Last one! I'm so glad I've posted all of this! Sorry it took forever to finish this story. Hope you like it! Feel free to review or email me with any unanswered questions as I highly doubt there will be a sequel. I'm at rainimarrimore@yahoo.com. Happy reading!
Chapter 20 Finding Forever
Ginny passed Colin in the common room as she ran to her dormitory. She couldn't marry Neville. She couldn't. Ginny hated to hurt him, but she just couldn't marry him. She had never really loved him. Well, she had, but not the way she would love the man she would marry someday.
Ginny remembered the rooms in Lyseria. Neville would have held her back. He would have smothered her. He would have put her in a little house with shutters and a pot of flowers on the porch and given her little boys to take care of. There was something to be said for that security, but just not for her. Ginny wanted the secure life and warm fireplace. She wanted kids and for Neville to be happy…but not with her. She couldn't love him when she was still so confused about herself. Ginny went to sleep early that night partially to get some rest for N.E.W.T.s in the morning, but mostly to forget about men.
When Ginny woke up, she skipped breakfast to write a letter to Neville explaining her choice. Ginny had trouble writing it, but she felt she owed him the closure of a better response. Eventually, she finished and sent him the letter before heading off to hours of N.E.W.T. testing.
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Ginny relaxed in her chair when she finished. When time was called, she left and returned to her room. Her roommate was painting her toenails and reading a copy of Witch Weekly. Ginny paused. She had been in this situation before. Suddenly, she remembered. The letter from Draco was supposed to come today! She looked on her bed, where it had been before. Nothing. Turning to her roommate, Ginny spoke. "Did anyone leave a letter for me?"
Her roommate shook her head. Ginny sat on the bed. So she hadn't gotten a letter. In every room, no matter what choices Ginny made, she had received a letter. How could she not get one? Ginny dug through her wooden clothes chest and took out the pouch Draco had given her at the Graduation Ball last year. Ginny pulled the necklace out and held it in her hand. It glistened and shone as if newly polished. Putting it down, she took out the thing she had really wanted to see. At the bottom of that note, four simple words were written that Ginny, admittedly, had read more than a few times.
"I love you, Ginny." If he had really loved her, why hadn't he contacted her for the past year? No letter? Ginny bit her lip. Maybe he had forgotten about her. She suddenly choked up. He had forgotten about her. There was no other reason. He had to have forgotten, or he would have sent secret letters if nothing else. Broken hopes and suppressed feelings from the past year flooded from her. Ginny ran to find Colin.
"I give up!" She cried when she saw him. "This isn't worth it. I can't love him, and I won't!" Ginny threw herself into Colin's sympathetic arms. He had gotten better at this in the past couple years.
He ran his hands through her hair and let her cling to him. "What happened? This isn't about Neville, is it?"
Ginny cried. "Neville? He's the last of my troubles. I can't believe I did that to him. I turned down his proposal and probably broke the poor man's heart, and, yet, he's the least of my troubles!"
"You did him a favor. If you didn't love him, you'd both be unhappy. You know that. It's best this way."
"I know." Ginny whimpered. She slouched in the chair and put her head in her hands.
Colin tried again. "Are you in love?"
Ginny turned her head. "Right," she spoke sarcastically. Colin gave her a look, and she knew exactly who he meant. "Love? Malfoy?" She paused and shook her head. "Of course not." She started to tear up again. "How could I love someone who wouldn't look at me when he passed me and hasn't spoken to me for a year? How could I love him? How could I love someone who doesn't love me, who doesn't care enough to…"
"He does love you." Colin admitted.
"No, he doesn't." She buried her face in his shoulder.
"Yes," Colin sighed, "he does."
Ginny looked at him, annoyance and pain in her eyes. "Why would you say something like that? How would you know?"
Colin looked as if he thought not to tell her, but felt she ought to know. "Because he told me!"
Ginny stopped crying. "What?" She looked confused. "Why would he tell you?"
Colin shook his head. "Well, more accurately, he threatened me, and then asked me for a favor." Ginny looked at him quizzically, wiping tears from her eyes. "Malfoy told me that I had better watch out for you. He asked me to send a letter to him every once in a while to tell him you were okay. I sent him a picture of you in the common room."
"A picture of me?" Her breath hitched as she spoke, but she wasn't sure if it was from surprise or from residual tears.
"A pretty innocent one, really. He just wanted a picture of you in case he couldn't see you again." Ginny started crying again. "I know you love him and…" as hard as it was for him to say it, Colin continued. "...and I want you to be happy. Even if it's with him." He reached into his pile of papers. "Here." Colin handed her a letter with a green seal. "This came at breakfast. You weren't there, so I picked it up for you." Ginny beamed at him, kissed Colin on the cheek and ran to her room to read her letter.
