Written for the International Wizarding School Championship Season Two

Writing School : Issue Three

Lesson : Making Dialogue Flow

School : Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry

Year : Year Five

Prompt : 1. "I don't want normal and easy and simple. I want painful, difficult, devastating, life-changing, extraordinary love" – Scandal

Word Count : 914 (10% leeway)

Sometimes Love Is Relentless

"I'm not giving up on you, Draco Malfoy."

In which Draco and Ginny have a conversation before he gets branded. AU.

"You shouldn't be here, Ginevra," Draco whispered even as he tightened his hold around her, his forehead touching hers.

Ginny hummed, and her hum echoed in the silent classroom that had been their haven for the better part of the year. She opened her eyes slowly to find Draco's grey ones looking at her intently. "I know," she said simply, drawing him closer so that their lips were millimeters apart. "I know."

Draco closed the distance between them almost reflexively. His lips were dry and chapped, hers soft and moist. What wouldn't he give to stay in this moment forever, locked in Ginevra Weasley's embrace. If only he could. If only they weren't on opposite sides of a war. If only a madman wasn't awaiting his arrival back home.

He broke away abruptly, blood boiling and heart thumping, looking anywhere except at the girl seated before him.

"Draco?"

He stepped back tentatively, seating himself at the desk in front of the one on which Ginny was sitting. His shoulders slumped.

"Draco," she said again, her voice more of a command than a question. He looked up, his eyes strangely hollow.

"This can't go on," he whispered, not entirely wanting to say what he had. But sometimes you had to be selfless. Perhaps without meaning to, she had taught him that.

A frown creased her brow. "Why not?" Her voice was as quiet as his own, perhaps even quieter.

Draco swallowed. Part of him had hoped that she would just storm away without waiting for him to explain himself. It would've crushed him inside, but at least he would've been able to avoid this confrontation.

"Because . . ." he sighed, closing his eyes. "Because He is back, and Father is in Azkaban."

"So?" she asked, sarcasm creeping into her voice unbidden, "do you plan on joining his ranks?"

He whipped his head towards her in a rage, eyes flashing. "I don't have a choice!"

Ginny's eyes widened and then softened.

"I don't have a choice," Draco said again, his voice softer and more hollow than he had ever heard it be. There was a lump in his throat, he realized belatedly, and his eyes were stinging.

"Oh, Draco …" Ginny hopped off her desk and joined him on his bench, taking his hand.

Draco stared at their entwined fingers absently, stroking abstract promises of nothingness on her hand.

"We've got to stop," he said slowly, more to himself than to her, "for your sake as well as mine. There's no saying what He might do if he finds that you and I—"

"You don't have to serve him."

Draco turned his gaze towards her brown eyes, sharp and determined.

"You don't have to serve him," she said again, her eyes shining, "you could spy for the order. You could help us."

Draco sighed, turning away. A short, mirthless laugh escaped his lips. "The Order does not trust me. And even if they did, they won't enlist a sixteen year old to spy for them." He began tugging his hand away but Ginny tightened her hold.

"They would when they find out that you're being made a Death Eater." She leaned closer towards him so that her head was resting on his shoulder. "Even if they didn't, Dumbledore would …" she paused, thinking. "He'd do something. He won't let a student be branded."

"And the Dark Lord would kill Mother."

Ginny raised her head to look at Draco, suddenly at a loss for words. "Then perhaps they could take you both to safety. You could be kept in a safe house or at Hogwarts. Tom wouldn't dare touch you here because of Dumbledore."

Draco freed his hand silently, rubbing his face with the other.

"No, Gin." he sighed. "He already has her. They're all at the manor. It's their lair now. There's nothing I can do because—" his throat tightened. "Because my sentence has already been written."

A stinging silence settled after that, during which Draco figured he should leave, but really couldn't bring himself to.

"I'm not giving up on you," Ginny said finally, "I love you." Draco's breathing stilled for a moment as his heart skipped a beat. He could not bring himself to look at her, however, because he knew that if he did his resolve would break.

He sighed heavily. "It would be so much easier for you to be with Potter. So simple. It's not as if those who know of us do not wonder why it is you and I, instead of you and him." He paused, still not looking at Ginny. "You liked him, and he likes you, so it should be easy. You two could finally give Hogwarts the perfect couple it has always wanted from you." His hands suddenly seemed very interesting. "You'd be normal, finally."

Ginny did not speak for a minute, staring at Draco incredulously, but when she did her voice was laced with quiet, barely contained anger.

"You will not tell me what to do and whom to date, Draco Malfoy. That is my decision alone. And if I want you, then that is also my decision. I don't want normal and easy and simple. I want painful, difficult, devastating, life-changing, extraordinary love."

Draco finally looked towards her with the softest of smiles on his face and the loud beating of his heart ringing in his ears. He swallowed.

Ginny blinked away the slight stinging in her eyes. "I'm not giving up on you, Draco Malfoy."

A/N: the words 'He', 'Father', and 'Mother' have been capitalised intentionally.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. :)