Chapter Twelve
Saturday, Sept. 14
Ginny woke up early and groaned in disappointment. It was a Saturday, she was supposed to sleep in! Grumbling when sleep didn't come again, she got out of her bed and made her way down to the bathroom.
She showered quickly and changed into her casual clothing eagerly, remembering that there were Quidditch tryouts as well as it being a Hogsmeade weekend.
Rushing out of the room, she realised that Seamus had stayed the night. Wondering if he'd be able to get out of her rooms all right, she decided that she shouldn't disturb his sleep and hurried to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Finishing quickly, she nimbly avoided Lavender, still not sure why she had a deep feeling of dislike for the older girl. Looking at the noticeboard near the Great Hall entrance, she saw that the Gryffindor tryouts were first up.
Ginny hurried down to the Quidditch Pitch eagerly. She wanted to get warmed up before the tryouts actually started. Seeing other people on the pitch, she figured that others must have had the same idea and went into the Gryffindor room for her broom.
As she touched the handle of her Comet 180, Ginny saw an image of herself falling from the broom. Shaking her head, she told herself that she was being silly and left the room quickly.
Taking off her robe, she put it on the ground carefully then mounted the broom and rose up into the sky. The others she'd seen were already up in the air, flying around and doing different manoeuvres.
Doing a few moves of her own to get warm, Ginny stopped a few minutes later, seeing people coming towards the pitch. Flying down, she saw Neville, Colin and Seamus waving to her.
"Hi! Have you all come to cheer for me?" she asked with a grin.
"Of course! We wouldn't be anywhere else," Neville said grinning back at her.
"Sure you wouldn't," Ginny said laughing. "How was your date?" she asked quietly, not sure if the other two boys knew or not.
"It's all right, they know," Neville said. "The date was great," he said and Ginny smirked at the dreamy look on his face.
Her response was delayed by the appearance of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Following them were a large group of admiring fans, Quidditch players and hopefuls. Ginny said a quick goodbye and hurried over to the others eagerly.
"All right... Anyone who is not in Gryffindor go into the stands!" Harry called having learned from the previous year's tryouts. Some of the group left into the stands, giggling and grumbling. "If anyone's here that isn't going to take this seriously, join the rest of them in the stands," Harry said sternly. A few more people left. "Right. Since there are less than twenty of you I want all of you up in the air and around the pitch. I want to make sure if you can actually fly," he said, looking to the smaller first years nearby.
They all flew up into the air and flew around the pitch. There was a small pile up, a lot of giggling and a first year who ended up hitting his head when he fell off the broom in surprise.
Harry shouted at the gigglers, who went to the stands still giggling. The first year was declared to be all right and sat on the stands to cheer on for his Housemates.
"Right. The Chasers are going first. All Chasers in a group to my left," he said.
Ginny quickly joined the small group of Chasers. Harry looked at her for a moment, something different in his eyes. Before she could figure out what it was, someone nudged him and Harry gave a cough, looking down at the parchment in his hands.
All five of them did the tests he set them, dodging Bludgers, wrestling the Quaffle and scoring goals. The first one had an excellent throw, yet she couldn't get the Quaffle away from her opponent. Harry suggested that she try out for a Beater position instead.
The next two had their turns and did great jobs, making Ginny nervous. She got on her broom, calmed her nervous heartbeat by breathing steadily, then rose into the sky quickly.
Concentrating on the task, Ginny didn't have time to think about what she was actually doing, she just did it. She scored twenty goals, three better than the year before and flew as fast as she could, which was surprisingly fast, considering how old her broom was.
Ginny landed on the ground when the test stopped, hoping that she'd got on to the team.
"Are you all right? Do you feel well enough to fly?" Harry asked the last person, who had gone a shade of green that was quite similar to Ron's.
"I'll be fine," she said bravely, mounting her broom.
Ginny went over to Neville and Colin grinning. She hugged them when she was between them on the stands.
"Thanks for cheering me on," she said with another grin. "Do you think I did all right?" Ginny asked, nervous now.
"You were great! If Harry doesn't pick you then he's thicker than he looks!" Neville said grinning.
Ginny laughed, but she wasn't quite sure if he had been joking or not...
They watched as the Beaters went through their routine, a few of the Bludgers narrowly missing the spectators. The Keepers then prepared for their test, Ginny hurrying down to the pitch and grabbing her broom.
"You're last, Ginny," Harry said to her. "Yes, you can go up now, Dean," he said exasperatedly.
"Good luck, Ron!" Lavender called from the stands, her face red.
Dean flew up into the sky and over to the hoops, the Quaffle in his hands.
"I want you to throw it to each of the Chasers," Harry called up to him.
The three Chasers flew up into the sky at the different parts of the field that Harry had told them. Harry called out to Dean again and he threw it to the first Chaser. He caught it easily and tried to get it through the hoop. Dean stopped the Quaffle before it went in and threw it to the next Chaser, the process being repeated again. Dean threw the Quaffle towards Ginny, falling short by a metre. She shot forward, caught the Quaffle and threw it at the hoops. Dean hesitated for a second, then moved quickly to get to the Quaffle. Despite the fact that he was close enough to catch it, the red ball managed to get past him and go through the hoop. Dean glared at Ginny like it was her fault, then flew down to the pitch at Harry's bidding.
Ron flew up to the hoops, alternating between green and red as Lavender called out to him again. The process was repeated, Ron managing to stop the Quaffle all three times. Looking pale he landed on the ground weakly.
Harry announced the three Chasers; Demelza, Ginny and Derek. Ron was announced as Keeper and Terry and James were announced as the Beaters.
They set up a meeting time, then everyone went their separate ways. Ginny watched as Harry left with Ron and Hermione, Lavender looking upset. Then Lavender turned to see Ginny watching her and she smiled. Ginny couldn't help but think that the smile was fake and was surprised when Lavender ran up to her.
"Ginny! Congratulations on getting into the Chaser position," Lavender exclaimed, hugging her tightly.
Ginny stepped back and gave her a hesitant smile.
"Thanks, Lavender... Uh, I've got to go," she said, turning and hurrying away.
Neville and Colin came up behind her, scaring her.
"Congratulations, Ginevra," Neville said, wrapping an arm around her.
"Thanks," Ginny said with a grin. "You two going into Hogsmeade?" she asked as they arrived at her rooms.
"Yes. We were waiting for you," Colin replied.
"I'll be ready in a minute then," Ginny said, walking into her room and shutting the door. In a few minutes, she was changed into warmer clothes for Hogsmeade's cooler temperature. "I'm ready," she announced, grinning at them.
Neville grinned and put a scarf around her neck.
"Now you're ready..." he said with a nod.
