a/n- Thanks to my beta reader Fallenwitch- whose comments make me laugh and lighten the mood whenever I've finished writing a serious chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters below.
"Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Ginny and Richard, the lovely couple of the evening. Ginny Weasley, my only daughter and the apple of Molly's eye, will shortly be engaged to Richard here. We invite all of you to bless the couple ten days from now."
Ginny plastered a fake smile on her beautiful face, only for the benefit of her father, Arthur Weasley, as he made the fateful announcement. Ginny let Richard take her hand, and she gave him a small smile.
She tried acting as though everything was normal, as though she really was happy with this scam. But she knew that everything, unfortunately, was not normal. Her sudden meeting with Draco had unnerved her. Her movements were false.
The brief spell of unconsciousness had brought back bad memories. Memories that were better forgotten were now swirling in her brain, making her head spin while her heels dug in the soles of her shoes.
~~~~Flashback~~~~~~
"Come on, Harry! Get the Snitch!" Ginny shouted from the spectators' stand. She closed her eyes and prayed `Let him get the Snitch'. Goosebumps lined her hands while she nervously scanned the sky for the Snitch. She wasn't playing the match, thanks to a knee injury.
"And with that amazing dive, Harry Potter-. Oh no! What's that?" Everyone's eyes went toward Dean who was busy announcing the events of the match. There was a faint buzzing in Ginny's head as everything began to run in slow motion. Just as Harry was about to close his fingers around the golden ball, Draco Malfoy whisked it away.
"With utmost regret I announce that Slytherin seems to have won the match. Draco Malfoy gets the Snitch and Slytherin wins by 10 points," said Dean.
"Ginny," a horrified Hermione looked at her friend.
She could see Ginny's tough exterior crumbling and the vulnerability that replaced it. Ginny's face lost all its color as she quietly blinked her eyes, making sure she'd seen correctly.
"Come on, I can't believe Harry didn't get it," she groaned.
No, Harry didn't catch the Snitch. Draco did, and the incidents following it had been traumatic.
~~~~~~back to present ~~~~~~~~~
"Ginny, my dear, you look a little pale, " said Mrs. Weasley as she gave her daughter a hug. Looking intently at her face, Molly asked quietly, "Is this really what you want? We could call this off any moment, you know."
Ginny nodded and took her mother's hand. "Mom, Richard is a nice guy. I'll be happy. Besides, I think it's the lights, I don't like them very much," finished Ginny.
The truth was that she didn't like the way Draco Malfoy had held her.
She didn't like the emotions which had bubbled through her when she opened her eyes to meet deep gray ones. She didn't like the fact that her meeting with Draco Malfoy had effected her.
She was comparing every one of Richard's actions and his behavior to Draco's. The way he walked. The way he talked. Everything was just a jumbled mess within her head.
Richard bent down and picked up his niece, giving her a peck on the cheek. Ginny smiled. Richard reminded her of her Father. That was one of the many things that had attracted Ginny to him. Richard wasn't afraid of showing emotion; he wasn't difficult to read.
Unlike Draco. Draco was not capable of loving someone. He had said so in his seventh year.
But then why was he suddenly at the party? What could possibly interest him here?
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't see or hear him approach.
"So, does he know that we've slept together, and that I was the one who took your precious virginity?" He asked with his usual sneer, which made his lip curl. He looked quite dashing in his dress robes, and Ginny suspected it was all a part of the intimidation he had in mind.
Ginny remembered that in heated moments of passion,she loved to bite on that lip. Hold on ......where did that come from?
"He knows everything." Ginny spat back. Well, that was a part of the truth. Richard knew that she wasn't sexually inexperienced, but he was not aware of the role Draco Malfoy played in this situation. Ginny was still reluctant of giving away too much of her past. It had been painful enough to explain things to Ron and Harry as it was.
"That's good." He replied calmly. Almost too calmly.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, suddenly suspicious. She realized that Draco had drawn her into a corner of the room, which was quite dark .
"All I want from you is an explanation as to why you ran away when I asked to meet you that day"
"That's none of your business." Ginny replied searching for a way to get away from the tall, intimidating man.
"Oh but it is, since you were pregnant with my child."
"I was Draco, I was!"
The man's nails dug deep into her skin. "And who's fault is that, Gin?" He asked with a pained expreassion.
In that moment she saw all the anguish of a lost baby, of a lost father, of a lost affair, and possibly, if given time, a lost love. She saw the anger and self loathing in his eyes, but there was also grief. In that moment, the self control of years came crumbling down,and Ginny burst into uncontrollable tears.
"Hush now. I'm sorry." He apologized.
As the parents grieved together over the loss of their child, they didn't realize the years of difference melted away possibly only for that moment, allowing them to come together and lay a ghost to rest. Each of them knew that the day might bring more trauma and pain. All that mattered though was that moment, when two people grieved for what could have been.
And in that moment, for the first time in years, Draco Malfoy regretted the time he'd spent apart from this enigma of a woman.
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