SECOND-TO-LAST CHAPTER!!!!!
*Snifflies* oh that makes me nostalgic and sad. I remember back in the day about a month ago when becoming a Portkey author was nothing but a crazy dream…(P.S. good luck making the cut Ella!)
Muchos gracias to all those people who read my story…last I checked, over 1000 hits! Yaaay! Plus, as always, my love to the brave reviewers who thoughtfully put their comments out there. *Mwah!* I love you all so very much!
Now, as of yet I haven't gotten any feedback as to whether a sequel would be good or not…well, chapter 7 isn't up yet. True. But still, feedback would be appreciated : ).
Oh yes, and a belated thanks to Ella Mae for getting my little hoard of reviews started.
Read! Readreadread!
Chapter Six
Ginny stepped out of the portrait hole quickly, narrowly avoiding falling flat on her face. "Malfoy!" she whisper-yelled. "Where are you?"
A pale hand waved at her from a nearby corner. "I told you not to call me Malfoy!" he whispered back.
Draco stepped out of the shadows. Once he caught sight of Ginny's face, the goofy grin he was wearing evaporated. "What's wrong, love?"
She slapped his hand away when he tried to hold her hand. "Do you love me?"
A crease appeared between his eyebrows. "Ginny, I-"
"Just tell me. Tell me now or I walk away."
"Well…" There was a long silence. Draco was frozen, paralyzed with fear. Ginny swayed a bit.
"He doesn't love me," she whispered, more to herself than him. Then she fell, gracefully, slowly, sinking to the ground.
Draco just barely caught her before her head cracked against the hard floor. He set her down gently on the carpet and crouched beside her. "I'm an idiot," he said bitterly, "a bloody idiot. No wonder the Hat put me in Slytherin. I'm an idiotic coward."
He held his head in his hands. "Why can't I just tell her when she's awake? Of course now I can say it. I love you, Ginny, I do. I really, really, do."
Obviously that didn't do much for Ginny, who was still unconscious. Well then, there was only one thing to do. Draco pulled her up to a sitting position and kissed her full on the mouth.
This woke Ginny up right quick. When she realized what was happening, an indescribable rage welled up in her. She bit the boy who was assaulting her. "I can't believe you!" she yelled, tears springing to her eyes. "What was I, just a good snog? Did you have a laugh with Pansy about all the idiotic things I said around you? Well, I'm not going to deal with you anymore, you…you…DEATH EATER!"
She walked away. However, she couldn't resist a peek back at him. No matter how much Draco stamped on her heart, no matter how much he hated her, she still loved him.
To her surprise, he was grinning like an idiot. "Couldn't you tell? All those years? I love you. I have always loved you."
Then she was crying, not with anger but with joy, and he kissed her tears away. "I love you too, I do. It nearly broke my heart when they told me you didn't…" She couldn't even talk about it.
"Have you ever wondered why I hated Harry so much?" he said, facing her with nothing but honesty and love in his deep blue eyes.
"Um…not really. I just sort of took it for granted."
He was playing with her hair again. She could never concentrate when he did that. "I was jealous, Gin. Wildly jealous. Unbelievably jealous. I only mildly disliked him until second year. I actually tried to kill him in that duel, with the snake. But you still only had eyes for him."
"Last year, when we…" Ginny's voice trailed off.
"You couldn't believe how sad I was. And this year, when you broke up in September…I couldn't wait until you were over him. I had to see you, even if I could just be a friend. I had to be in your life. I still want to be in your life. In fact," he said, fishing around in his pocket, "I was going to give this to you tonight, before all this fuss."
It was a necklace, a beautiful silver chain with a glittering emerald heart hung on it. It was the most gorgeous thing Ginny had ever seen. "It's so beautiful. My favorite color…" she said.
Draco shrugged. "That was just convenient." Then he dropped down on one knee. "Sorry this isn't a ring, but…"
Ginny gasped. Was he-proposing?
"Look, Gin, I love you, and I don't care how long it takes, but I want to marry you. Even if it's in two years, or ten, I want to marry you. I can wait. I already did." Tears were pouring down her face again.
She could barely choke out her "Yes!" before being crushed into one of Draco's bone-breaking hugs. He actually lifted her off the ground this time. Then, he kissed her lightly on the lips. Ginny's head was spinning, but in a good way this time.
"Well, shall we?" Draco said with a cheeky grin.
"Let's go." Ginny was so happy, she didn't even think about how awkward it was going to be as the only Chaser with a fiancé.
They were still holding hands when they climbed through the portrait hole. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were huddled over a table in the far corner of the room. They stopped whispering when they realized that Draco had entered with Ginny.
Ron stood up and strode across the room. "I can't believe you'd have the nerve to lie to my sister!" he yelled, his ears turning rapidly redder.
"What did I lie about again?" Draco asked Ginny quietly.
"The whole love thing," she muttered back.
"Oh."
Now it was Harry's turn to speak. "Look, Ginny, I'm perfectly okay with you moving on, but not a Slytherin. Especially not him."
She glared at her former boyfriend. "Sorry, Harry, I can't control who I fall in love with."
"You can't actually be in love with that prat?" said Hermione incredulously.
Draco finally spoke. "You saw us, Granger. What did it look like?"
"It looked like you were screwing Ginny over for a snog-or worse!" Hermione cried. Draco roared with anger, and Ginny had to hold him back to keep him from mauling Hermione.
"You-bitch-" Draco panted, struggling to free himself from Ginny's arms. The second he broke away, Ginny yelled, "PROTEGO!"
A shield like a giant, transparent wall erupted in the center of the room, dividing the two opposing factions. Ginny released Draco; there was no point in holding him back now. Ron glared murderously at the couple. "Yeah, hide behind Ginny's skirts, you sniffling little git!"
Draco couldn't hold himself in check any longer. He shouted a wordless yell of anger and charged at the barrier like an angry bull. He was thrown across the room, slamming into the wall and bringing one of the golden wall hangings down with him. He landed with a sickening crunch.
Ginny ran to him, worried. Her lover batted her hands away. "Gin, I'm all right. Just let me have a go at him, please, just once?"
She grabbed his hand and stared at him pleadingly. "Look, he may be an evil bastard, but he's family, right?"
Draco grimaced, recognizing his own words. He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "You three can say anything you want about us, but I love her. I couldn't hurt her if I tried."
Ginny considered him, running a hand through his pale hair. "No, you could."
The three onlookers watched intensely. "How on earth could I do that?" Draco asked, perplexed.
"You could leave me," Ginny said quietly, looking at the floor. The golden wall hanging on the ground shimmered in the firelight.
He pulled her chin up so that she looked him in the eye. "I will never leave you," he whispered.
"Promise?" She knew she sounded like a little kid, but she still wanted his word.
"I promise."
And, completely ignoring the three onlookers, Draco pulled her in for the sweetest kiss she had ever tasted. For once in her life, Ginny didn't care what Harry thought as she kissed Draco back.
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