It's My Life

It's My Life

Ginny glared into the bottom of her glass.

Damn you Ronald Weasley, for sticking your big nose in where it isn't needed. She thought spitefully, before throwing back the shot of amaretto. It burned her throat as it went down, but not before she caught the taste on her tongue. It was sweet and dark and mysterious, and reminded her so much of her lover...her sweet, dark, mysterious lover. She ordered another one.

It was all because he couldn't let go of a silly childhood rivalry, she knew. It was all because for five and a half years, they felt this intrinsic need to throw barbs at each other. Ginny doubted if Ron had even realized that after his mother's death, he had stopped. That after his mother's death, he'd become subdued, less arrogant, more thoughtful. No, Ginny highly doubted that.

It was all because of Ron that Ginny was sitting at a Muggle dance club, wearing a revealing outfit, trying to drown her sorrows in shots of Amaretto. The days events flashed by her eyes as she polished off another one and slammed it on the counter, then called for a new one.

Sunlight streamed through the large windows of his flat as she sipped her morning tea. Ginny smiled as Draco stumbled out of his bedroom into the bathroom, mumbling a quiet 'morning'. He never was a morning person...

Later on, after she'd gotten dressed and Draco had cooked them both breakfast, they'd cuddled on the couch for a bit. Ginny was just relaxing, and Draco fiddled with her hair. It was calm, contented, and beautiful in its simplicity. Both were happy just to be with each other.

Until, of course, someone began pounding on the door.

Draco glowered, and Ginny had to smother a giggle. At the look on his face, Ginny was hard pressed not to laugh outright. She gave him a slight shove towards the door. "Go on then. Go open the door! Whoever it sounds a mite bit angry."

After giving her one last withering glance, Draco moved to the front hall, and opened the door a crack. Then he jumped out of the way as Ron came barrelling into the room. "Where is she Malfoy?! Merlin's beard, if you've done something to her I'll-"

"Where is who, Weasley? And don't threaten someone until it's plain what you're after." The silver-haired man replied.

"Ginny! That's who! She wasn't at her apartment last night! Harry and I scoured all of London looking for her, and we couldn't find her anywhere! The clock at the Burrow was no help, it said she was 'Vacationing'. And as much as I hate it, she actually likes you. So maybe you'd know where the hell she is?"

Draco smirked. "I know where she is. I'm not sure I want to tell you though. After all, you've been terribly rude..."

Ron growled. "Do not play games with me, Malfoy. You will tell me where she is. And then I will go get her. And then, Heaven forbid, I will never come here again. Now, Where. Is. She?"

"Such behaviour is so typical of you male Weasleys. No, I don't think I'll tell you. Ginny will come out when she feels li-"

By this time Ginny had thrown on an over robe and come down the hall. "Oh honestly you two. You can't stop bickering even for a moment. It's disappointing really." She admonished, shoving Draco a little bit out of the way.

"Now Ron, what was so important that you and Harry had to scour London to find me?"

Ron's mouth was agape, flapping bonelessly. "Wha-wha-what on EARTH are you doing here, Virginia? At Malfoy's? This early in the morning?"

Draco moved towards her, placing a possessive arm around her waist. "Well, I think the answer's quite obvious, wouldn't you? After all, we've been seeing each other for quite some time." He said, in that oh-so-suave tone of his. "Although I suppose it wouldn't be to you, dear Ron. You probably haven't even thought about the same with Hermione..."

Ron snapped. He roared, a loud, wordless, roar and charged Draco. Ginny managed to spin out of harm's way, but Draco caught the full force of Ron's weight in his stomach. He doubled over, giving Ron the opportunity to clip him in the jaw. Draco's head snapped back, blood spurting from his cut lip. With surprising speed, he retaliated, swinging a strong left hook to Ron's cheekbone.

Ginny could only watch in surprise for a few moments, before drawing her wand and stunning them both.

