48 Hours

June 15, 2000 - Ginny’s Graduation

Sitting by the lake, I thought of the last seven years. They hadn’t been all good . . . yet they hadn’t been all bad either. I never thought I could be this happy. It all started in my fifth year.

***Flashback***

“How dare you! How dare you say that to me! After the hell your father put me through in my first year!” I couldn’t help it, I slapped him.

“Where the hell do you get off accusing my father of something? You don’t even know the man!” He looked livid.

“Where the hell do you get off telling me I can’t participate in the war effort! Tom wants me, more than he wants Harry! And it’s all your father’s fault!”

“It is not my father’s fault! He’s not a bad man. His loyalty is just . . .poorly placed.”

“Poorly placed? Poorly placed! The man is a known Death Eater, and he nearly killed me with the whole ‘let’s sacrifice someone to Voldemort with his journal so he can return’ thing!” I stomped my foot and looked at him. He had this almost pained look on his face.

“That was you?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes. I was the one you father sent into the Chamber of Secrets. You knew, didn’t you?”

“I . . . I . . . Yes.” He slumped down in a chair.

“Why are you here anyway? This is the DA. Shouldn’t you be off in the dungeons somewhere plotting with all your Death Eater buddies.”

“I should be, but I’m not.” I sat down.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to be like Lucius. I don’t want to kill people just because they aren’t pureblooded. I can’t follow and put a decaying corpse on a pedestal. I just can’t do it.”

“So why are you here, Malfoy?” He looked up, lost and confused, his mask gone for the first time.

“I can’t fight him alone. If he knew I was fighting against Voldemort, he’d kill me.” It was my turn to be livid.

“But you’re his son! His only son!”

“His only son that was born and bred to be Voldemort’s heir. If I do not fight and become a Death Eater, I am of no more use to him.”

“My Gods, Malfoy.”

“Yeah.”

***End Flashback***

That’s when it all began. We became friends, and by the end of my fifth year, we started dating. Who would have thought, a Weasley in love with a Malfoy. I looked over the lake. Graduation started in an hour.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, and a chin rested on my shoulder.

“You really should head up to school. Your family is here.” I spun around. He wasn’t supposed to be here, he was on duty at the Ministry. The war was beginning soon.

“Draco! You’re here!”

“Of course I’m here, Gin. Where else would I be?”

“I don’t care. You came back for my graduation, that’s all that matters.” He smiled and kissed my nose.

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” He leaned in and kissed me with a passion I hadn’t felt in almost a year . . .when he graduated. “You’re leaving aren’t you?”

“In two days.” I latched on to him.

“Don’t go.” He kissed me again.

“Don’t you have a graduation to get to?”

“Draco?” I looked at him pleadingly.

“I can’t get out of it, love. We have to stop a Death Eater invasion. You know the war is starting.” He hugged me.

“Don’t leave without saying good-bye.”

“Ginny.” He looked at me, with love and sadness in his eyes. “This is good-bye.”

“But . . . you just got here.”

“I know.” He stepped back and slipped his family ring on my finger. “I’ll be back for you. I’m leaving before the party begins. I’ll be here long enough to see you graduate.” I hugged him again, and we walked up to the Great Hall.

“I love you, Draco.”

“I love you too, Ginny.” We kissed and I walked into the prep room for graduation.

That was the last time I saw him.