: Anything Harry Potter or Romeo and Juliet related is not mine. If I had it my way, Draco would be my Romeo and I'd be his Juliet, without the whole death thing of course.
Summary: They say she died by suicide, but they're wrong. I know because I led her to her death. She died of a broken heart.
A/N: Takes place in Draco's 7th year and Ginny's 6th year. Any sections that speak in first person is Draco.
Juliet without Her Romeo
Chapter Seven: Choices and Consequences
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Draco was on his way to breakfast the next morning with the same uneasy feeling in his stomach. The whole night he kept on having dreams of his father finding out about him and Ginny, and then they both had to suffer from his wrath. When he woke up screaming after having a vision of Ginny being tortured, he stayed awake in his bed until it was time for a new day.
He was a few feet away from the Grand Hall when he spotted a group of Gryffindors halfway blocking the entrance. Greatly annoyed at this, he was about to go barge through and push them out of his way when one of the girls said something that made him stop in his tracks.
"I can't believe Ginny did that!" a short girl said to another with blue streaks in her hair.
"I know, that's why I'm worried," the girl with blue streaks whispered quietly.
Draco stared at the group near him. He knew them somehow, but couldn't place them. Suddenly aware that he was standing there like an idiot, Draco dropped down to tie his shoe as he listened to their continuing conversation.
"So let me get this straight," a male voice said. "You questioned her about a secret relationship, she got angry, and then told her she didn't want to be your friend anymore? Laura, something else had to happen. Ginny just wouldn't do that to you."
Draco's hands stilled with his shoelaces as he popped his head up at the trio. He stared at the girl with blue streaks, confirming that that was Laura, Ginny's best friend. He knew he knew her from somewhere. He assumed that the other two were Mike and Mary, who Ginny has mentioned to him several times.
"I'm telling you, Mike, nothing else happened," Laura said as she sighed loudly. She looked at Mary with concern and said, "She's also been lying to us all this time. Remember her excuse about always getting a midnight snack from the kitchens? I stopped by there last night and a house-elf named Dobby said Ginny hasn't been there for the past month."
Deciding that he had heard enough, Draco stood back up and walked up to the three. "You're blocking my way, little Gryffindors," he said with a sneer.
All three of them looked up at Draco, immediately ending their conversation. "There's plenty of room to get around us, Malfoy," Laura snapped. Mary narrowed her eyes with disgust at him, and Mike quickly broadened his chest to appear tough.
Glaring at them, Draco smirked before saying, "Ten points from Gryffindor for not being polite to a prefect."
"What?" Laura screeched. "You can't do that!"
Slightly amused, Draco added, "Twenty points then, for nearly breaking my eardrums."
Draco didn't even flinch as Laura went to go draw out her wand to curse him, and laughed evilly as her boyfriend stopped her from doing so. "You Gryffindors are so pathetic," he sneered. "I especially love the part where you guys are supposed to be faithful, but yet I here you talking shit about a friend."
Laura's angry face looked at him in a slight surprise. "We weren't talking shit about anyone," she growled, "and it's none of your concern of what or whom we talk about, Malfoy."
With one more glare and a smirk, Draco left the trio and went over to the Slytherin table to eat. Just because he was with Ginny didn't mean he couldn't keep up the house rivalry.
With a satisfied smirk he dug into his pancakes and eggs.
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Ginny slowly walked to Charms class, not too worried that she was already late. Professor Flitwick favored her for some reason, and never punished her when she came to class late. Walking down the nearly deserted hallway, Ginny played with the ring around her neck sadly. Last night was so horrible, having to share a room with Laura after ruining their friendship like she did. But she had to do it. Laura was getting too close to finding out the truth, and Ginny could not risk anyone finding out. She knew that eventually she would have to make sacrifices with her secret, but if it meant being with Draco she would do it without a second thought.
Just as she put her necklace back underneath her uniform to hide it from view, she accidentally bumped shoulders with someone.
"Sorry," Ginny mumbled as she heard their quill and books drop.
"Sorry my ass, Weasley! Get back here and pick my things up!"
Ginny shuddered slightly at Pansy's complaining, and turned to face her with an evil glare which quickly melted when she saw that Draco was with her. Ginny was about to give him a quick smile when Pansy glared at her.
"I said pick up my stuff that your clumsy ass dropped!" she screeched loudly.
"I'm the clumsy one? Look who dropped everything she was carrying!" Ginny snapped back. It
was just an innocent shoulder whack, but how Pansy was complaining it was as if Ginny pushed her off a cliff.