"You're such children! I can't believe that you, both grown men, are brawling. Over nothing! Nothing! What has gotten into the two of you?!" She yelled, hands on hips. "This has gone on long enough. Draco, you're going to go into the bathroom and deal with your mouth. Ron, you're going to tell me what you're doing here, and then you're going to leave, is that clear?" She demanded. Both men nodded their ascent - or did as best they could while frozen. She released them both.

Ron fell forward, almost landing in Draco's lap. Draco just smirked, and stood with his arms' crossed. Ginny poked him in the rib, and gave him a push towards the inner part of the flat. Ginny stared at Ron expectantly.

"Ginny-" Ron started, then stopped. He sighed, rubbed his hands through his hair. "Ginny- Harry, the twins and I have come to a decision."

A sinking feeling began to form in Ginny's stomach. "A decision. A decision about what, oh dearest brother mine?" She said, her voice ice-cold.

"We've decided that we don't want you seeing Malfoy anymore. I'm sure that-"

"You what?" To her credit, she kept her voice completely calm, quiet, and smooth. Very much like a very dangerous patch of ice.

Ron began to trip over his words. "We uhh...we decided that it was not a good idea for you to keep dating Malfoy. We think he's a bad influence on you and..."

His voice died away when he recognized the very terrible look on Ginny's face. It was the same look she had when the twins had turned her hair lime-green. The same look when Hermione had found her non-responsive journal and had inadvertently read a few entries. The same look when Ron had used her favourite shirt to clean off his broom. The tiny voice inside his head that usually told him what to do in such situations simply said 'uh-oh'.

"Get out. Get out right now. How dare you presume you have any control over whom I choose to date? I cannot stand to look at you right now. I can't believe that you would...Get out. This instant."

The wand in her hand and the look on her face was enough to make Ron tuck his tail between his legs and run for cover. Ginny sighed, and closed her eyes. She could hear Draco walking towards her, and knew that he'd listened to every word. Instead of stopping next to her, as Ginny thought he would, he excused himself and went outside.

Ginny resisted the urge to bang her head against the wall as she heard her lover calling to her brother.

"Weasley!" He yelled. "Nice try at trying to steal her away from me...But Ginny's all mine now. I know you don't get it, but we love each other. I just hope that you'll stop panting like a puppy-dog after Hermione long enough to act like a man, then maybe you'll get her."

The words themselves were semi-kind, but Draco had an amazing ability to make good words sound anything but good. Ron snarled, but walked away, apparently still scared of Ginny's wrath should he attack Draco again. But Ginny wasn't just furious with him at the moment.

Draco stepped back into the flat, and Ginny just glared at him. "You constantly have to do that, don't you? You are forever stirring it up! You can't ever let someone else have the last word. Why did you have to go out there and taunt him like that?"

He smirked. "Oh come now Gin, you couldn't possibly believe I would let such a golden opportunity slip through my fingers, did you?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "You could have tried! You could've proven yourself the better man! Just for once I wish the two of you would act like adults when forced to be in each other's company!"

Her eyes darted to the clock behind his head. The time read eight thirty-two. "Damnit!" she exclaimed, racing to his room, trying to gather up her clothing. "It's already half past, I'm going to be late for my interview at the Wizards Wireless Network, I won't get that job..."

After dressing hastily, she turned to face him. "I have to go. I don't know if I'll come back tonight. I'll probably have to go placate Mum. Ron'll have told her something completely blown out proportion, I'm sure." She gave him a lingering kiss before stepping back. "Love you." Ginny said, and Disapperated to her own flat.

The lights in the club dimmed and the music slowed down. A dozen couples stepped onto the dance floor, moving sensuously against each other, or just enjoying being in each other's arms. Ginny scowled at them, and ordered another shot, her sixth in the hour.

The day was already bad, but it had gotten worse after that. She'd almost completely bombed her interview, the only saving grace being that her hopeful future boss had been an understanding young woman she'd known from Hogwarts, and had rescheduled her for another appointment, promising to completely forget about this particular interview.

