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Something's Gotta Give
Mei Queen
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Authoress' Note: Okay. Don't remind me. I know it's taken forever, and there's a damn good reason for that if you read my profile. I decided to put fanfiction on the back burner to pursue a regular writing career, but now that I've taken that momentous step and put all my stories on hold, I've got bloody writer's block. Ironic. Anyway. This morning I realized that I've left all of you hanging as to what happens, and felt horribly guilty, and went right to my work computer to write. Aren't you proud of me?
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RECAP-
All of the thoughts vanished from her brain a moment later, hell, all thinking for Ginevra Weasley ceased the moment she saw a perfect tiger lily lying peacefully on a prime sidewalk table, right next to the hand of …Draco Malfoy.
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Chapter 5: P.S. I Love You
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"Excuse me, Weasel, but you don't make a great window," Draco muttered in exasperation, eyeing the redhead as if she had gone completely mad. Ginny Weasley, meanwhile, was standing stock-still in front of the table, eyes glued to the beautiful tiger lily that was resting against the cool metal of the table's surface.
"Who is that for?" she demanded, one hand coming up to rest on her slim hip.
"Honestly," Draco sighed, checking his watch. Is she even coming? She said she wasn't going to stand me up, but she's almost twenty minutes late… "For chrissakes, Weasley, what's it to you? Don't you have some evil to fight or a Pothead to adore? Just leave me alone."
Ginny's eyebrow arched in suspicion. No way. No bloody way. But…SecretDragon. I always wondered why that was his screen name, didn't I? I may not know much Latin, but even I'm aware that Draco means dragon. And that explains why his reputation precedes him with women, and everything else, for that matter…but it's not possible. I couldn't have fallen in love with Draco Malfoy…could I?
Draco, on the other hand, was obviously not as quick to connect the dots as Ginny had been. He checked his watch one last time, looking towards the parking lot with frustration. Obviously meeting me wasn't high up on her list of priorities…
Heaving a sigh, Draco dropped a few pound notes on the table and shrugged his coat back onto his chiseled shoulders. Shooting Ginny a questioning glance that plainly asked what the hell she was still doing there, Draco quickly turned on his heel and was gone.
The redhead leaned on one of the metal chairs for support before slowly lowering herself into one. After a kindly waiter took her order, she picked up the tiger lily, twirling it between her thumb and forefinger. It was then, and only then, that she allowed herself to cry.
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Ginny Weasley wasn't the type to cry. She didn't believe that the tears really made any difference, so she rarely indulged. It was only when situations were such complete crap and she could see no two ways about it that Ginny would begin to tear up. In the Chamber of Secrets with Riddle had been one time, during the aftermath of the final battle against Voldemort another, the day she and Harry decided to divorce, and now. Now was one of the worst, though. True, nobody had died, but then, she felt like something inside her was crushing, like a huge weight was bearing down upon her chest. Ginny had allowed herself to give so much to this online relationship that she had never given a thought to what would happen if it didn't work out. The thought had simply never occurred that SecretDragon might be someone she had actually disliked…no, scratch that, loathed back in her schooldays.
True, Draco had done his part during the war, going back and forth to both sides and helping find valuable information. Actually, now that Ginny thought about it, it was one of Draco Malfoy's tips that had lead to Voldemort's actual defeat…he had been the one to tell Harry where to find Nagini alone, the final elusive Horcrux.
Waving away the concerned waiter, Ginny dropped a few notes on the table (much to the waiter's protest, he wanted the drink to be completely on the house), and dazedly walked back to her car. Opening the door, she continued the constant stream of tears while she robotically fired up the engine, released the parking brake, and shifted to reverse.
She found the motions of driving to be strangely soothing, but she still couldn't entirely dull the pain. Ginny still couldn't stop her thoughts. If I'd never even met him before, we'd never touched, kissed, hugged…why does it still feel like something inside has just died?
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Ginny had dangerously made her way home (the tears had begun to cloud her vision near the end of the drive), and immediately put the kettle on. She thought about picking up the phone to call Luna or Hermione, but the thought of admitting who SecretDragon really was made her gently return the receiver to its cradle. She thought about booting up the computer, but it was that wretched machine that had got her in this bind in the first place. After considerable debate, the redhead found herself on the couch in pajamas, surrounded by chick flick DVDs, ice cream with spoons right in the cartons, and a very strong cup of tea.