Draco's muffled laughter broke their fighting, causing Pansy to reel on him. "Drakey! Make her pick up my books!" she whined loudly.
"Just leave it alone, Pansy, and stop bitching before we get detention for being late to class," Draco said angrily. He didn't even know why he bothered to walk to class with her anymore.
Pansy put her hands on her hips crossly and started to pout. "I'm not going to lower myself to Weasley's level! Make her do it!"
Draco sighed loudly before desperately looking at Ginny. He didn't want to make her do anything, especially for Pansy's pleasure, but it was his role as the mean Slytherin to do such a thing.
Catching his glance, Ginny groaned before bending down to the ground. "Don't worry about it, Malfoy. I'll spare you the agonizing task of having to speak to me."
Impressed at her choice of words, Draco let out sly smile as he and Pansy both watched Ginny pick up the books and quills near their feet. Once Ginny collected all of Pansy's belongings, she stood up and handed them over with an irritated face. She turned to leave when Pansy stepped forward and roughly grabbed her arm.
"Owie!" Ginny yelled as Pansy continued to hold her death grip.
"What is that?" Pansy asked, looking at Ginny's neck.
Draco followed Pansy's gaze, and saw her staring at Ginny's necklace with the promise ring attached to it. 'It must have slipped out from underneath her clothes when she bent over,' Draco told himself quickly as his stomach dropped.
Not giving Ginny a chance to answer, Pansy took a harder look. "I know what that is!" she said aloud to herself. "That's a promise ring." She quickly looked up at Ginny with a face full of uncertainty. "Where did you get this, Weasley? And don't lie to me and say you bought it yourself! We all know that isn't nearly possible, even if you sold yourself for it."
Narrowing her eyes at Pansy for the last comment, Ginny glanced at Draco before saying, "It was a gift."
Pansy stared at her blankly before laughing at her harshly. "A gift? No one cares enough about you to give you such a thing!" Without looking over her shoulder, she said to Draco, "Hey, Draco. Maybe we should take away some house points for Weasley lying to us."
Draco opened his mouth to speak without a clue of what to say, when Ginny said loudly, "I'm not lying, Parkinson. It was a gift so fuck off!"
Everyone went absolutely still at Ginny's words, too stunned to move or speak. Draco swore to himself, knowing exactly how Pansy was going to react and quickly thinking of how he was going to help out Ginny.
Just as Draco predicted, Pansy's look grew very ugly before she slammed Ginny up against the brick wall painfully. "What did you just say to me, Weasley?"
Draco watched in horror as Ginny whimpered in pain from the sudden impact. He quickly pulled out his wand, preparing to protect what was his.
Ginny stared at Pansy with such loathe that Draco felt himself cringe in fear. "I said fuck off, Parkinson," she said, annunciating each word.
What happened next seemed to be in slow motion. As Draco watched from behind, he saw Pansy put her hand in her left pocket, which Draco knew for a fact was where she kept her wand. He tried to catch Ginny's eye to warn her, but she was so fixed on keeping Pansy's glare that she didn't even notice her reaching for her wand. Just as Pansy's wand came into view, Draco made up his mind and shouted, "Stupefy!"
His breath stopped as him and Ginny both watched Pansy's body slump to the ground. Ginny looked up to Draco with wide eyes, who was staring at Pansy in shock.
"I just attacked Pansy," Draco said in shock as he looked up at Ginny. Before Ginny could thank him or convince him that it was for the best, Draco shouted happily, "I've wanted to do that since my third year!"
Sighing with relief, Ginny went to go walk up to him when she stopped in pain. Alarmed, Draco ran over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly.
Ginny slowly nodded her head. "I think I just bruised something when I hit the wall," she said as she tried to shrug it off.
Draco slowly shook his head in guilt. "I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything earlier. You know the last thing I want is for you to get hurt, and"
"Draco, I understand," Ginny interrupted with a smile. "The whole being more careful idea wouldn't go to well with you rescuing me while Pansy was conscious."
Draco nodded his head, even though he felt like a helpless, horrible person. He quickly looked at Pansy and then grabbed Ginny's hand, dragging her away.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked as Draco broke out into a fast pace.
"Someone must have heard the fight, and any second now they're going to come across Pansy knocked out," Draco said as he quickly looked behind his back. "It wouldn't be too smart to hang out at the scene of the crime."