"We'll have to hurry to get a carriage," Colin said, hurrying to the front door.
The three of them ran down to the carriages quickly, just missing the last carriage. Luna arrived a few seconds later, smiling at them.
"Congratulations, Ginevra," she said.
"Thanks," Ginny replied with a grin.
"We just missed the last carriage," Neville said to Luna, who shook her head.
"There will be another one arriving shortly. Draco took some convincing to leave early," she said in a soft tone so that Ginevra wouldn't hear.
"Shit. We have to deal with him now?" Colin muttered.
Any response was delayed by the last carriage pulling up, the Thestrals stopping a few metres away from Ginevra and the others.
Ginny grinned and went over to the Thestrals, patting them fondly. She frowned as an image appeared in her mind.
Ron hissing at her and Ginny slapping him, hearing a bone break...
As Ginny slumped to the ground, her hand got caught along the Thestral's wing, cutting it open. The Thestral neighed loudly as the carriage door opened.
Pansy bit back a curse when she saw who was standing there. She hurried out of the carriage, whispering furiously to Neville and Colin. They replied back in the same tones, and Colin turned to see that Luna wasn't standing next to him any longer. Frowning, he nudged Neville who looked around quickly. They saw Luna standing next to Ginny, who was trembling and holding her hand, her red blood staining the ground beneath her.
The other Slytherins' got out of the carriage and saw Neville and Colin running over to Ginny and Luna. Theodore hurried over to them, but Luna stopped him from healing Ginevra.
Draco got out of the carriage with a frown, wondering why all of the attention was with the Thestrals. He walked over to see Ginny sitting on the ground, pale and bleeding from a particularly long cut on her hand.
"Would you heal her so we can get inside? I thought you said you were all freezing cold," Draco said looking at them.
The Thestral bucked and they all moved back quickly. It dipped its head and nudged Ginny, who just looked at the animal numbly.
"I can't get to her with the Thestral so close. It's attracted to the blood and won't let anyone else near her while it thinks she's food," Theodore said in reply to Draco's question.
"For the Gods sakes... Why am I the one that has to do this?" Draco muttered with a sigh as he looked upwards.
He shut his eyes briefly and the Thestral moved its head away from Ginny reluctantly. Draco moved back a few steps as the Thestral gained control over itself once more. Just as he was about to use his Veelan power again, the Thestral head butted him and Draco fell to the ground. He cursed at the animal, muttering under his breath about the beasts.
The Thestral snorted, laughing at him, then returned his attention to Ginny and the cut on her hand. He licked her hand, neighing softly at her. As she felt a calm feeling flow through her, Ginny stopped trembling and relaxed. The Thestral stopped licking her hand and nudged it towards her. Ginny stared at her moist hand in surprise. The cut had disappeared! There was nothing left to show that she'd cut herself. Even the blood on the ground had disappeared too.
"Thank you," Ginny whispered to the Thestral, hugging it.
"Do you still want to go into Hogsmeade?" Neville asked as he helped her stand up.
"Yes. I'm not about to miss an afternoon out," Ginny said with a smile.
She went to leave, then stopped and turned, holding her hand out to Draco, who was still sitting on the ground. He looked at her for a moment, then grudgingly took her hand and stood up.
"Thanks for seeing if I was okay," she said, quickly taking her hand back and wondering what the tingles meant. They seemed familiar for some reason...
"You're welcome," Draco said, surprising everyone, including himself.
If the Weaselette thought that he'd just stopped to see if she was okay, then that was her fault. Draco wasn't about to go and tell her that he was a Veelan. He didn't want the little Weaselette to ruin this year for him by telling everyone what he was!
She gave a small nod, looking surprised and followed her friends into the carriage.
The Slytherins' moved back and watched as the Thestrals turned the carriage around quickly, hurrying along the path to Hogsmeade. Draco only lingered for a moment, before turning around in a huff and returning to the warmth of the castle.
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Ginny looked at Neville, Colin and Luna, wondering why they were all so quiet. She noticed that they kept glancing at each other every time they thought she wasn't looking. Was something wrong?
"What's going on?" she asked a few minutes later, sick of their game of back and forth. "Why do you keep looking at each other like that? Am I missing something?" Ginny asked frowning at them.
"We're here," Luna said and the carriage came to an abrupt stop.
Ginny was the first out of the carriage, wondering what they were keeping from her. Neville, Colin and Luna quickly caught up with her, talking about what to see first.
Neville looked at Ginevra, who still seemed upset with them. He sighed. He hated lying like this to her. Without her memory, she just wasn't the same person... And yet, he could tell that she kept having flashbacks of what had happened. They were increasing, as was the time it took for her to shake them out of her mind. He hoped that Luna was right and Ginevra would be fine once her memory had returned.
Ginny caught Neville looking at her, a sad expression on his face. He gave her a weak smile and Ginny took his hand in hers in an effort to comfort him. As their skin touched, tingles flew through Ginny's body and she abruptly let go of Neville as sad feelings washed over her.
The tingles were the same as the ones that Malfoy had given her... Yet they were completely different. The tingles felt more... Neville-ish and it matched the feelings his face showed.
What was going on? Surely it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. You couldn't feel another's emotions simply by touching them! Could you? Ginny wondered.
"Are you all right, Ginevra?" Neville asked, looking at her in concern.
Further ahead, Luna and Colin stopped at his words and turned to see Ginny looking at Neville with a frown.
Curious, Ginny stretched her hand to Neville's again. She touched him and felt confused, wonder and hope?
"What's she doing? And more importantly, is it supposed to happen?" Colin asked Luna quietly.
Luna looked at Ginevra and Neville for a moment, frowning. She hadn't Seen anything about this!
"Ginevra... Are you all right? What's wrong?" Neville asked, looking at her in confusion.
Ginny stopped looking at their hands and pulled away from Neville, looking at him with a frown.
"Why do you call me Ginevra?" she asked. "You've always called me Ginny before."
"It's more appropriate to call you by Ginevra... Ginny sounds kind of childish, and I know how much you hate being treated like a child," Neville replied.
"Are you two coming with us, or are we just going to stand out here and freeze for the next few hours?" Colin called.
"We're coming," Ginny called back, hurrying over to Colin and Luna with Neville beside her.
"Do you want to go to the Three Broomsticks? It's too cold to do any shopping now," Colin muttered, rubbing his arms in the cold wind.
"Sounds good," Ginny said with a grin.
They hurried to the Three Broomsticks and found an empty booth near the back. Ginny was careful not to touch anyone, subconsciously aware that the tingles and feelings weren't limited to only a few people.
Ginny looked around and quickly turned her attention back to her Butterbeer on seeing Lavender with Ron a few booths away. Neville followed where her gaze had been and narrowed his eyes.