She had already gotten through Pretty in Pink, Pretty Woman, and Sleepless in Seattle when the phone rang. Indeed, she didn't hear the jingle until midway through Dirty Dancing. Ginny sniffed, dabbing at her still-teary eyes with a tissue, before clicking "Talk" on the receiver.
"*sniff sniff* Hello?" the redhead asked softly.
"God, Gin," Hermione murmured from the other end, "you sound terrible. Harry was right."
What is she talking to my ex-husband about me for? Ginny thought, snorting with annoyance and pulling some stray strands of hair behind her ears.
"I know, I know, you don't want me talking to Harry about you. Well, honestly, this one wasn't my fault, Gin. He called me, saying he saw you at the Serendipity café bawling your head off. He was concerned, but didn't know how well you'd take him calling."
"Well, I'm glad he didn't call himself," she managed stubbornly, reaching out for another heaping spoonful of Rocky Road. Hermione sighed at her friend's stubbornness, beginning to gather her things, putting them neatly in her purse. Checking her mobile, the brunette threw that in, too.
"I've…had…the time of my life, and I've never felt like this before…" noisily began to blare through Ginny's surround sound. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please tell me you're not so sad that you're curled up on the couch blaring chick flicks and eating ice cream."
"Fine," the redhead muttered, "I won't tell you, then. Listen, I need to go, Baby and Johnny are obviously better friends than my current ones."
Hermione sighed, but allowed her friend to hang up. Groaning, she began to dial Luna's number. "Jesus, I hate being a girl," she muttered. "We have to fix everything in our friends' lives. Men…nah, they buy their mate a pint and everything's fine. We females have to rescue our own kind from the dirges of self-pity before they consume so much ice cream they can't fit through a doorway."
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Ginny Weasley was bored. She had made it through a few chick flicks, and now her eye kept being caught by the sleek laptop sitting innocently on the Formica counter of her kitchen. I suppose logging on and checking my messages wouldn't hurt. Maybe I'll just pop on for a moment and see who's online while it's booted up…
Pouring herself another cup of tea, she tapped her foot impatiently against the tile flooring while she waited for the machine to completely turn on. Clicking on her account and hastily typing in her password, she had double-clicked on Internet Explorer before you could say "desperate".
"Ginny Weasley, you have 10 e-mail messages," announced the pop-up window in the bottom of her screen. Clicking on it, she was met with one unsure message from her mother (Ron was trying to set their mum up an account, but she was having a difficult time adjusting to technology), a few jokes from Luna, a "how are you doing" sympathy message from Harry, one from her agent, and one…from Draco.
It was from his Chat account, so it just listed the sender as SecretDragon. Normally, they didn't send each other e-mails, only when they had something they really wanted to say to one another and the other was nowhere to be found. But she knew what this one would say. Wincing, the redhead double-clicked on the subject line: "Where the hell were you?"
Red-
Hey. What happened today? I thought we were meeting at Serendipity at 3…did we get our signals crossed, or did you actually stand me up? Write me back. Soon.
-SD
Fabulous, Ginny mentally groaned, clicking out of the browser window. I know if I get on Chat, he'll be on, waiting for me to log on and explain myself. But do I really want to talk to him right now?
Sighing and steeling her reserve, the redhead entered the Chat web address, tapping her finger on the counter while she waited for it to connect. Her eyes strayed down to her cup of tea. It's been a long day; I think I need something a bit stronger than that, she thought with a wry smile, hopping off the stool to go raid the liquor cabinet. She didn't have much (Ginny's wasn't a big drinker), but she found some rum that looked particularly appealing. Pouring herself a stiff drink, she sat down to find that it had connected and was now prompting for her password. Ginny typed in the combination quickly, eager to get this uncomfortable conversation over with…but just as she was about to message Draco, she was interrupted. The doorbell was ringing.