Ginny quickly nodded her head as she tried to keep up with Draco, and not until he took them through a few random turns did they stop. Deciding that they were safe and secluded, Draco let go of Ginny as she leaned up against the wall.
Draco stood in front of her, and watched her as she played with her necklace. "I didn't know that this would be so hard," Draco said suddenly. "The lying part is no problem, but I never thought that having to protect you would be such a big dilemma."
Ginny nodded in agreement as she continued to play with the crystal ring. "It is hard, Draco, but it's worth it to me. I'd rather be dead if I couldn't be with you, and believe me when I say I'd give up anything for you."
"Like your friends," Draco pointed out, instead of questioning her.
Ginny's fingers stopped playing with her necklace at his words. "How did you know that?" she asked, unable to look him in the face.
"I heard your friend Laura talking about it," he said as he tried to watch her face that she was hiding. "Ginny, I don't want you to drop everyone just for me. You need more than one person to survive in this world."
"That's not true, Draco," Ginny said, quickly bringing her eyes to his. "All I need is you to survive, I don't need anyone else." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts properly. "What about you, Draco? If I need my friends, who do you need?"
Draco stared at her, not knowing what to say exactly. He's never had the good friend, one that liked him for him and not his money or power. He grew up having no one to play to or talk to whenever he wished, and never did no the meaning of a real relationship Ginny came along. But there was life before her.
"Me," he said flatly. "I've only been there for myself before you, so I guess I need myself."
Ginny nodded her head silently. She wasn't expecting him to say family or friends, because she knew he had little of each. And here she was, with an abundance of both, but she didn't care anymore. "I've already made up my mind on this, Draco," Ginny said, refusing to break his gaze. "I know that I can never have both you and everyone else in my life at the same time. I wouldn't be able to handle the stress, the lying, and I know that it would come down to me choosing who I would rather have. And I'm not going to go through all that if I already know I'd pick you."
Draco stared at Ginny desperately. "Ginny," he almost pleaded, "stop thinking of me and think of you for once."
"You are me, Draco!" Ginny finally yelled, tired that he wasn't getting it in the first place. "Without you I am nothing. There's no point in keeping friends that would only destroy us, because not having you would destroy me."
Draco stood there, not knowing what to say. Instead, he slowly nodded as he grabbed her hand. "If that's how you want it then."
"It is, Draco," Ginny said convincingly.
"Let's just hope it's the best choice," Draco said as they slowly walked away together.
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Draco sighed heavily with exhaust as he left the Great Hall by himself. All through dinner he watched Laura give Ginny looks of confusion, worry, and even hatred, as he tried to ignore the looks Pansy gave him. He purposely sat away from her at dinner so she wouldn't question him about the scene earlier, but that didn't stop her from looking at him. News was spreading fast that Pansy was found knocked out in the hallway, but she refused to say who she thought attacked her. Draco glanced at her while she stared at him with a knowing look on her face. Draco found it easiest to just stare at his plate of food and nothing else for the rest of the meal.
Suddenly desiring a good nap with no interruptions, Draco headed towards Slytherin's room. Earlier that day when he and Ginny were alone, they both agreed that tonight they should play low and cancel their usual meeting. After too many risks and too many questions from everyone, they knew it was best to just stay in their own rooms for one night.
Draco strutted into Slytherin's room, for once not having to worry about special precautions for entering, as he did with Ginny. Not even bothering to take off his school robe, he immediately flopped onto the bed, too tired to care that the lights were still on.
Draco immediately lifted his head in suspicion, for he did not even turn the lights on. Even with his back to the surrounding room, Draco could feel a presence right behind him near the sitting area. He slowly sat up, and was about to pull out his wand when he paused. He slowly shook his head and with a smile he remembered seeing Ginny leaving dinner early. 'Probably decided to surprise me,' he thought to himself.
"Ginny, you really have to stop sneaking up on me," he said as he casually turned around to face her.
His face suddenly froze, and turned ghostly pale as he stared at the person in front of him. His hand went to grab his wand, but he knew there was no point.
Draco stared hard at the person before growling, "Hello, Father."
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"And learn me how to lose a winning match, Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods: Hood my unmann'd blood, bating in my cheeks, With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown bold, Think true love acted simple modesty."
-Romeo and Juliet
Act III Scene II
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This chapter was short compared to the last two, but that's just how it worked out. This is going to be a total of ten chapters, so a few more left! Sorry for the cliffhangers!
Thanks for reading and please review!
Liz21