Should've Listened

Draco groaned loudly as he woke from a sweet-dreamed sleep. He had been dreaming of her, a reoccurring event that had taken place every night since she left. He tried to grab at the ends of it, trying not to forget the images that passed in front of his mind’s eye not moments before, because there would be no telling when he would actually see her again.

She had been dancing in a meadow, a silly, mundane thing but beautiful nonetheless. The long white dress that had encompassed her small frame swayed and flared as she spun around and around. The sun shone in her crimson hair, creating a perfect halo on the crown of her head. Each night, the vision left him breathless, his lungs screaming for air while he wished for it all to be real. And each morning the gloom, a mixture of guilt, sadness, jealousy and anger, settled into its usual perch upon his chest. Karma was having its way with him and it was not a gentle lover.

Slowly, he untangled himself from the mass of sheets that had twisted around his body and sat on the edge of the bed. His silver eyes wandered for a moment to the pillow that lay next to his, the one that she had once slept on. But staring at it for too long always made getting out of bed harder so, with a shake of his head to clear the haunting images, he pushed himself off the bed and walked distractedly to the bathroom door. Pushing the handsomely finished piece with a little more force than necessary, he stepped onto the cold, white tiled floor and locked eyes with the person he despised most. Himself…

There's clothes all over the floor

I don't remember them being here before

Smell of perfume isn't here, why's lipstick on the mirror?

And still I don't understand

The water was icy cold, sending chills down his spine as he stepped under the spraying showerhead. He ran a hand through his platinum hair and remembered how she had done the same on many occasions. The memory teased him, pulling at his heart strings and forcing him to catch his breath from the sting. Whatever happened to the old, confident, didn’t give a flying…This was ridiculous. All he had to do was forget her, move on, go to the nearest pub and pick up the first decent looking and preferably drunk girl who would naturally be attracted to his good looks and do what he pleased. It was simple. He had done it before, so now, when the she was gone and didn’t have a say in his life anymore, why was it so hard?

Oh yes. That ruddy connection that had weakened him till he turned into the pathetic soul he currently was. Love…

He flashed a look at the bathroom door, still ajar from when he entered. It would take roughly five minutes to get dressed and out the door to go look for her. He knew where she would be. The thought was tempting, just like the last time he had thought about it. But he couldn’t. He had hurt her, taken advantage of her empathy and of her willingness to forgive many, many times. And she had forgiven him, in the beginning. But now, when he wanted her the most, when there was just about anything he would do to see her, to hold her, to speak to her again, she wanted nothing to do with him.

No pictures left in the hall, there's three new holes in my wall

Where the hells my credit cards, why's my wallet in the yard

And still I don't understand

~ Flashback ~

"Why do you do this to me?! What have I done to deserve this?!"

"I’m sorry Gin, I didn’t…"

"Don’t you sorry-Gin me Draco Malfoy! You bloody well meant to because you’ve done this sort of bull shit before! Why do I put up with this?!"

"I promise I won’t do it again…"

"Stop lying to me! You always say you’ll never do it again and guess what?! You went did it again!"

"I’m sorry. Please believe me…"

"And why should I? Why should I trust you?"

"Because I love you."

"Well I can’t love you."

~ End of Flashback ~

Well now I guess I should've listened

When you said you'd had enough

A little trick I picked up from my father

In one ear and out the other, why’s love gotta be so tough?

By morning, she was gone with all her things. The apartment they shared was practically empty by the time she was through and every time he tried to stop her, she screamed at him or threatened to use her famous curse. The memory of that was enough to silence him, forcing him to stand in a corner and watch in silent horror as the love of his life marched out the door. As the door closed, he imagined the vice grip she had around his heart being pulled with her, out onto the floor and smothered. It was the most pain he had ever endured but he did endure it because hadn’t he done the same to her not two nights previous?

Their flat had become his prison, in which he had remained since she had disappeared behind the door. He had food delivered, the thought of facing society or his friends to much to fathom for more than a moment. His owl began to grow more and more irritable as it was sent out day after day with yet another letter to beg her to return only to turn around and bring it back unopened. The only other thing stopping him from making his way over to the Burrow the minute after she left, despite her not so subtle hint, was the fact that she had and quite a number of older brothers (both blood related and not) who would have quite happily killed him the second he set foot on their property.

Should see the look on my face, my shit's all over the place

Why's this happening to me, why'd you take both sets of keys?

And still I don't understand

Choosing for the first time in days to get fully clothed after his routinely freezing shower, Draco wandered aimlessly through the lifeless rooms. There wasn’t a place that he couldn’t associate with her. She was every where. Her scent lingered in every room and her face was permanently etched into his mind. Nothing he did could take his mind off her, that love feeling once again making him suck in a breath to ease the side effect of remembering. He had told her that he loved her before but it was usually just for leverage, prodding at her sympathy. Now that he was alone and had time to think about it…well he wasn’t sure what he felt except that this great gaping hole was making a gruesome mess of his insides and that every time he thought of her he had some physical reaction. It had to be love because nothing else could explain that kind of insanity.

Well now I guess I should've listened

When you said you'd had enough

A little trick I picked up from my father

In one ear and out the other, why’s love gotta be so tough?

Well now I guess I should've listened

Without his usual grace (which for some reason had chosen it would rather avoid his misery than become immersed in it), he flopped down heavily into the worn leather chair before his antique, oak desk, both birthday presents from his ever illusive parents. He stared at the piece of parchment before him, debating whether it was worth writing on only to have it sent back to him in a few hours time. The thought of giving up again crossed his mind...Followed shortly by the stabbing feeling in his heart that made him sure that it didn’t agree with that plan.