"Great. Now 'Mione and the Crumple-Horned Snorkack expert herself are here to soothe my pain," she muttered sarcastically, swinging her legs around and hopping off the stool. Pulling her robe on and tightly cinching the knot, she double-checked her hair in the mirror before swinging wide the door.
Ginny's mouth opened in surprise.
It was…Harry.
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Running her hand nervously over her ponytail, Ginny's chocolate eyes were fixed in shock on the man in her doorway. It had been a long time. They had chatted that once on WonderfulWitchChat, but that was over a month ago. Regardless, seeing him in person was much different than a few pleasantries exchanged under various pseudonyms. "Um…" Ginny began nervously, completely unsure of what to say.
"Hi, Gin," Harry began, smiling his crooked grin and mussing his untamable hair.
"Hi," Ginny replied, recovering her senses and motioning for him to come inside. Her cheeks reddened as she watched Harry survey the mess of the living room: DVDs strewn every which way, 'When Harry Met Sally' blaring from the television, Rocky Road ice cream dripping slowly onto the plush carpeting…
The latter Harry noticed immediately, and darted for the kitchen. Opening the cabinet by the sink, he was met with…teacups.
"The towels are by the fridge now," Ginny murmured quietly, stepping into the kitchen behind him. "It made so much more sense this way."
"Right," Harry replied, reddening. It had suddenly just hit him, the awkwardness of this situation. He was at the house that he used to live in with Ginny when they were married, and yet everything was different. But he still cared about her…and that's why he was here.
Getting a towel from where she had directed, Harry hastily wet it and dashed for the living room. Mopping up the stain of the ice cream, he sent Ginny a smile. "So how have you been?"
"I think you know," Ginny groaned, blowing a spare bit of fringe out of her eyes. "Hermione called, she said you saw me at Serendipity today."
"Yeah, I did," Harry muttered, looking back down at the ground. He exhaled a deep breath, cleaning the last of the stain. "I figured you wouldn't want me approaching you when you were feeling like that, though. We hadn't talked in so long…I didn't want you to feel worse than you already did."
"Thank you for doing that," Ginny replied simply. "Can I get you anything?"
"Sure," he answered with a grin. "What are you having?"
"Rum and coke," she prompted. "Easy on the coke."
Harry snorted. "Sounds divine."
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Draco Malfoy was having a terrible day. The only female in this world that he really cared about had stood him up, and it had put him in one hell of a mood. He had tried to go back to the office and get some work done, but Justin eventually had to send him home, as Justin "couldn't have him terrorizing the receptionists". It was all a big misunderstanding in Draco's opinion. She quite obviously wasn't answering the phone properly, and he had just been trying to coach her on it, but then he found himself screaming about women and their inadequacy and inability to do anything correctly the first time around…
Justin Finch-Fletchley was, needless to say, completely bewildered to find the owner of his company shaking the telephone receiver five centimeters from his receptionist's face. Draco was sent home, meanwhile, poor Anna, the receptionist, was given two weeks paid sick leave.
As soon as Draco got home, he realized just why he was a workaholic in the first place. There was nothing he cared to do in his lavish digs. Nothing good was on the telly, and RavishingRed hadn't answered his e-mail. That was most unlike her. What if something really bad happened? What if she's hurt? He thought in a momentary blind panic. Well, I'll just log on, and whenever she gets online, I'll be here, ready for an explanation…
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***RavishingRed has entered WonderfulWitchChat1 at 20:45 hours***
RavishingRed, there are 14 members in this chatroom. Members of this chatroom are currently: BlondesdoitBetter, BrightonsBest, ColdplayFanatic, DrivemeWild, DyingtoDance, JigsawJunkie, JimlikeshisPimms, LovintheLadies, Modelizer, SecretDragon, Serendipity, SlavetoStarbucks, SwanseaSweetie, WestHamRocksSocks
WestHamRocksSocks- so how's everyone this fine evening?
SwanseaSweetie- oh fab, you know…parking violation and my boyfriend dumped me. Great day.
JimlikeshisPimms- That's horrible news, Sweetie…say, what are you doing this weekend? We could meet up; maybe cheer your mood up a little bit?
DyingtoDance- oh for chrissakes, Jim, she's just gotten out of a relationship! Have you no common decency?