Then she'd gone to the Burrow, hoping to see her mother for a few minutes alone. Instead, she's run into Harry...

She saw him, standing there, ebony hair sticking every which way, as always. Ginny didn't even think, she just turned on her heel and began to march away.

"Ginny!" he called. She didn't turn around. "Ginny! Please, wait! Ginny!" he grabbed her arm hard, probably hard enough to bruise.

"What do you want, Harry? I'm not exactly in the mood to deal with you, or any of my three youngest brothers."

He seemed taken aback, but plunged in. "Gin, I - We, I talked to Ron. His approach was very un-tactful. What he was trying to say is, we think you should maybe...take a break from Malfoy for a bit. You know, don't write him off completely, and see other people. Slow down a bit. You understand?" The last part was said a little pleadingly.

"No Harry. You don't understand. I love Draco. He loves me. We've been together for just under six months. Mum likes him. Dad doesn't have this burning desire to kill him. My brothers, barring Fred, George and Ron, are okay with him. Hell, even Hermione recognizes the fact that he's not the boy who used to call her Mudblood back at Hogwarts. So why don't the four of you get it through your thick-as-bricks skulls that I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK ANYMORE!"

After that little outburst, she'd stormed down the stairs and left the burrow, her reason for visiting forgotten.

She'd gone home and cried after that. She loved her family dearly, and she knew she always would. But why couldn't her brothers get over the fact that she was in love with Draco? Why couldn't they just let go of the past?

Hermione had tried to visit, but Ginny had sent her away. Her cat, a gorgeous Siamese that Draco had given her for her twenty-first birthday two months ago, had curled herself around Ginny's shoulders. A few hours of feeling sorry for herself passed, Ginny had decided to go clubbing. Dancing always took her mind off her problems for a few hours. She went to most of the contemporary Magical clubs in London, but kept running into people she didn't want to see.

Oliver Wood and his girlfriend. Lee Jordan and his wife Alicia. Colin Creevey, Hannah Abbot. Finally, Ginny went to the last place she could think of. The Muggle club she and Draco had found together, the Wolves' Den.

The song ended, and another slow moving, jazz-ish song started up. Ginny scowled again, before the words caught her attention. She stopped and listened, Amaretto halfway to her lips.

"What I choose to do is of no concern to you, and your friends. Where I lay my hat, may not be my home, but I will last on my own. 'Cause it's me. And my life. It's my life."

Ginny nodded. This woman knew what she was talking about! Obviously the writer had been in a similar position. Ginny downed her drink, toasting herself and the wonderful woman whose voice crooned from the speakers.

"Oh the world has sat, in the palm of my hand. Not that you'd see. And I'm tired and bored of waiting for you and all those things you never do. 'Cause it's me, and my life. It's my life. It's my life."

The song ended, and Ginny was a bit disappointed that there were no more lyrics of ultimate wisdom. She stood up, Amaretto in hand, and yelled at the top of her lungs.

"There you go Ron! Listen to the song, ya bloody stupid ass!"

Maybe it was her anger at her siblings, or her confusion at their lack of understanding. Maybe it was the fact that she stood up too fast. Most probably it was the sheer amount of hard liquor she'd ingested over the past few hours. Whatever the reason, Ginny chose that moment to collapse. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her legs folded underneath her.

The bartender sighed and picked up a slender piece of cherry wood and pointed it at his throat. After whispering a spell, he said a few words, apparently to know one. Then he sat Ginny up and leaned her against the bar and waited.

A few moments later, a blond-haired man walked into the club and made a beeline for the bar. He picked Ginny up and held her possessively to his chest. He fished a few Muggle bills out of his pants pockets and dropped them on the bar. Then he turned to leave. Once at the door, Draco Malfoy turned around and nodded his thanks to Remus Lupin, who only nodded back.