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 Eight: Sacrifices for Love
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Draco watched as his father sat comfortably yet sophisticated in the green armchair in the sitting area. He had yet to speak a hello or a word to Draco since the two faced each other, and it was making Draco shiver with a knowing curiosity.
"What are you doing here, Father?" Draco asked, even though deep down he knew exactly why his father was here.
A smooth smirk came over Lucius' face, one that matched Draco's own perfectly. He continued to stay seated, and Draco sighed quietly. He slowly walked up to his father, and with each step closer towards him, Draco's uneasy feeling grew more and more.
Sudden fear overcame Draco as he stopped only a few feet away from him, them both staring at each other with a knowing look on their faces. Draco was accustomed to being afraid of his father; he grew up knowing only fear and pain from him. But Draco wasn't afraid from himself, he was afraid for Ginny.
"I think we can both guess why I'm here," Lucius said coolly as he stood to Draco's height. "Especially after whom you had mistaken me for."
Draco felt his heart race, but he continued to look at this father with a plain expression. One thing he learned one he was younger was to never let your weaknesses show. Knowing that he had no way to get around what he said without lying and getting beaten, Draco chose to stay quiet and wait for his father to continue.
Lucius was only a few inches taller than Draco, but he was still able to tower over him with intimidation. "I've been hearing an interesting story from an inside source," he said casually as he walked over to the fireplace. He stared into it with his back to Draco, but Draco continued to keep his still posture and his mouth closed.
"This story is of two people from two very different households. In fact," Lucius said as he turned to face Draco with colder eyes, "there's been a family feud between these two for years." With each word, Lucius neared Draco, and was now standing right in front of him again. "Do you have any idea of who these two people could be?"
Finally given permission to speak, Draco opened his mouth without thinking. "I don't know, Father. There's a lot of people I have in mind that are supposed to hate each other."
The evil sparkled in Lucius' eyes, and before Draco could brace himself for his sharp tongue,
his father drew back his hand and smacked him hard across the face. "Don't be smart with me, boy," he said through clenched teeth. "I've taught you long ago to never lie to me."
Draco slowly brought his gaze back to him, tasting his own blood in his mouth. "What do you want me to say then?" Draco said flatly, hoping not to receive another hit. "We both know that you know everything, otherwise you wouldn't be here."
Lucius narrowed his eyes at Draco for a long moment, before saying, "I want you to tell me that it was just a convenient shag, that she was nothing more than a whore to you."
Draco opened his mouth to lie to his father, to tell him that for the last month he only used Ginny for sex, but he remained completely silent. He knew that pain would be a consequence to his silence, but he couldn't bring himself to say that about Ginny. And even if he could, his father would know right away that he was lying right through his teeth. Draco was an excellent liar, but since his father molded him he knew what the truth was or not.
Lucius slowly nodded his head at Draco, understanding his actions. He withdrew his hand once more, making Draco flinch, but he let it drop slowly. "I wanted to believe at first that it was only for the sex, and that lust took over your ability to think. But after hearing that you've given her a promise ring, now that just don't make sense."
Draco knew his eyes grew wide at his father's words. He really did know everything.
"Tell me, Draco," Lucius said so quietly that it chilled Draco's bones. "Do you love her?"
Draco tried so hard to shake his head no, but there was no point. His father knew, and he was just making Draco suffer for his own pleasure. So he then tried to speak, tell him that yes he did love her and he couldn't do anything about it, but Draco knew that that was just as much as a lie as saying he didn't love Ginny.
Lucius eyed Draco, slightly amused at watching his son be torn apart. But when Draco still refused to say a word, patience and time slowly ticked by, and the longer he stood there silently, the angrier Lucius grew.
When it grew obvious that Draco refused to answer, Lucius smirked. "There are ways to get you to answer, Draco," he said quietly. "And you know from experience that I'm not one to be hesitant to torture it out of you."
Draco's eyes grew wide, and his heart beat picked up greatly. He took a deep breath before whispering, "Yes."
Lucius' smirk was wiped off his face. "What did you say?" he spat.
"I said yes!" Draco nearly yelled, no longer afraid of his words. "Yes I love her, and maybe you're having such a big problem with dealing with that because you don't know what love is!"
Only a second went by between Draco's last spoken words and when Lucius quickly pulled out his wand and yelled, "Crucio!" at him.
