Only 1 more chapter after this! Again, thanks a million to everyone who continually reviews my stories. You make my ego super big!
CHAPTER 12
For three long months, the ring hadn't budged. Ginny had spent hours twisting and pulling it but it absolutely refused to move. For three long months, Ginny stayed at Harry's house, with him and Ron and Hermione. Harry and Ron went off to work each day with her father at the Ministry and Hermione stayed behind, trying to find some new activity to include Ginny in, usually something related to S.P.E.W. Ginny busied herself making sure the large house was absolutely spotless, that breakfast and dinner were ready on time, and that Harry and Ron had packed lunches everyday.
Her mother came to visit, asking her to return to the Burrow, or at least to Hogwarts, but Ginny would do neither. Going to Hogwarts and finding that Draco wasn't there would only make things worse, and to have her mother fret over her at the Burrow wasn't an ideal situation either.
To nobody's surprise, her father was quickly elected Minister of Magic, and when Professor Snape was asked to step in as Headmaster at Hogwarts, Ginny knew she would never be returning. There was no point really; if she decided to return, it was too far into the year for her to catch up, and she'd be a year behind. She didn't want to go back to that life anyways. School was for gossip and finding out who fancied who and rating the boys and giggling. Ginny didn't care about those things anymore.
"You have to go see him," Hermione said finally as she ate her lunch one afternoon.
"Huh?" Ginny looked up and was almost surprised to see Hermione sitting across from her and a plate of untouched food in front of her. She had become so accustomed to avoiding questions she had managed to avoid reality.
"Every single day you play with that ring and it hasn't budged. So go see him."
Ginny shook her head. "I can't. He doesn't want me to."
"Then get over him," Hermione suggested wearily. "You can't live like this. We can't live like this."
"Maybe I should get a job."
"That's a start. Or you could go see your parents."
She nodded. "I think I will."
Hermione sat back in her chair and looked pleased.
But Ginny didn't do any of those things. Instead she would get out of bed early in the morning and wander around the Muggle parts of London until late in the evening. She found a quaintness in Muggle bookshops and developed an adoration for Muggle shoes, and as much as she enjoyed a good cup of tea, Muggle's had a coffee shop called Starbucks that was absolutely divine. She dedicated her time to figuring out Muggle money and the Muggle tube system and finding her way around the Muggle mall without magic. When Hermione would question her, she would just say that she had been shopping, or looking for a job, or even out with old friends.
"Wake up!" she heard Hermione hissing early, early one morning.
Ginny sat up groggily in her bed and looked around. Sunlight wasn't even streaming in the windows yet. "What?"
"We've got places to go." She led Ginny into the bathroom and watched as she wearily washed her face and scrubbed her teeth. "Now put these on," she commanded, tossing a pink skirt and white top at Ginny.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked, pulling her hair into a pony tail. "Are you kicking me out?"
Hermione smiled thinly. "No. Just giving you a kick start."
"Why don't we apparate?" Ginny asked with a yawn as they stood on the curb in front of Harry's house.
"Or use Floo?"
She just shook her head determinedly and stuck out her wand.
The beds were still out on the Knight Bus, and Ginny could see several witches and wizards still sleeping. Once they had settled comfortably on the second floor, Hermione began to speak. "I ran into someone in Diagon Alley yesterday morning. We spent the better part of the morning talking."
Ginny looked at her silently.
"Draco is so sorry. It was horrible to see him that way, when I'm so used to him being horrible or at least arrogant."
"Seeing him what way?" Ginny demanded, her insides dipping.
"So sad."
"Is that where we're going? To see him?"
"He thought he would hold you back from having a fulfilling life if you went with him. He thought that eventually, you would regret it. He's not doing better. He's getting worse."
Ginny shook her head violently, red hair spilling from her messy pony tail. "No! Why couldn't he tell me that?"
"You would know the answer to that better than I would," Hermione said sadly. "He's Draco. Draco Malfoy."
"I don't want to see him."
Hermione leaned forward and grabbed Ginny's hand. She yanked on the ring as hard as she could, then began violently trying to twist it.
"Ow!" Ginny shrieked as she fell forward. "What are you doing?"
"Are you aware that the Draco that exists now is not going to be the same Draco you fell in love with?" Hermione hissed. "Are you aware that he may die soon, and you could be left all alone? Are you aware that he is going to carry the emotional scars of this for his whole life?"
Ginny had never seen Hermione so angry in her whole life. "It would be like marrying Harry," she said softly, picking herself up off the floor.
Hermione continued to glare at her for a moment, and then finally began to giggle. "Exactly."
"Do you think Harry'll ever get married?"
Hermione shrugged. "There might be a few saints out there."
"Like you?"
"I hardly think I'm a saint."
"But you love him."
"Yes," she sighed, "I do love him."
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