All it took was one look before Ginny was sure she hated her. The woman was gorgeous with her long silky hair, big sparkling green eyes, and perfect figure that made the rest of the women in this room take a hit to their self-esteem just by being close to her.
She was alright, Ginny supposed, if you wanted perfection. And apparently Draco Malfoy did, because as the goddess threw her head back at her dinner companions comment, Ginny saw the Malfoy engagement ring winking at her from the woman's left hand. Ginny felt her whole world tip on its axis.
She shouldn't be surprised, she reminded herself, she'd seen a speculation about their engagement in Witch Weekly, but who could trust that trash? After all, they'd once predicted that the ring would be on her left finger, and Ginny was pretty damned positive that that had never happened.
Ginny wasn't jealous. There was no possible way she was jealous. She was way over Draco. She was…Wasn't she?
Her date was saying something to her, and Ginny knew she should at least pretend to care, but she couldn't. She couldn't force her eyes to tear themselves away from the man that'd they'd been deprived of for too long. Across from the goddess sat Malfoy, looking every inch as gorgeous as she remembered. She took in the insufferably sexy smirk, the perfectly toned body, and casual elegance he'd been born with. And she took in the expression on his face as he looked at his fiancé. Amazement. The bastard was watching her with awe in his eyes. Biting her lip, Ginny remembered when he used to look at her that way.
Ginny reassessed the Goddess. Sure she was beautiful, and even from here across the restaurant, Ginny could see she practically oozed charm, but what makes the Goddess so much better then her? I mean, sure she was a famous model, but that was so overrated! What makes her just everything that Ginny never was? What made this goddess exactly what Draco wanted, because it wasn't so long ago that that had been Ginny.
Not that long ago, and now here she sat less then four tables away, and Draco didn't see her, didn't even notice her. It was like he didn't even know he knew a Ginny once, much less spent three years of his life with her. A bitter laugh escaped her. And here he was only five months after their break-up, with another woman. A woman who had somehow managed to get a ring on her finger after only a few short months when Ginny didn't have the chance after a long couple of years.
Her date was saying something again. Probably something about why she had been ignoring him for the past ten minutes. Looking over at him, she was going to say something to escape, something she'd later regret, because it wasn't everyday one got a date with an attractive quidditch player, but he spoke first.
Why would he ask if she was okay, she was perfectly fine obviously. He still looked skeptical. And then she felt something sting her eyes.
Oh God. She wasn't going to cry here, was she?!
That was it. She had to make as fast an escape as possible, date be damned. Mumbling apologies and excuses, she half-ran - half-tripped! - to the door as hastily as possible. And right before she left she turned around and looked at him, and he was looking at her. Really looking at her. And she saw his face fall just a fraction as he whispered one word softly "Gin." That word had years of things left unsaid in it, hundreds of unexpressed emotions. It was a plea, and an apology, and a prayer.
And it broke her. So he did remember her, but her eyes flickered to the goddess who was looking right back at her now, and she remembered that she wasn't the one he had wanted next to him. Not anymore.
And she turned and walked out of the restaurant, determined to never look back again.
A/N: This is just a little one-shot that was floating around in my head after I listened to the song When It Was Me by Paula DeAnda. Reviews make me happy!