No matter how many times Draco has felt it, it still hurt just as much as the last time. Pain swept through his body, quickly reminding him why he should never make his father angry. His knees buckled underneath his whole pressure, and even though he tried desperately to stand up to his father's height, his knees soon gave out. He fell to the floor in spasms of pain as a tortured cry built up in his throat. Knowing that his cries of anguish would only bring his father pleasure, Draco bit down his tongue so hard to keep them in that he could taste his own blood.
While he withered with pain, he heard his father speak over him, "All Malfoys learn sooner or later that love only makes them weak," he growled. "I thought I got that through to you, but I guess you'll just have to learn the hard way."
At the end of his sentence he lifted his wand, and the pain left Draco's body, leaving him to tremor and twitch silently on the floor. As Draco tried to get a hold of himself, Lucius said, "Tell me what promise was made on the ring."
Draco tried to use his voice, but coughed up blood instead. "To love her until I die," he said, his voice rough with pain.
He just got over his coughing fit when he felt Lucius' boot connect harshly with his side. Draco gasped aloud as his body cringed, making him want to curl into a ball to protect himself.
Lucius' cruel voice filled the room. "Stand up now and face me, you traitor!" he spat angrily.
Gathering all of the energy left in him, Draco slowly made it to his feet, surprised that he didn't fall over in a heap. Blood trickled from his mouth as he stared in to his father's eyes, but he made no move to wipe it off.
In all of his years, Draco had never seen his father this angry. "I don't think you realized what you have done with your foolish acts with that muggle lover," he said slowly. "This ends now before our Lord finds out, because if he does, many will suffer. He will never allow someone in his inner group to associate with someone on Dumbledore's side, and neither will I."
Draco stared back at his father, and then slowly shook his head. "I don't care how much you torture me, I will never leave Ginny."
Lucius' eyes narrowed at the name his son spoke so freely. "Then maybe the choice between life and death will get you to change your mind," he said slowly.
"You're bluffing," Draco replied quickly without taking in what Lucius meant. "You'd never kill your only heir; it would ruin the Malfoy name forever, and that's all you care about."
This brought a cruel smile onto Lucius' lips, making Draco shudder slightly. "You're right, my dear son, I would never kill you. I'd kill off the one thing that mattered most to you."
Draco's whole body went completely numb, and he was certain his heart stopped beating. "Don't you dare touch her," he said slowly, each word growing louder than the next. "Don't you lay a fucking hand on her!"
"You're frightened," Lucius said with delight. "And you should be. You've seen me kill off whole families, and innocent muggle children by the dozen. What makes you think that that Weasley would be any different from the rest?"
"Nothing does," Draco said quietly, knowing that Lucius meant business, "just my pleads for you not to cause her any harm."
Lucius stared at Draco long and hard before saying, "Here this now. Break whatever little thing you have with her now, never step foot near her again, and I may be restrained from causing her pain."
"I want you to promise me," Draco said, his voice shaking. "Promise me that if I agree to break it off with Ginny, that you will cause her no pain."
A knowing smile glazed over Lucius' face. "I promise," he said with glee. "Besides, I think you'll be the one causing her all the pain, at least enough for you to learn to never go against me again."
He turned near the door as if to leave, before turning back around. "You shall never disrespect the name of Malfoy like this again, Draco," he said coldly. "You will stay away from her, if you know want what is best for her." With a quick glare he left the room, leaving Draco to stand alone in a daze before collapsing into a seat in shock.
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Draco knew it was around lunch time, and he had yet to move from Slytherin's room. After his father left, he stayed in that one seat for a few hours before dragging himself over to the bed. He awoke a few hours later after he had too many nightmares of watching his father torturing Ginny, and he was just standing there and watching, doing nothing to help her. He hasn't been able to fall asleep since, but still didn't move from the bed. He lay there on top of the sheets, with the same clothes on from the night before. His hair was a rumbled, his clothes crinkly, and didn't even want to know how his face looked.
For awhile Draco was contemplating on flat out ignoring Ginny instead of breaking her heart, but he knew that she wouldn't stop coming to him. He even thought of running away with her, but there wasn't a place he could go that was safe from his father or Voldemort's spies. His best bet right now was to stay locked up in that room, hoping that Ginny wouldn't come looking for him.
He just closed his tired eyes again, hoping for sleep to come, when he heard the door open, and slam shut loudly. "Draco?" Ginny's voice called, "Are you in here?"