"We could hex them from here," he muttered to her with a grin.
"That would be mean, Neville!" Ginny said, feigning shock. "But I'm going to the bathroom so I won't be here to do a thing to stop you," she added with a grin, leaving the table with Luna.
Seconds after Ginevra and Luna had disappeared from his sight, Neville hexed Lavender and Ron with a smirk.
Ginny and Luna came back a few minutes later, Lavender and Ron arguing, boils all over their faces.
"Should I feel bad?" Ginny asked Luna, frowning.
"Not at all," Luna replied with a grin.
Ginny grinned back at her, her grin fading when Ron and Lavender stalked over to their booth.
"Why did you hex us, Longbottom?" Ron snarled at him.
"Don't deny it, we know you did it!" Lavender said glaring.
"Well, you shouldn't go around with your lips attached like that!" Ginny said with a disgusted look. "Honestly, you two should be in Madam Puddifoot's, not in here!"
"We're allowed to be wherever we want!" Ron said, glaring at her.
"If you don't like us being here then go somewhere else," Lavender said.
"You're right. I apologise for hexing you," Ginny replied, taking the spell off them and leaving the warm bar.
Colin, Luna and Neville hurried after her, wrapping their robes around them tighter in the cold breeze.
"What just happened?" Colin asked in shock. "Why did you apologise to them and tell them they were right?"
"Well, I'd say they're both still in there with their jaws on the ground. Another reason was that I can't be bothered spending my weekend off in there bickering. They're not worth my time," Ginny muttered. "The reason I apologised was so they'd get confused as to who actually did the spell. They'll most likely end up blaming me and I'll get the detention instead of Neville. He's got better things to do with his boyfriend, rather than waste his time cleaning cauldrons," Ginny said with a shrug.
"Thanks, Ginevra," Neville said, grinning at her.
"You're welcome. I'm off to find something for Fred and George in Zonko's. Do you want to come with me?"
"Considering it's either you, or Ron and Lavender, I think we'll go with the first option," Colin said with a wink.
"How very kind of you," Ginny drawled, heading over to Zonko's. Before they went inside, she did a spell on her hair, the owners of the shop knowing her family all too well.
They went inside, the shop owners smiling at them in welcome. Ginny hurried to the back shelves, hoping that her spell wouldn't fade off while she was in the shop. Looking at the items, she found some chicken wands.
Poorly made, the Illusion spell is weak at best and it showed at only five Knuts... Shaking her head, Ginny made a mental note to tell Fred and George.
Looking at the other items, she found that most of them were just replicas of Fred and George's products. A few were original ones, the stuffed Golden Goose was the only one worth mentioning... It told wizarding nursery rhymes and also served as a baby radio with the right spells. It looked to be simply a Muggle stuffed animal bewitched.
"Found anything?" Neville asked her quietly.
"Nothing interesting and a lot of replica's from Fred and George's shop," Ginny muttered, shaking her head.
"Want to go to the Hog's Head then? Zonko's is closing soon and I don't think Lavender and Ron have left the Three Broomsticks yet," Colin said.
"Good idea," Ginny said with a grin.
Luna bought a pair of earrings with miniscule carrots hanging off the end and they left.
They entered the Hog's Head quietly, nodded to the barman and sat down at a table.
"What'll yer have?" a long-bearded man asked gruffly.
"Four Butterbeers, please," Ginny said.
"Eight Sickles," he said, getting the drinks for them.
They paid and warily drank from the dirty glasses. They talked about random things, finishing more and more Butterbeers. Finally noticing the glasses surrounding them and then realising the time, they thanked the barman and hurried out of the Hog's Head down to where the last carriage was waiting.
"It's almost ten o'clock. If we don't get there quickly, we'll get detention for being out after curfew," Ginny said as she got into the carriage quickly.
The others hurried in after her and shut the door. Almost as if the Thestrals understood their urgency, they practically flew back to Hogwarts, arriving in less than twenty minutes.
They said goodnight, Ginny hurrying to her room with a yawn. Neville called out to remind her that Seamus was staying in her room, then watched as she waved goodbye again and went over to her room.
"All right, she's gone now... Where are the others?" he asked, looking to Luna and Colin.
"They'll be here in about ten minutes," Luna said, sitting on the cool grass, Colin beside her.
Sighing, Neville sat down too and made random pieces of grass grow, bored. Once small clumps were grown, he started another one, looking up and stopping when the others arrived.
"Sorry we're late. We had some difficulty in getting Draco to go on his rounds," Pansy muttered with a sigh. "He doesn't look well. At times I'm positive he remembers everything that's happened, and then at other times he doesn't have a clue! It's frustrating," she muttered.
"It's probably worse for them because they do remember some parts of what's happened. It's confusing Ginevra more than she's letting on, that's for sure," Neville said.
"Did you go to see her this morning?" Colin asked.
"We saw her flying as we went over to the carriages," Millicent said. "Ginevra did get the Chaser position, right?"
"Of course," Luna said with a smile.
"What are we supposed to do for the next hour until we can get her memory back?" Gregory asked.
Vincent smirked and looked at Pansy suggestively.
"You two can go snog without me... I'm waiting," she said, waving at them.
"Your loss!" Vincent said, pulling Gregory aside.
Pansy watched them, a glare on her face.
"You're not supposed to agree, damn it!" she said, going over to them.
"Where are the twins?" Blaise asked, looking around.
"We're here, keep your robes on," Parvati and Padma said, walking over with Fred and George.
"Damn, I was really hoping to get my robes off too," Blaise drawled, smirking at Neville, who went red.
"So how exactly are we supposed to get Ginevra and Draco here to get their memories back?" Fred and George asked.
"Seamus and Blaise have left notes for them," Luna said.
"That's it? You're going to lure them out of their nice warm rooms because of a note?" Theodore asked in shock.
"Considering the note doesn't tell them to leave the castle, it will work," she replied.
"They're not coming outside? Then why are we waiting here?" Pansy muttered, pulling away from Gregory and Vincent.
"I will only say this once, so listen carefully," Luna said. "They are being lured out of their rooms to go to a different room in the castle. When they see each other and leave, we will get them in different places and tell them to come outside in the pretence that Filch is coming," she said.
"And we're getting them at different places because..."
"Because they won't come out here if they know that the other one's coming too."
"How do we know where they're going to be?"
"The notes said for them to be in a particular room. Ginevra will hurt Draco and come out of the room in a particular direction. While Colin and I get her, Blaise and Pansy will be persuading Draco to leave the room too," Luna replied. "Don't do anything once they're out here. When they are, then I will be taking care of the rest, understood?"
