Maybe it came from the fact that she was the only girl out of her siblings, or just a Gryffindor trait in general but Ginny didn’t do well at admitting weakness. Maybe it was because of her very first year here and how much she had struggled through it… alone, and the whispers that had followed even months after what happened with the Chamber she felt the need to always have a strong front. To show she was better than any darkness she might have faced or that she could fight any evil in front of her… but breaking down like this, to anyone, was not something she usually did.

Yet here she was holding onto Draco Malfoy of all people like her life depended on it because she had been tortured. It was like he knew how she needed to hear right now that someone had her because she couldn’t hold herself together. 

Right now she wouldn’t have been able to face this alone and she couldn’t let anyone else see her this way. Especially her friends who looked to her for advice now that everyone else had been gone. 

“It hurt so much…” It hurt now even and the curses were done being cast on her. A lingering pain in her whole body stung reminding her that no matter how much she fell apart now she couldn’t let this be the end of her fight. 

If he wasn’t completely concerned with her. He’d be in carrows room murdering him. Hell he wasn’t sure how he was to go on the next day without wringing their necks. But that wasn’t here or there and it wasn’t important. Not now.

As strange as it was for him to think of, was of consoling thinking of ways to comfort her. He knew there wasn’t anything he could do for her pain.

continued from here [ @avis-aparecium ]

If only she could just block him out like she unintentionally did for all those years before she realized how much he meant to her. Maybe then it wouldn’t hurt as much. She didn’t want to care. She didn’t want to listen and she didn’t want to hear whatever reasoning he had for what she just walked into she was done!

Except he had to just go and say he didn’t know what happened. A rage filled her just enough to make her stop and look at him despite her original plan to blow right past him. “You? You don’t know what happened? You know my schedule, you know my favorite food, you know everything– but you don’t know what happened to lead you into that room with that woman despite all the–” No. She needed to stop. She was going to cry– and yes one day she would but not right now. Not in front of him. “I am looking at you and I do not like what I see.”

now he had her. Finally after merlin knew how know he got her to say something to him. But now he couldn't find any words to her answer. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. As strange as it sounded it was true. he knew himself, he knew Garnet better than the back of his own hand. 

“I...i don’t.” it was the honest truth. he swallowed, he honestly was trying to remember what was going through his head. That wasn’t him. 

it hurt. 

It hurt seeing her of all people look at him like that. 

He swallowed trying to find or thing of some any explanation of what happened. But he didn’t have one. 

 There had been an excitement that built up when he seemed pleased by the sentence she got out. She knew it wasn’t perfect and that she had a lot to learn but considering how long they had been here she thought she was doing pretty well! She even knew some more words than her mother did! 

And yet it still wasn’t good enough…

“Not fair…” She said as the smile faded into a very childish, cheeks puffed out pout. “Y’know I could just tell my mom you said no and then where would we be?” She wouldn’t of course, she liked Tom too much to sick her mother after him with her wrath. 

Tom smiled at her reaching over and put his hand on her shoulder. “you’re getting there. By your next birthday you’ll be completely fluent if we keep it up.” Though apart of him wondered if she would remember his words and it’d come back to bite him back later. 

The smile had come so naturally to her she hadn’t even realized that it was the first time in weeks… maybe longer that she actually truly smiled. It was only now that she could realize that he was the only person to get her smile like that… since her mother’s passing anyway. Even still it was different, it was a truly happy smile yes but also filled with a love she knew she could have for no other. 

He also had the ability to take the smile away, but even with his question right now it only faded sightly. He just promised to stay with her no matter what, to not leave, so as hard as it was going to be to keep that in mind, it did mean that she could be open with him about everything. 

“Okay, I can do that… which means that I have to be honest in telling you that there is no… getting out of what I’m involved in, you know that?” She was forced into a lifetime deal with the Dark Lord. Which meant while she would not intend to keep any secrets from him, but that she was going to have to do some terrible things if she wanted to be alive to keep that promise. More terrible things… or find a way out.

he could tell that the thought of not hiding from him wasn’t going to be easy. And he understood at some point. he’s been in this business while not long, but long enough to know that she was telling the truth. There was no getting rid of the mark. 

“I figured.” he sighed, his features softened but there wasn’t any anger on his face. he knew if there were a way to get rid of it, if anyone she would have sought it out. “But listen to me carefully.’ he said in a gentle tone. “you’re not in this alone anymore Billie. Do what you need to, i’m with you. alright?.” whatever it was, it was better if they kept eachother in the loop. even if she was called, at least then they could handle it together instead of her stressing about it and him getting upset he didn’t know about it. 

especially now...her safety was the most important thing to him. he offered her a small smile before leaning in to brush his lips against her forehead before wrapping his arms warmly around her. 

Judging by how tense he was when she first started driving she could have easily guessed that about him. It didn’t surprise her though since most people in the wizarding world travelled by portkey, apparting, or broom more than anything else. “There’s a first time for everything!” was the only thing she responded with though as she leaned forward a little to pick up speed, making sure they were high above the clouds so that no muggles would see them.

Up here she felt free. Up here she felt like she was just a normal young witch not fighting a war. Up here it was safe, this time anyway. 

it certainly was different. he didn’t know much about the muggleworld only what he heard from passers by. And it was certainly the first time he rode on machinery like this. it was a different feeling. Though he wasn’t sure if it was feeling the machine actively move beneath him or just....well being with her. 