Before Draco could get a chance to sit up or even fix his hair, Ginny came into view. Her worried face relaxed at seeing him as she ran over to him. "Draco, I was so worried about you!" she said as she sat next to him on the bed. "I was a bit surprised to not see you at classes, but when I started to hear people say that no one has seen you since dinner last night, I knew I had to come find you."
Draco stared at her with blank eyes, unsure of what to say. She cared about him so much, and yet here he was planning on breaking her heart. 'But it's for the best,' he argued with himself. 'I love her enough to let her go.'
"Draco?" Ginny asked so quietly that it made his heart break. He watched as she finally took him in, looking at his ruffled, slept in clothes, to his bruised cheek and puffy eyes. "What happened? Is something wrong?"
Draco wanted to yell at her to run far away and to never look back. He wanted to tell her that his father came to him last night, and he found out all about their relationship. He wanted to tell her that he would never want to hurt her, but he has to end it or else she will get hurt. He spent half the night thinking of ways to get around the whole situation while making his father believe he followed orders. The thought of telling Ginny everything and having her play along was the best idea, but Draco still didn't know who his father's source was. It could be anyone, and Draco could not take the chance of being with Ginny especially after his father threatened her life.
"No, nothing's wrong," Draco lied quietly. His arm draped around Ginny and pulled her to him so that she would lie down close to him. "And don't worry; everything is going to be fine."
Ginny sighed happily with content as she lay her head down in the cradle of his neck and wrapped an arm around his body. After they laid there silently for quite some time she whispered," I love you, Draco," as she snuggled into him.
Draco looked down at her face, and watched as she fell asleep. He brought his free hand to her face, and lightly touched her freckled cheeks he loved to tease her about, and then tucked her glorious red hair behind her ear. He slowly outlined her soft pink lips with his finger, making sure to always remember exactly how they felt against his skin. He pulled his fingers away so he could lower his lips to her own, and kissed her as gently as he could.
"I will always love you, Ginny Weasley," he whispered against her lips before he pulled away far enough to lay his head back down. "And I'm sorry for what I have to do, but it's for your own safety." Drawing both arms around her tightly, he held her close as he finally fell asleep.
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He left her there sleeping on the bed alone with a note on his pillow, asking her to meet him tonight where they had their first kiss. As he left to go shower and change, he stopped to stare at her sleeping form, taking in her beauty and angelic face. Before he could let his mind wander into how much he was going to regret his, he left the room quickly.
Draco stood near the fairy carved bench in the cold night air, but was already too numb to feel it. He glanced at the familiar surroundings; remember how nervous he felt before he kissed Ginny, and how scared he was when he found out who she really was. And coincidentally, those were the exact two feelings he was feeling now.
He heard footsteps approach him, but without turning he knew that the light steps were only made by one person. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye; saw her smiling face and her bright eyes. He felt his own face light up at her presence, but he stubbornly shut it back down. After so many years of his father beating the feeling of showing no emotions into him, Draco was finally glad that it came in use.
He didn't face Ginny until she was a foot away, and looked at her with the same cold eyes that he looked at her for so many years before the masquerade dance. She didn't seem to notice because she right away put her arms around him to give him a hug, as they always showed some sort of affection when they greeted each other.
Draco felt his body start to melt under her touch, and his heart aching. His arms went up to hug her close to him, when they froze in midair. If he was going to do this tonight, he was going to do it right.
He roughly grabbed her two arms and pushed her off of him. Her sudden gasps tore at him, and he had to look away when he saw her fall down on the bench from his harsh force.
"What was that for, Draco?" her shocked, hurt voice asked.
Draco continued to look to the side as he desperately tried to get into his mean, Slytherin attitude. 'Just think of her as another lousy Gryffindor you are supposed to hate,' he told himself as he heard her sit up from the bench. 'Just don't think about who she really is, or how you really feel about her. Hell, think of her as a female Potter.'
Ginny eyed him with worry before she lifted her small hand to his face to turn his head towards her. "Draco?" her voice squeaked.
Draco flinched from her touch, and drew his head as far away from her grasp as he could. "Don't touch me, you dirty whore," he spat out angrily.
Ginny's eyes widened at his words, and her mouth hung open in surprise. "What did you just call me?" Her voice was shaking with anger and shock.
Draco finally turned his gray eyes on her, and knew that this time she caught his look. "I said don't put your poor, Mudblood lover, Gryffindor filth hands on me, Weasley," he said slowly, saying each word with great force.