They all nodded, going quiet when they heard steps nearing them. Seamus arrived, puffing slightly. He grinned apologetically.
"Sorry. It took longer to get here than I'd originally thought," he said.
"That is all right, Seamus. You stay here with the others while we go inside and get ready," Luna said.
"I'll tell him what's going on," Neville said with a grin.
"Back soon," Blaise said, kissing Neville and narrowing his eyes at Seamus before following Pansy, Luna and Colin up to the castle.
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Ginny looked at the note on her bed with a frown.
Ginny,
We need to talk. Meet me in the first years chamber on the first floor at midnight.
Ron.
She re-read it and wondered if she should go. Ron hadn't said anything about it. Maybe he was going to get her back for what had happened in the Three Broomsticks? Maybe he just wanted to talk, like the note said...
"What do you think, Lily? Do you think it's a trap?"
I am not sure. It will probably be best for you to check for yourself. If it is a trap, then I am sure that you will make the person not forget it with one of your Bat Bogey Hexes, Lily said fondly.
"I guess you're right... It's almost quarter to twelve. If I leave now, I'll get there right on time," she murmured, more to herself than Lily.
You should get a warm coat. It's not this warm in the rest of the castle, Lily said.
Nodding, Ginny grabbed her warmest robe and put it on, quickly buttoning it up. She headed out of her rooms and along the corridor quietly, mindful of the fact that Seamus was probably asleep.
Arriving at the chamber that McGonagall had led the first years to before the Sorting, Ginny opened the door and went in quietly. She lit her wand to the lowest setting and looked around the room in the dim light, wondering when Ron would arrive. She checked her watch and saw that it was five minutes to twelve.
That's odd... I don't remember walking that fast, Ginny thought to herself in surprise.
After a few minutes of waiting, Ginny became bored and restless. She walked around the small room, wondering at how much she had changed since her first year. This chamber had seemed huge when she was eleven! And now... Now, it was no bigger than any other room in the castle.
She stilled immediately as a movement on the floor caught her eye. Something moved towards her, looking exactly like a rippling black cape.
Her mind screamed 'Lethifold' at her, but her body froze. She quickly thought of the entry in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to do with Lethifolds and remembered that a Patronus could defeat one. As she had no real inkling towards dying by suffocation, Ginny quickly pointed her wand at the ever-approaching Lethifold, thought of a happy memory and said the spell.
"Expecto Patronum!"
In a split second, five silvery animals had shot out of her wand and devoured the Lethifold. Ginny stared at her Patronus in shock.
Before she had time to say or do anything, there was a movement at the door. Draco looked at Ginny in shock.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
Ginny turned to see him standing in the doorway. Immediately, her Patronus disappeared.
"It's none of your business what I do or don't do, Malfoy," she said, turning to check if the animals were still there.
Disappointed, Ginny glared at Draco, who walked in to the room, smirking.
"Oh, but it is, Miss Weasley... You're out of bed and it's well past ten thirty. That means detention," he said.
"Fine. Give me detention and let me leave," Ginny said in a bored tone, shrugging.
"What if I'm in a cheerful mood and I don't want to give you detention?" Draco asked, smirking at her.
"Then don't. One way or the other, I don't really care... Make up your mind so I can leave," Ginny drawled, glaring at him. Draco smirked and decided to play with her some more.
"What if I want you to give me something in return for not giving you detention?" Draco asked as he walked over to her.
"My dear Mr. Malfoy, are you blackmailing me?" Ginny asked him, smirking. Draco continued to advance on her.
"You can call it blackmail, but I call it getting something we both want," he said looking down at her.
"Now, what would that be exactly, Malfoy?" she asked sweetly, smiling up at him.
Draco lowered his lips to hers. Ginny punched Draco before he could do anything and pushed him down to the ground.
"You try that again and I'll kill you myself, Malfoy," she snarled then left the room.
Ginny stopped around the corner and breathed deeply, wondering when she'd learnt to punch properly like that. When she was calm again, she went down the corridor quietly. Just as she approached a tapestry without any events, Ginny heard something and stilled immediately.
"Ginevra! Filch is coming. Quick, come outside," Colin's voice hissed.
Ginny looked over to where his voice was coming from and saw Colin and Luna near the entrance doors. She hurried over to them and followed them outside.
"Why do we have to go outside? I was right next to a tapestry," Ginny said.
"Filch was using the corridor to catch another student out of bed," Luna replied quietly. "We'll stay out here until it's safe to go back inside," she murmured.
"It's freezing out here," Ginny said, her teeth chattering.
Colin silently did a small warming spell on her, smiling.
"Thanks," she said, still feeling slightly cold.
They were silent for a moment, then Luna looked at Ginevra and saw that she was still shivering.
"Let's go for a walk. You can get your blood flowing faster then," she offered.
Ginny nodded, too cold to reply. They walked along the grass, Ginny not even noticing the different-sized clumps of grass they stepped on.
"How long will Filch be?" Ginny asked.
She desperately wanted to go back to her nice warm bed, but knew that she couldn't go through the front door without waking Seamus up. Just because she'd chosen to stay up late, it didn't mean that he had to be!
"A while yet, I'm afraid. Sit down for now. We'll sit on either side of you to keep you warm," Luna said smiling.
Ginny sat down gratefully, wondering if Colin had accidentally put a cooling spell on her instead. She would have asked, but it was impolite to imply such a thing. Luna and Colin sat next to her and Ginny felt her eyes drooping. She yawned slightly and leant her head against Colin's shoulder.
As Ginny fell asleep, Luna pulled out a small bag from her pocket and tipped the red half of the ball into her palm, shutting it tightly. The ball strained against her, attempting to get to Ginny.
Barely minutes later, Pansy and Blaise appeared, Draco floating between them, asleep.
"The spell got him harder than we'd expected," Pansy explained with a shrug.
Luna just nodded and instructed them to put Draco back to back with Ginevra. Once they were both sitting upright without the risk of falling over, Colin was able to stand up.
"She who has forgotten, now remember... Memories of your Queen, now return... He who has forgotten, now remember... Memories of your King, now return... All that was gone, be restored..." Luna said clearly, her hand resting above their heads.
She unclenched her hand and two smaller gold balls shot into Ginevra and Draco's foreheads. As she moved back, Luna refrained from blocking her ears as they both screamed out in pain.
"What do we do? How do we stop the pain?" Neville asked, moving forward immediately. The others came forward quickly, wanting to help their friends.
Luna's hand shot out and a barrier formed between them and Ginevra and Draco.
"Do nothing! They have to go through this, as unbearable as it may seem, it is necessary," she said.