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The Hogwarts Express was boarding passengers. Ginny pulled her trunk behind her, and looked back at the castle. She was done. She had graduated from Hogwarts and now she was a fully privileged, educated witch. She could apparate, get a job, practice magic, move away from home and do whatever her heart desired. Ginny felt powerful.
Looking at Gryffindor tower and the Quidditch pitch, however, her sentimentality took over. She would miss school. She would miss her friends, her teachers, the crazy happenings of the past several years…Despite that, she smiled. She'd still talk to Colin, Hagrid, Dumbledore and the others. Life wouldn't end. Ginny blew a kiss to Hogwarts, and smiled at Colin as they boarded the train.
When it stopped, Mrs. Weasley was there to receive Ginny. Her mother pulled her into a big hug. "Oh, my little girl. My little baby's all grown up."
"Mum, I've got some people I need to talk to…" Ginny gestured to Colin and a few others.
"Of course, dear. We can catch up later." Mrs. Weasley apparated home.
"Colin!" Ginny called as Colin took his wand out to leave. He turned to look at her. She smiled. "I'll miss you."
Colin rubbed his neck. "Bah, no need to miss me. I'll see you around." Ginny kissed his cheek and headed for Platform 12. As Ginny walked past Platforms 10 and 11, she wondered what was going to happen. Draco 'needed to see her'. Ginny hoped he was okay. She walked up to Platform 12.
There he was. Draco was slouched forward, sitting on a black metal bench. His face, which usually looked so strong, conveyed worry and tiredness. Ginny smiled and tilted her head. "Do you always look this upset when you ask someone to meet you?"
Draco stood up, breaking into a half smile. "No, not usually." Ginny flung her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder and relishing the feel of his arms around her. She looked up when he spoke. "How have you been?"
Her eyes lowered, his arms still wrapped around her waist. "Could've been better."
Draco absorbed the feeling of her being near him. Her smell, her hair, her eyes… "I've had a lot of time to think, recently."
"And?" she asked softly.
His eyes stayed intensely focused on her. "And I've thought a lot about you."
Ginny felt weak when she heard him. She didn't know whether to be happy or to cry. Ginny closed her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again." Ginny felt he had to know. It hurt her to tell him. "I didn't date, I couldn't, but…" She looked down. "But Neville asked me to marry him." Draco winced. "He sent me letters and visited me on holiday…" Draco looked as if he were kicking himself just then. He looked so pained that it nearly broke her heart in two. Draco turned away and walked back into the station.
Ginny couldn't believe it. After all this time, after having Colin watch over her, after sending her that letter, and even after holding her the way he just had, he was leaving. Ginny ran after him. She knew if she didn't, she may never see him again.
Already wearing his coat, Draco had almost left the room when Ginny ran up behind him. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
Draco turned angrily to face her. "So you agree to marry someone else?! Do you love him?!"
Ginny yelled at him, pain in her eyes. "No!"
He yelled louder. "Then why are you marrying him?!" Everyone in the station was watching the two of them, by now.
Ginny looked frustrated, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I'm not marrying him! I couldn't marry him because I'm in love with you!" She started crying. "I broke a man's heart for the slight hope that I would ever see you again!"
Draco's eyes softened. "So you're not marrying him?"
Ginny looked up at him, tears running down her cheeks. "No."
Draco, put an arm around her waist and smirked. "And you love me?"
Ginny shuffled her feet. Draco's smile broadened. He tilted her chin up so her eyes met his. "And you love me?"
"Yes, I love you." Draco grinned and kissed her. It was a kiss he had never given her before, one filled with tenderness and joy. It was for this kiss that she had waited so long. His lips fell softly from hers, and he took a step back.
"I have to catch the train. I've got work in the morning." He told her, straightening his coat.
"What?!" Ginny couldn't believe he was leaving, now.
"Yeah, at the University. Potions research. I have a flat near the campus." They walked back toward the train.
Ginny choked up and tried to control her emotions. She failed. "So you come back after a year, have me admit that I love you, kiss me and leave?"
"No."
Ginny was really frustrated. "What do you mean 'no'?"
Draco walked casually to the train, which was beginning to board passengers. "I mean, no. Come with me."
It struck Ginny that she hadn't thought of this. She looked at him with suspicion and confusion. "What do you mean 'come with you'?"
Draco stepped onto the train, Ginny standing right in front of him. "Come with me, Ginny." He held his hand out to her as he had so many times before. Draco looked at her directly. "Marry me." It took a moment for Ginny to process what he had said. Then, she noticed the train ticket and ring in his palm. Draco was serious. She said it in her mind. Ginny Malfoy. Her stern face lighted into a huge grin. Ginny took his hand, and they boarded the train.