Billie wasn’t exactly too thrilled with herself for asking this question either. On one hand technically she was the one who broke up with him in school and he had, after some argument, let her and left without another word which she honestly even now would say that was the best decision he could have made… but then they found each other again and when she finally told him the truth it was he who left. Rightfully angry with her but it still hurt. It hurt to think that even when being honest she wouldn’t be good enough. For her feelings to be validated that she was bad and didn’t deserve him. 

It was that reason and the fact that she now knew what it would be like to live without him now that she asked him  not to leave her again. She couldn’t do this without him. She loved him. 

His promise felt strong though and by the end of his speech she was smiling. “Good, because I’m never letting you go again!” 

it was nice to see her smile. now that he thought about it it’d been a long time since he’d seen it...at least that’s what it felt. For the past month he got angry at her for lying to him, stormed out then she had to deal with not only that guilt but he went and attacked her and had her think he died! While none of it other than the former was his fault he of course felt guilty about the rest. She shouldn’t have had to gone through it all even if he knew logically there was nothing he could do about it.

But if he could do one thing. he could do that, keep this promise especailly now. Even if they weren’t techncially married, yet , he’d be damned if he didn’t already consider her his family. So long as he was breathing? he swore to himself he’d never leave her again.

Garrett gave a soft smile as his thumb wiped some left over tears from her cheek. “i’m okay with that.’ he said before his smile dropped just a bit.

“no more lies. no more secrets. okay?”

She huffed a little. She survived this long without much help so she fully intended on keeping that streak going but the sentiment on his part was nice. She just didn’t know how well she would handle losing someone else that she really cared about… which spoke volumes on how she felt being involved in the war but it wasn’t really her involvement that worried her. It was everyone else’s and the only way she could make sure they were safe was if she was here too. 

Or at least she could try anyway. 

“Trust doesn’t come easy for me… and your dueling skills could use a little more tweaking before I say I’d be confident in that,” She knew he knew how to handle himself but as someone who has fought in two wars now and was captain of her house’s dueling team in her school years she was what one might consider an expert at it. She knew how to duel appropriately and she also knew how to duel dirty. It took both sets of skills to fight in a war. 

‘i will work on it though, you just have to trust that I know how to defend myself. And that I know how to take a hit. I used to fight a lot in school, and sometimes those people I hit would hit back. Magically dueling or muggle fighting it didn’t matter.” She had her fair share of bruises and wounds from then.

He smirked despite himself. 

“well not better than you but I’m not a schoolboy .” he knew full well she could outduel him anyday of the week. He was almost like an animal though he tends to fight harder when higher stakes were on the line. 

“i will certainly try.” there weren’t any guarantees honestly. in the heat of the moment it was harder to think straight. 

She couldn’t help but let out a laugh at his reaction. Keeping them both steady as the bike went down the open road for now. She didn’t give him much time to loosen up though before she was lifting the handle to let the bike ride into the sky.

“What can I say? I like things that come with a good kick.” She spared one turn to look back at him before focusing on getting them above the clouds so no muggles would spot them. “C;mon where’s your sense of adventure?”

it took him a moment to gather his bearings but he was able to relax once the were in the air. And not on the road. Strangely enough he felt more startled on the road rather than the air. “noted.” he said taking a breath and loosening his hold on her a bit once they were steady. 

At that she let out a bark like laugh as he twirled her into his arms. She liked being here. In moments like this with him it was like there was no war going on outside. That she wasn’t judged by her mothers blood and her fathers name and that everything was going to be alright. “You do not want to take me gambling I have way to much fun with that and tend to get into a lot of trouble.”

She had experienced it once though. At a casino those muggles do love and when she used just a bit of magic for fun it got her into enough trouble she had to run out the door and laugh about it later. She didn’t think he could handle the kind of trouble she could cause in a place like that. 

“Oh you think so? Well I’ve been practicing!” 

“oh now i’ve got to.” he said with a grin. The way she put it how could he not get curious. The only place he’s really ever seen her is in places like this and that wedding. Seeing her outside of it was something he wanted to see. 

‘have you?’ he asked cocking a brow down at her. ‘Should i be jealous?’ he’d admit the thought of her dancing with anyone else was a little annoying. he didn’t let that thought manifest though. 

Billie had only just been thinking that he was looking at her a little longer than usual when he offered her his hand to usher her in side and that thought about how this might be some weird unofficial date popped back into her head making her cheeks flush an unnatural pink. She was used to being very… competitive with Garrett, not formal and maybe it was his robes and her dress mixed with the setting but there was already something different between them that she couldn’t quiet put her finger on.

“oh– right. Yes. We shall.” She answered feeling a little awkward herself as she took his arm, lingering for a moment at the closeness before moving with him inside. Immediately her eyes scanning the room for a good place that they should both sit and later stand to keep an eye on things. 

“Do you think we should be together? I mean while we are here… can’t we cover more ground if we split up? Or would it be better to stick together to pass information more efficiently should we need to report anything or break anything up?” The ravenclaw in her showing quickly as she immediately went to look for the most logical approach to their evening while internally she found herself uncharacteristically hoping he’d say they should stick together… 

of course she would bring that up. But he couldn't take it bad, that was just how Billie was. She took her job as head girl seriously, even when she should technically be enjoying herself. “well I did some prep work before everyone came, and it’s not like the professors are going to let anyone do whatever they want.” he pointed out to her. This was probably going to be one of the few events that they could  actually take some time to themselves. 

not to mention Garrett really didn’t want to part from her. 

“i think it’s better if we don’t.” he said deciding to try his best and convince her otherwise. “We’ll have more of a presence if we stick together. head boy and girl and all that.” he wasn’t sure if he came across that obvious that he wanted to stick by her.