Memories flew through their minds. Vampiress, Veelan, Forbidden Forest, classes, extra lessons, spells, Xavier, Agnes, Virginia, Bart, Maverick, Volatil Equus, Alexander, Lady Evita, Magnus Cauda-cattus, Queen, world's greatest treasure, Garion, Ron, Lavender, Bexley, Relo, Lyra... Memories continued to flow into them until every single one had been restored in their minds.
They stopped screaming at the same time, their bodies shivering in both the cold night and in pain. In unison, Ginevra and Draco both opened their eyes. As if they didn't notice the others around them, they turned to each other.
"I am sorry, carus," Ginevra whispered. (Dear or beloved)
"You worried me," Draco sighed.
"Sorry for all the trouble I have given you," Ginevra said, looking at the others.
"It's all right ... If you do it again, we won't be so ... She's fainted, hasn't she?" Pansy said, looking at Ginevra.
"Draco has too," Millicent muttered, shaking her head.
"It was the shock," Luna said.
"We should take them back now," Neville said, picking Ginevra up easily.
Blaise picked Draco up and they all hurried to Ginevra's rooms.
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Sunday, Sept. 15
Ginevra woke up to find everyone asleep in her room. She sat up and looked at them all, a smile growing on her face.
Pansy was curled up between Vincent and Gregory, who were both snoring lightly. Fred, George, Parvati and Padma were all wrapped around one another, with Bexley sleeping beside them. Millicent and Theodore were leaning against each other, Relo asleep on Theodore's lap. Luna and Colin were sleeping soundly, holding hands. Lyra was asleep on Colin's shoulder, breathing small rings of smoke as she snored. Seamus was in between Blaise and Neville, a small smile on his face.
Wondering where Draco was, she looked around again, in case she'd missed him. Just when she was about to get up to go find him, Ginevra noticed that there were an extra pair of legs on her bed. She turned to see Draco beside her and looked at him for a moment, wondering at how different he looked while he was asleep compared to when he was awake...
With a sigh, she lay down again, facing him this time. Just as she fell asleep, Ginevra thought she felt his arm wrap around her.
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"We shouldn't wake them. They need time to recover from everything's that happened," Pansy said.
"If we let them sleep then they won't get up until dinner!" Theodore replied.
"Stop your arguing, you're going to wake them up!" Millicent hissed.
"You didn't wake up until lunch time, so what's wrong if they sleep until dinner?" Fred and George asked Theodore, smirking at him.
Neville shook his head and looked at Luna, who was staring at Ginevra and Draco, not blinking.
"Are you all right, Luna?" he asked with a frown.
She broke her gaze from them and looked at him, smiling reassuringly.
"I am fine, thank you Neville," she said quietly. "We should leave them to rest... Bexley and Relo can tell us if they wake up," Luna said, leaving the room.
Colin followed her immediately, the others reluctantly leaving too. Looking at them one more time, Neville shut the door behind him, Bexley floating over to Ginevra and Draco.
"Is they okay?" Relo asked tentatively, lifting his hand as if to poke them.
"I am not sure, Relo. Perhaps we should just let them sleep," Bexley said, floating over to the chest of drawers.
They watched Draco and Ginevra sleep, tossing and turning, yet somehow managing to still hold on to each other.
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"Draco!" Ginevra yelled, hurrying to his side.
She stared at him, stared at the blood pooling around his body.
How could she have let this happen? How could she have let him go? She should have kept him with her! If she had then maybe he would still be all right... She should have ... she should have done something
Screaming in anger and torment, Ginevra's body began to change. Everyone surrounding her quickly moved back, afraid of what was happening to her.
Black and crimson red scales burst out of her skin, pure black leathery skin shot out from her back, forming into large bat-like wings. Ginevra let out a painful scream as a long scorpion tail burst from her spinal cord, another scream echoing it as a spiralled horn pushed out of her forehead. Hissing in more pain, Ginevra's fangs increased to the size that of a wolf. Her black clothes began to tear at themselves, leaving welts along her skin as the invisible hand continued to tear at her, long after her robes and clothes were in shreds. Her eyes burned red and the thing that was no longer Ginevra glared at the bloodied field.
"Ginevra!" a familiar voice called to her.
Looking down from her new height, 'Ginevra' saw Draco, standing and alive. She hissed at him, a string of fire flowing from her mouth. A barrier formed between the fire and Draco, pushing back at the fire.
"Ginevra, love. Come back now. You'll scare everyone," Draco said in a drawl.
Her nails grew into long sharp weapons and she glared down at him. She'd seen him die. This wasn't really Draco.
Draco sighed and looked at Ginevra once more. As he watched her, Draco turned Veelan, growing to be the same height as Ginevra was. He looked directly at her, small bird feathers on the sides of his eyes. His hair was long and impossibly bright, making him look even more handsome. He held out a hand, fire resting on his palm.
She stared at her lover in shock. He couldn't ... He wasn't ... She looked down and saw Draco's dead body, as she had left it.
Her body went into shock and as it wasn't able to handle both her new form and two Draco's, Ginevra returned to her human form. Draco returned to his too and looked at her, then at the body beside him.
"That isn't me, Ginevra," he said, seeing her staring down at his look alike.
"Prove it!" she hissed.
Draco opened his mouth to do exactly that, but before a word could be said, an arrow flew from out of nowhere and embedded itself in his chest. Draco looked down at the arrow head, his knees failing him and he crumpled to the ground.
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Ginevra woke up with an abrupt scream, sitting up quickly. She looked at Draco beside her and felt for a pulse. Sighing in relief, she settled back, noticing Bexley and Relo looking at her in concern.
"I'm all right. It was a bad dream... Just a bad dream," she murmured, trying to shake the dream from her mind. "What's the time?" Ginevra asked quietly.
"It is almost two thirty. You have been sleeping for twelve hours," Bexley informed her.
"Right... I'm going to get something to eat, okay? Can you look after Draco while I'm gone?" Ginevra asked.
"Of course," Bexley responded with a bow.
"Thank you," Ginevra said, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and getting up with a small stretch.
"I misses you, Ginevra!" Relo said in a loud whisper, hugging her legs.
"I missed you too, Relo... Do you want to come get some food with me?" Ginevra asked, smiling down at him.
"Okay!" Relo said eagerly, quickly clamping his hands over his mouth and looking over to Draco's sleeping form to make sure that he hadn't awoken.
Ginevra opened the door and left the room, trying to get her ears to adjust to the impossibly loud sounds that were bombarding her.
"All I'm saying is that Ginevra will probably want to know about it... We're the only ones that remember! If she goes around like she normally would, then people will get scared! They're not used to seeing a Vampiress around," Pansy's voice said, floating through the doors of the meeting room.
"That is true... However, I am sure that Ginevra and Draco can decide for themselves what they are going to do with everyone's memories. They might not even want to stay like this," Luna replied.