Rubbing his eyes with his fingertips, he took a deep breath and picked up his eagle-feathered quill. Shakily, he wrote his desperate plea that she meet him at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. When he had finished, he gingerly rolled the message up and, after prodding it awake with his wand (a precaution he felt obliged to take), held it out to his owl to take in its talon. With a flap of wings and a disgruntled hoot, the bird was gone, leaving Draco with his thoughts and prayers that the letter would make it and not be returned.

There's clothes all over my floor

I don't remember them being here before

There are no candles in here, lipstick still on my mirror?

And still I don't understand

Draco waited, his thumb running along the rim of his mug of butter-beer as he stared anxiously at the pub’s entrance. The letter hadn’t been returned but there was no reply. It was a promising change of events that he was sure to think over far too thoroughly, but despite himself he tried to keep rational and be prepared for the worst.

It had been over three hours already. His drink was room temperature, still untouched since it had first been set in front of him, seeing as he had been too nervous to drink, and the bar woman had been casting him curious glances every so often. Uncomfortable was far too polite a word for what he felt but moving from his seat was nonnegotiable. Besides, it was only eight o’clock and the pub would be open until first light the next morning. Plenty of time to loose faith and sink deeper into misery.

The bell above the door rang again, catching Draco’s drifting attention for a moment as a woman entered. There was December snow in her fire coloured hair and dusted lightly on the shoulders of her cloak. Her cheeks were rosy from the biting wind outside. Draco felt his jaw drop slightly in awe. She was beautiful. And she had come…

Her ocean blue eyes flicked over the people in the pub, looking for him. He waited fretfully until finally her gaze fell upon him. With a great whoosh, all his composure began to slip away, threatening to leave him as the nervous wreck that was hiding behind his calm mask. With difficulty he recovered, taking advantage of the seconds it took for her to cross the room His hands shook beneath the table top, the only part of his body he could not control, as she stopped before him.

"Hullo Draco."

Well now I guess I should've listened

When you said you'd had enough

A little trick I picked up from my father

In one ear and out the other, why must love be so tough?

She perched herself stiffly in the chair opposite him, her entire body tensed as if ready to bolt out the door the moment the opportunity came. Her face was emotionless, a trait that was unusual to her as she was the most emotional person Draco knew. They both said nothing for a while, just staring at each other, Draco watching her eyes and trying to figure out what she was thinking before it came out of her mouth. It was proving to be a hard task but became unnecessary as she gave a heavy sigh and spoke first.

"What do you want Draco?" she asked in a clipped tone that stung him.

"I want you to come back," he replied quietly, reaching a hand across the table to take hers. Before he could make contact however, she pulled her hands off the table to fold them in her lap. Thwarted, Draco retrieved his own.

"You know I can’t do that."

"Why?"

"You know why," she said after an exasperated sigh. There was something beneath her composed tone, a hint of sadness that didn’t seem to reach her face. She turned her face to the crowded room, blocking Draco’s attempt to read her expression.

"I’ve changed. I promise. Please Ginny, let me show you."

"N-no Draco, I can’t." Her wavering detachment gave him hope.

"My life is a living hell without you."

"Stop it!" Ginny hissed, tears building in the corners of her eyes as she wiped her head around to glare at him. "Stop telling me this! Every time I try to forget you, every time I think I’m over you…" She paused and shook her head. “I can’t do this anymore!" She swiftly rose to her feet and turned to make her escape. This was it. If he let her go now, there would be no getting her back. The thought terrified him.

"Ginny," he said softly and grabbed her hand, hoping the contact would stop her. "Please listen to me."

"Why do you do this to me?" Ginny asked in a trembling voice. "Why can’t you say you love me and mean it? If you really loved me you would have never done what you did."

"And if I could take it all back, believe me, I would in a heartbeat. These last two weeks have been the worse of my life. Being without you Ginny is like being without air. I can’t live without you. I should’ve listened to you. If you give me another chance, I promise I will never, never betray you again."

"You’ve said this before…" She looked over her shoulder at him, her glare rightfully accusing.

"And this time I mean it." Draco stopped and kissed her forehead. She stiffened beneath his lips, an act that jarred his confidence of her not turning to run in the next moment."Please, give me another chance."

"I don’t know…"

"Please. I love you."

"Do you mean it?" she asked in a skeptical tone. Something stretched across Draco’s face. It was a foreign feeling, not quite right yet somehow natural. It was the first time he had smiled in weeks.

"It’s the first thing I’ve ever been sure of in my life,” he answered quietly, willing his hear to slow. “I can’t give up on it now…”

“You did before,” she snapped but her voice was not as sharp as it had started out as. “What’s to say you won’t give up on it again?”

“I just…” Draco paused, trying to find the right word to bring her solace, to make her understand. But his answer was weak. “Know,” was all he said before frustration filled him. Of all the things he could have said, of all the moments to loose his ability to smooth talk his way out of situations, his only answer was that he knew? It was a ridiculously simple but he could think of nothing else. He had to close his eyes, despite his need to watch her every second of the day from now on, not willing to see his dissatisfaction reflected with additional emotion on Ginny’s.

"This is your last chance and if you screw it up…" But she didn’t finish her thought. Draco’s eyes flew open, watching the aggravation being set aside in hers and the corner of her lips trying not to tug into a smile at his surprise. It only took a moment before his lips found hers...

“I promise to listen…”

Should’ve Listened – Nickleback

Author’s note: Just thought I’d fix this up a bit, clean it so it wasn’t as repetitive and a little more drawn out. It is only a one shot so I’m sorry that this is the end. I’ll leave the rest to your brilliant imaginations, mainly because if I don’t think it would be as satisfying if I tried to write it. I hope you enjoyed the re-made version! J