BlondesdoitBetter- Nah, he doesn't.
JimlikeshisPimms- I resent that, girls. Just because I'm more interested in Sweetie than you two is no reason to get all hostile.
SwanseaSweetie- Um…I guess, Jim. It's not like I have any plans. Or dates. For a long time.
JimlikeshisPimms- Don't sound so excited, Sweetie (lol). I might think you don't want to meet me!
BlondesdoitBetter- And wouldn't that be tragic.
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))PM from SecretDragon (20:57 hours)((
SecretDragon- oi oi
SecretDragon- …are you there, Red?
SecretDragon- I guess not.
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Where was Ginny, exactly? Currently she was sprawled on the couch, head resting on Harry's lap, halfway through 'Thelma & Louise', three sheets to the wind, with her mouth dangerously close to Harry's. Had they kissed? Not yet. Was Ginny sure it was going to happen? Pretty much. She was just biding the moments, waiting until a slightly-more-sober-than-she-was Harry Potter took the initiative.
Her chocolate eyes caught his emerald. He began to lean in, brushing her lips huskily against her ear as he made his way to her mouth.
"Ding dong!" chimed the doorbell.
Saved by the bell, Ginny thought sarcastically, stumbling slightly as she got up and swayed toward the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw the people she was expecting in the first place: Hermione and Luna. And Harry was on her couch. Drunk. Huh.
Shrugging and hoping for the best, Ginny twisted the doorknob, making sure there was a big smile on her face to greet her guests.
"Come on in!" the redhead cried jollily, managing to slur her words only slightly.
Hermione caught the slight, however, and looked her friend over carefully. "How many drinks have you had?" the brunette demanded.
"Fo-u…five? Si-…seven?" Ginny attempted to tally, but it wasn't going well. She couldn't really recall. The redhead remembered taking the bottle down from the liquor cabinet, getting Harry a glass, and then Harry had never let her glass dip lower from its original level of completely full. Occasionally they would add a splash of coke to take away from the harsh taste, but for the most part, they had basically been drinking straight rum for the better part of two hours.
"Harry's here?" Luna asked in confusion, noting the ebony-haired man that was starting to drift to sleep on Ginny's sofa. "What's he doing here?"
"You…t-t-tell…me. M-m-ione!" Ginny managed accusatorily, pointing a finger at Hermione. Ginny had actually managed a slightly intimidating effect before the redheaded lightweight lost her balance and fell on her bum in the foyer.
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"Okay. Ginny's in bed, Harry's in the car," Hermione carefully counted off on her fingers. "The TV is off, her living room is clean, and the cups and bottle are put away. What are we forgetting?"
"Hey, what's that sound?" Luna asked curiously, stepping toward the kitchen.
"What sound? I don't hear anything," Hermione replied crossly, grudgingly following the vapid blonde. Bloody ridiculous, it's near two in the morning, I just want to go home. Nah, we're on a Snorkack quest in Ginny's kitchen…
"No…it's a whirring sound…" the blonde insisted, stepping into the tiled room, eyes carefully scanning every nook and cranny.
Hermione gasped in surprise. "Wait, you're right. I hear it!"
"It's the computer," Luna deduced, stepping toward the open machine. The laptop had been on for so long that the setting had long since gone to 'Sleeping', but it woke immediately when Luna poked the touchpad. The two girls stared in shock at the open Chat window.
"Uh oh," Hermione muttered. "This is bad."
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))PM from SecretDragon (20:57 hours)((
SecretDragon- oi oi
SecretDragon- …are you there, Red?
SecretDragon- I guess not.
SecretDragon- Red, I don't know what happened today. If you want to try meeting again, I'm very open to the idea, so long as you don't stand me up again. I'm not normally a patient person, so it should mean a lot that I want us to have a second chance. I think we would be great together.
SecretDragon- Red?
SecretDragon- All right, I've waited for hours for you to check this, so I'm guessing you're not going to. But I just needed to get something out…
SecretDragon- I love you.
***Ravishing Red, your friend SecretDragon has logged off the Chat at 1:08 hours. ***
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Authoress' Note: reviews are good for the soul.