"What do you mean by that? They're back to the way they're supposed to be! How could they not want to stay like this, with us?" Millicent asked.
"They have a choice that must be made by midnight tonight. If they do not want to stay with their memories, then they will be returned and they would have just thought that they had slept for the entire weekend... If they choose to keep their memories, then Ginevra and Draco will have to go through their relationship yet again, hopefully this time without any interruption from tea leaves," Luna said.
"You mean they don't remember anything about their relationship?" Parvati asked in surprise.
"They do remember small parts, but nothing so major that it will influence them this time round," Luna said.
"You could just ask Draco and I all of these questions. I am sure that Luna is getting tired having to answer everything for us," Ginevra said, walking into the meeting room. Relo followed her inside happily, waving to Theodore, but still staying beside Ginevra.
"You're awake!" Fred and George said with grins, getting up to hug her tightly. "We missed you."
"I missed you too. Sorry about the way I was yesterday and Friday," Ginevra said in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it. We understand," they replied winking at her.
"How do you feel?" Theodore asked.
"I... I don't know yet. I'm still trying to get around the fact that I erased everyone's memories..." Ginevra replied.
"Where's Draco?" Gregory asked.
"He's still asleep. Bexley's watching him," Ginny replied.
Draco tossed in his sleep, Bexley watching him with a frown. Contemplating whether he should go get Ginevra and the others, Bexley went to float over to the door, stopping as Draco said Ginevra's name. Bexley quickly flew back over to him, looking down at him again. Draco tossed again, his dream pulling him with each turn he made.
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Draco hurried along the streets of Hogsmeade, looking at the shops surrounding, but not entering any of them. He sighed and looked at Leo-Bestia-Famulus beside him. Both annoyed and thankful for the invisibility spell, Draco looked forward again, seeing the odd looks he was getting.
"I don't know what to get her..." he muttered, as if to himself, but really talking to the manticore.
"What about jewellery?" Leo suggested.
"Maybe ..." Draco went to say something else, but stopped as a large jolt of pain shot through his body. "What is this pain?" he murmured, not realising that he'd dropped to his knees at the forceful feelings. "Ginevra's hurting ... By the Gods! This is it, isn't it?" he asked, looking at Leo.
Leo nodded, then hurried into a side alleyway and became visible. Draco mounted him quickly, then held on for dear life as Leo leapt from the alley, almost as high as the buildings, and hurried back to Hogwarts.
As Draco felt another jolt of pain go through him, he urged the manticore to go faster. Giving a small grunt, Leo put on an extra burst of speed, running faster still.
As they neared the Forbidden Forest, a large red wave seemed to pour out from the trees. Lightning cracked loudly through the Forest, bathing everything and everyone in light.
Leo and Draco were pulled into the Forest with the others. As everyone somehow managed to enter the clearing, Draco saw Ginevra sobbing in the centre. Thunder rolled, bursting out of her. More tears fell from her eyes and Draco clenched his fists, wanting to kill whoever had made his own cry.
"Ginevra!" he called, moving in front of her. She looked up at him. "Ginevra, why are you doing this?" Draco asked. Ginevra didn't reply, she just glared at him, hissed and scratched his face.
"Ginevra! It was not your love!" Leo-Bestia-Famulus called. "I swear it on the word that binds me to you!"
Ginevra hissed, her fangs extending. Draco looked at Leo, wondering what he knew... His attention quickly returned to Ginevra as she hissed a spell loudly.
"What the fuck is she doing to me?" Lavender screamed, her voice going hysterical.
Draco stared in shock and resounding anger as lightning wrapped around Lavender's body, lifting her into the air. Ginevra yelled another spell and Draco watched as Ron was lifted into the air too. Movement beside Draco made him quickly turn and he saw Dean uselessly trying to fight the lightning that was lifting him up too.
"You wish to break me?" Draco heard Ginevra ask quietly, and despite the thunder and lightning her voice was perfectly audible. "You wish to break that which is not yours to break?" Ginevra yelled at the three hanging in the air.
The lightning tightened around their bodies, almost cutting through their skin.
"You think that I would not know? I would not find out who did this? Your knowledge is so limited if you though I would not see that it was not my own! You will be punished!" Ginevra cried, the lightning tightening again.
Draco watched as they started to gasp for breath, holding in their screams of pain as the lightning bit into their skin.
"Put us down, you fucking bitch!" Dean yelled angrily, the lightning cutting him open.
"Te nequam meretrix!" Ron yelled. (You worthless whore!)
Draco snarled angrily, wishing that he could help Ginevra punish them...
"You chose this path, Ronald," Ginevra whispered.
Across the clearing, Draco saw that Minerva and Albus were whispering to each other, Albus shaking his head at a question Minerva was asking.
"You insulted me and now you will pay!" Ginevra yelled at Lavender and the two boys.
Draco watched the lightning tighten even more, burning their skin, blood and bones. They fell to the ground, shivering and covered in red marks.
The pull faded immediately and Draco barely realised that the red wave flew back from Hogwarts and the surrounding forest until it hit Ginevra full force. He cried out as she fell to the ground and hurried to her side, Leo beside him.
"I take back that what I have caused to my own three-fold," he heard Ginevra whisper.
A red glow surrounded them and Draco felt the cut on his face disappear. He watched in horror as even more cuts appeared on Ginevra's face, larger and deeper than his one. Her eyes closed and Draco held her close to his body.
"My King, you must let go of her now. She needs to be taken back to the castle to be healed," Leo said quietly.
"I'll carry her," Draco said defensively, lifting Ginevra up as he stood. He didn't let his mind linger on how limp she felt...
He passed Lavender, Ron and Dean and saw Madam Pomfrey beside them, muttering to herself.
"Draco! Is Ginevra all right?" Neville asked, rushing over with Blaise, Seamus and the others beside him.
"I... I don't know..." Draco said quietly.
"Mr. Malfoy... If you would please relinquish your hold on Ginevra, I will be able to take her to a place where she can be healed," a voice said behind him. Draco turned to face Xavier. "She needs more magic to be healed than anyone here can provide..."
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Draco woke up in a cold sweat. Bexley floated over to him in concern.
"Are you all right? Would you like me to call Ginevra?" Bexley asked.
"No! I am fine," Draco muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Leave me be," he said.
"If you are sure," Bexley said, and at Draco's nod, he floated through the closed door.
Draco sighed and got off the bed, putting on his shoes and robe. Muttering a spell, he put his hand to the wall. The wall became clear, a large hole appearing. Stepping through it, Draco found himself inside of a tunnel. Walking down it, he came to what looked like to be a dead end. About to leave, he noticed the hole in the wall and went through it. Finding himself in another tunnel, Draco sighed in annoyance.