"What has gotten into you, Draco?" Ginny asked desperately as Draco continued to glare at her coldly. "This isn't like you at all! You're acting like,"
"How I used to?" Draco finished for her. She slowly nodded her head, and Draco managed a small smirk before he continued. "Let's think about it together, shall we, Weasley? The night I kiss you for the first time, I magically change my personality around you. Now why would I do such a thing like that?"
"Because you love me," Ginny said, even though it sounded more like a question.
Draco stared at her with evil eyes, and felt laughter rise in his throat even though he literally felt his heart break. "Or maybe because it scored me a shag with you. True, you are poor and your hair wants to make me vomit, but your body is rather a turn on."
Ginny slowly shook her head at him as tears collected in her eyes. "You don't mean that," she said quickly.
"Come on, Weasley! Did you really think that a Malfoy would really change for you, let alone love you? I mean, we
can all dream, but that's just ridiculous!"
"But you, you said you loved me," she whispered, her voice shaking as tears fell down her cheeks.
Draco studied his manicured hands as if they were the most interesting thing, but really he couldn't look at her cry. Watching her and knowing he was doing that to her made him want to run to her and gather her in his arms to comfort her, but Lucius' harsh words dug into his mind. It was either this, or death.
"Love is a just a word. It doesn't actually mean anything, especially coming from a Malfoy."
More tears formed in Ginny's eyes as she cried harder. "You're lying," she said through clenched teeth. "Not after all we've had together, not after how you would hold me after we would make love, or how you would look at me." She paused to take a breath of air. "Why are you lying to the both of us? Why are you even doing this?"
Draco looked up at her shaking body, quickly running out of things to say. He couldn't drag this on forever, and he hoped that by now she would get it and leave him alone for good. "The only false thing here is your little fantasy of us ever being together," Draco said uncaringly. "So grow up and get over it."
"No," she whispered in denial as all her tears suddenly stopped. "This isn't happening.it can't be happening," she trailed off.
"Well it is happening, so accept it and move on."
She stared at him in shock. "Do you honestly believe me to move on?" When Draco didn't reply she added, "Draco, you're everything to me. You're my heart, my soul. I'm nothing without you."
Draco made sure his gray eyes made contact with hers. Her bottom lip was trembling, promising another breakdown. He had to say it. He had to keep her as far away from his as possible.
"You were nothing more than a convenient shag to me, Weasley. You meant nothing to me."
The face she made was as if Draco actually took her heart out of her chest himself, but he just as much did that. Wanting a quick retreat to go hide in shame and grief, Draco turned to leave when Ginny yelled out, "I know you're lying and here's your proof!"
Draco turned back around and saw Ginny holding out her crystal promise ring with shaking hands. "It's not black," she said quietly. "You promised to love me until your dying day, and it's not black because you're still alive and you still love me, just as you always have."
Draco stared down at the ring, completely forgetting about it. He sighed quietly before pushing her hand out of his face. "It's a fake, you tramp," he snapped. "Do you really think you're worth spending that much money on? I bought it at some cheap store, knowing that you would think it was a genuine, and then I would easily have you wrapped around my finger."
"But," Ginny stared to say but was drowned out by Draco's overpowering voice.
"It will never turn black because it's not real, just as this past month was nothing real. Just fun for me, even though watching you suffer brings its own amount of pleasure."
It was a matter of seconds, but time slowed down. Draco watched as her once bright eyes turned into a hardness that he never knew was possible. Her knees slowly unbuckled and as she collapsed onto the floor, in either grief or shock, he saw what he had done to her. He destroyed her, and it was too late to bring her back.
As on cue, Draco turned his back on her and started to walk away. He didn't even realize it then that he broke his first promise to Ginny, the promise to never do such a thing to her again. But promises meant nothing to him anymore; he had to have a heart to keep promises. He promised himself to never hurt her, but he did more than he even meant to. Walking away from her made his decision final, and he made himself promise that this time he wouldn't come back. All he wanted was for Ginny to be safe, and the farther away from him the better. He would rather have her hate him for a lie then love him for something that couldn't last.
He didn't get far until he heard Ginny speak to him.
"Goodbye, Draco. Remember that I will always love you."
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"I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, That almost freezes up the heat of life,"
-Romeo and Juliet
Act IV Scene III
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Now some of you are very concerned about the ending. I wrote the end of Chapter 10, the final chapter, a way that may please all of you. Hopefully you will be some what satisfied with my ending. Thank you for reading so far!
Liz21