Trying to find some way out, he headed down along the tunnel. After about ten minutes of walking, Draco arrived at a dead end. Seeing small pinpricks of light above him, he realised that it was a trapdoor and opened it. Glad to be anywhere but the musty tunnel, he hurried out and brushed off his clothes, breathing in the fresh air deeply.
Looking at his surroundings, he saw an orange and brown couch nearby.
Where was he?
Going through the doorway, he went down the small corridor and found himself in Fred and George's shop. Returning to the room with the trapdoor, Draco realised how tired he felt. Not feeling up to walking all the way back so soon, he sat on the couch and closed his eyes with a sigh.
Loud pitched chatterings made Draco open his eyes quickly. Seeing a small blue pixie in front of him, he frowned and shook his head. The pixie still stayed there.
"WhoIsYou?WhatIsYouDoingHere?FriendOrFoe?" the pixie chattered quickly.
"DracoMalfoy.Resting.Friend," Draco replied his questions briefly, knowing how pixies detested long winded answers.
"WhyYouResting?"
"Tired.LongNightAndLongWalk."
"MeSawQueenOfAllHereNotLongAgoWithPixieTwins!IHelpedThem," Sram said with pride, not realising who Draco was.
"WhatDidYouHelpThemWith?" Draco asked.
"QueenSad.PixieTwinsSad.SramHelpedThemKnowWhyQueenSad.SramAlsoGavePixieTwinsInstructionsAndHelpedBlessThemAtBirth," Sram said.
"WhatWasMakingGinevraSad?" Draco asked.
"VisionOfLightningAndForest," Sram said.
Draco shivered at the coincidence, remembering what he'd Seen.
"IsDracoMalfoyOkay?" Sram asked, flitting closer to him.
"IAmOkay.IShouldReturnNow," Draco replied, standing up.
"SramWillGoWithYou!SramNeedsToChatterWithPixieTwins," he said, flying over to rest on Draco's shoulder.
Not having much choice, Draco went into the tunnel again and walked along the uneven ground. Sram chattered joyfully, his body glowing blue. Distracted by Sram's talking, Draco walked past the entrance to Ginevra's tunnels and soon came to a part of the tunnel that was dented.
Draco stared at the large dent, knowing that there was something familiar about it. The memory returned of Ginevra kissing and biting him, pushing him up against the wall...
"DracoMalfoy!WhatIsWrongWithDracoMalfoy?" Sram asked loudly in his ear, after not hearing a response the first time.
The pixie's loud voice startled Draco out of his thoughts. He shook his head slightly.
"SorrySram.I'mFine," Draco replied. He hurried along the corridor, soon arriving at the trapdoor. Opening it cautiously, Draco looked out and was relieved when he didn't see anyone. Getting out of the tunnel, he went over to a tapestry and said the password.
"There you are, Draco! You could have left a bloody note to tell us that you'd gone!" Pansy said glaring at him.
"You sound just like our mother," Fred and George said, smirking at her.
"Sod off before I start on you two," Pansy said with a warning glare.
"You want me to leave a note because I left my room?" Draco asked her.
"Well, when you don't go through the bloody door, yes!"
"Pansy love, calm down," Vincent said, Gregory taking her hand.
"I am calm!" Pansy said through gritted teeth.
Everyone just looked at her, eyebrows raised. She glared at them all, then slumped visibly.
"Fine... I'll calm down then. Leave a bloody note next time!" Pansy said glaring at Draco.
"Yes, Mother," Draco drawled, smirking at her.
Pansy swore at him in Mermish, sticking her middle finger up at him.
"Love it when you talk dirty," Gregory muttered smirking at her.
"Take it to your room, would you?" Neville said with a grin, pushing Vincent, Gregory and Pansy towards their room.
"Get us for dinner!" Vincent called, shutting the door firmly.
"WhereIsPixieTwins?" Sram asked eagerly, jumping up and down on Draco's shoulder.
"Sram?IsThatYou?" Fred and George asked in surprise.
Sram gave a squeal and flew over to them, hugging their necks.
"What is that?" Colin asked curiously.
"Sram is a pixie..." Draco replied.
"He's a friend of our mentor," Fred and George added.
"WhatIsYouSaying?" Sram asked in confusion.
"SayingWhoYouAre," the twins replied.
"WhereIsYourOwns?" Sram asked, looking around curiously.
"Padma, Parvarti, this is Sram. SramThisIsPadmaAndParvarti," they introduced.
"PleasureToMeetYou," Padma and Parvati said carefully, still learning the pixies language.
"TheyKnowsPixie!PleasedToMeetsYou!" Sram said in excitement.
"TheyOnlyKnowSomePixie," Fred and George said, so that Sram wouldn't start talking quickly and confusing them.
Sram opened his mouth to jabber some more then stopped suddenly, staring at Ginevra.
"QueenOfAll!" he said, bowing down low to her.
"HelloSram.CallMeGinevra,Please," Ginevra replied, smiling at him.
"ButSramCanNotCallQueenOfAllByHerName!" Sram said in shock.
"WhyNot?YouCalledMeByMyName," Draco said.
"But..." Sram said with a frown, then looked at Draco closely. Realising who Draco was, Sram started cursing and bowing. "PleaseForgiveSram,King!"
"By the Gods... Sram,CalmDown! YouAreToCallUsByOurNames.JustLikeEveryoneElse,IsThatUnderstood?" she said.
"Y...Yes,Ginevra," Sram said with a bow.
"Good. Now what time is it? I'm starving," she muttered.
"Perhaps you should talk to Draco first, Ginevra... He has a right to know and decide too," Luna said with a smile.
Ginevra sighed and nodded.
"All right. That means you lot have to try and get Pansy, Gregory and Vincent out of their room," she said cheerfully, heading down to her room.
"Why are you all looking at me? I'm not getting them!" Colin said immediately, running to his room.
Draco shook his head, left Sram with the twins and headed down to Ginevra's room.
"So, what do I need to know?" Draco asked, leaning against the doorframe.
"We don't have to stay like this," Ginevra replied. "It can go back to the way it was yesterday and Friday, with neither of us remembering each other, or our friends."
"How long do we have to decide?" Draco asked.
"Tomorrow at midnight."
"We might have to see how we go tomorrow, then we can decide..."
Ginevra nodded and let out the breath she hadn't known she was holding.
"What do you remember about us?" she asked after a moment, looking at him intensely.
"I remembered a few things since I woke up... I remember what we did in the tunnel to your brother's shop," he said, Ginevra turning slightly red at that. "I remember a few other things that happened between us before the first time you erased our memories," he said, his fists clenching at the thought of Ron hitting Ginevra. "I Saw another version on The Vision. It's Dean as well as your brother now," Draco said.
"Not surprising, considering the fact that Fred and George heard Dean and Lavender screwing in ... my corridor! Gods... I'm going to block that up," Ginevra said, turning a sick shade of green.
"You're not angry about The Vision changing then?" Draco asked, slightly surprised.
"Oh, I am angry, don't worry about that! I am just wondering how many more times The Vision will change... The future can be changed by people's actions, words and different occurrences every day... I guess there's no real point in being angry about something that I know I ultimately can't change," Ginevra said with a sigh.
"True," Draco said with a brief nod.
"I apologise for interrupting, Ginevra, but I believe it may be necessary for you to return the memories to the rest of the castle, before it is too late for it to happen," Luna said, coming into her room.
"Why?" Draco asked.
"Would you like to go around tomorrow with Ginerva as you both are now and find out what would happen?" Luna asked with a smile. "Not only will people not believe that you two are together, or friends even, they will not remember Ginevra as a Vampiress, which I am sure will help in smoothing over a few bumps," she added grinning.
"You want Ginevra to threaten to Drink everyone dry?" Blaise drawled, raising an eyebrow. Neville leant his head on Blaise's shoulder, both of them looking at the three through the doorway.
"Sounds like fun," Neville said with a grin.
"You look really weird like that," Draco stated, frowning.
"It looks like you've got two heads!" Ginevra said, laughing.
Draco laughed too when both Blaise and Neville rolled their eyes and raised an eyebrow each at them.
As they laughed, their hands touched and they both quickly stopped, Ginevra blushing slightly.
"Hmmm... Looks like the sexual tension in the room just hit sky high," Blaise murmured to Neville.
"I didn't think you'd noticed," Neville said, kissing his cheek.
"How could I not? You're so ..."
"BLAISE ZABINI! Keep your thoughts to yourself! I seriously did not want to know about that!" Ginevra yelled, wincing.
"You're sick, you know that?" Draco muttered to Blaise, shaking his head.
"I seem to be hearing that a lot from you lately ... It's not my fault I think about him! Why don't you blame Neville? He's the cause of it all!" Blaise said, grinning at Ginevra.
"Oh, don't I just feel like the special one?" Neville said sarcastically, smirking at Ginevra and Blaise.
"We should really go before she hexes me and my filthy loving mind," Blaise said, kissing Neville again.
"I swear ... The only nymphs I know nymphomaniacs!" Ginerva muttered, shaking her head.
"I agree completely ... I seriously didn't know it was possible for three people to be in that position," Colin said, his face completely pale.
"Gods, why me?" Ginevra moaned as thoughts hit her mind. She tried blocking her ears and screwing her eyes shut tightly, but it didn't help at all.
"All right... I think it's time we left too," Luna said, smiling at Colin. "Don't forget the spell, Ginevra," she said, leaving the room with Colin and shutting the door behind her.
"Such filthy minds for such nice people," Ginevra muttered.
"Nice?" Draco scoffed.
"Yes, they're nice! They stuck by me and worried about me ... No matter how bloody dense or rude I was to them, they were still there for me. That gives me the right to call them nice," Ginevra said with a glare.
"And me? Because I wasn't 'there for you', what does that make me?" Draco asked, returning her glare.
"That makes you Draco Bloody Malfoy! I wouldn't expect anything less or more from you, you conceited prat!" Ginevra said angrily.
"You little wench!" Draco said heatedly.
"Spoilt brat!"
"Dumb hag!"
"Prick!"
"Bitch!"
"Jerk!"
Despite being able to go on for much longer, the insults stopped suddenly, their mouths occupied with another task.
Ginevra clutched at Draco, still muttering things about him between each kiss. He returned both favours with fervour, smirking as she almost purred in his arms. Breathing heavily, Ginevra moved away from Draco, staring at him.
"What ... Why ... How do you do that to me?" she asked, her eyes wide as she shook her head.
"I could ask the same of you," Draco replied with a smirk.
"I ... I should do the spell now," Ginevra said, looking away from him.
Draco just gave a nod and sat on her chair, watching her.
"I'm not leaving this time," he said at her look.
Ginevra's heart leapt and she gave a nod, wondering why those few words meant so much to her.
"Those who have forgotten, now remember... Memories of the world, now return... Memories taken, now return... All that was gone, be restored..." Ginevra said clearly.
As each word of the spell was said, hundreds of red balls slowly appeared in front of her, bouncing up and down. At the last word, they sped away quickly.
"What do you think everyone will remember? Will they remember us exactly the same?" Ginevra asked, sitting on her bed and looking over to Draco.
"I don't know. I suppose they'll believe whatever they want to believe..." Draco replied with a shrug.
"But what if they all believe something different? We'll have to keep up hundreds of different lies to keep everyone happy!" she muttered, falling back onto the mattress with a sigh. "And we'd have to try to remember what we told to whom and ... Gods, I just want to go to sleep and never wake up!"
Draco shook his head and walked over to her, sitting beside her curled up body.
"I think you're just starting to over analyse the entire situation. Luna probably has the answer to your questions, but I'd say she's comforting Colin at the moment," he said with a grin. "Poor guy, walking in on them like that," Draco said, chuckling softly.
"It's not funny," Ginevra admonished, not able to repress her own laugh. Her laughter ceased as she yawned widely. "You wouldn't think I'd be tired after sleeping for so long," she muttered. "I'm not even hungry now, and I was so looking forward to shepherd's pie," Ginevra said with a grin.
"Well, I'd better leave you to sleep then, shouldn't I?" Draco asked as he stood up and gave a slight bow to her. "Goodnight and welcome back, Queen of all," he said mockingly, winking at her as he went to the door.
"Draco?" she called before he left.
He turned to looked at her, an eyebrow raised.
"Would ... Would you mind staying with me tonight?" Ginevra asked, blushing as she looked away from him. "It's just ... This whole thing still seems a bit surreal and I don't want to wake up and find that it wasn't real... I don't want to be alone," she said quietly.
Draco nodded, understanding how she felt and walked back over to the bed. He was surprised that he didn't feel embarrassed or insulted at her request, but just took his shoes off and slipped into the bed with her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Thank you," Ginevra whispered, smiling into her pillow.
"You're welcome... Sleep now," Draco said.
Ginevra gave a small nod and a yawn, falling asleep soon enough.
Draco didn't fall to sleep for a long time. He stayed awake, watched her breathing, the steady rise and fall of her chest, and the way that her smile never left her face. Eventually, sleep overtook Draco and he fell asleep, his arm still around Ginevra tenderly.
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(a/n: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!)