[OS] Take

Clank! THUD!!

The flower vase shattered once it hit the waxed, wooden floor. She braced herself against the bedpost as she felt her legs weaken beneath her. Breathing deeply, she forced herself not to cry; begged herself not to cry. She couldn't stand crying anymore. It was too much.

All because of him.

How had it come to this? How had she come to love the bloody man so damn much? She, herself could not remember. But she did remember when their relationship turned for the worse...



She lay in bed, listening to him sleep. She felt something wet touch her shoulder and she looked sideways to his head beside hers. She saw tears trickling down his face. How long had he been crying? She wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure how long she had been awake. She certainly remembered being exhausted after certain activities with him and falling asleep. But now she couldn't recall when she had opened her eyes and just listened to him sleep. He didn't look awake.

"Are you awake?" she whispered but got no response. "He's crying in his sleep?"

She never thought she'd see the day when she saw him - Draco Malfoy - cry. Sleeping or not, crying was crying. From the time they first began this "relationship" up until that moment, Draco had never expressed any emotion outside of arrogance, annoyance or lust. She wasn't even sure why she remained with him.

"Because you love him, Gin," she told herself, "Love...sixteen's too young to love." She sighed as she continued to watch him sleep. He looked so peaceful sleeping, angelic even. The tears slowly trailing down his face and onto her shoulder only proved that yes, Draco Malfoy, was human and actually gave a dam.n about something.

Slowly, she began to wipe away his tears with her thumb.

"Ah!" She nearly jumped out of her skin as his grasp fastened around her wrist.

When he opened his eyes and saw her, he remembered where he was. His grip loosened, but he did not let go of her,

"What were you doing?" He inquired suspiciously,

"You were crying, so I wiped away your -"

"I don't cry." He muttered bitterly. He turned on the light as he got off the bed and went to put on his clothes,

"Well you could've fooled me," She replied sarcastically as she sat up, holding the blanket around her naked torso. "Draco?" He grunted to signal she should continue as he finished buttoning up his shirt, "Why were you cr-"

"I WAS NOT CRYING!" He growled as he threw on his cloak and picked up his wand to disengage the silencing charm on his Inn room.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" She demanded,

"Out for a walk," He answered as he turned fully to look back at her,

"Right now? At two in the morning!?"

"No, I'm going to sit down in the lobby until the sun comes up," He replied dryly, "Yes right now."

"So, you're going to shag me senseless then leave?" She questioned before adding in sarcastically, "How romantic of you. Truly, a girl couldn't ask for more from her boyfriend."

"YOU'RE LUCKY I'M EVEN GIVING YOU THE FUCKING TIME OF DAY, WEASLEY!" He countered angrily.

Too shocked to say anything, Ginny got off the bed and began dressing. She clutched her shirt as she threw it over her head, trying to stop the shaking. She knew she was shaking - badly - but she wouldn't let him see it. He had never yelled at her, made her feel inferior or insulted her the way he had just moments ago. After buttoning her jeans, she grabbed her own cloak but was stopped when she found his hand covering her own.

She glared up at him, willing herself not to cry as she attempted to force her body to stop shaking. He looked down at her with an unreadable expression, but she understood what he was feeling by what his eyes told her. Regret.

She sighed heavily as her gazed dropped to the floor and he closed the space between them. She leaned her head against his shoulder. He made no move to hold her, besides the hand he was still covering with his own.

"Why is it always like this between us, Draco?" She questioned as she felt the tears brimming her eyelids.

"Because we don't trust each other," He stated simply.

"Why don't we?" She inquired quietly,

"Because I don't trust anyone."

She looked up to find him gone. When had he removed his hand from her own? When had he slipped away? And so quietly? She was unnerved at how easily he was able to escape without her realizing the absence of his presence. She assumed he apparated out of the Inn room but couldn't for the life of her, recall if she heard the identifying 'pop'.



...She collapsed in tears at the foot of the bed as she still clutched onto the bedpost as if for dear life. She leaned against its dark mahogany as she sobbed violently. She had always hated how things were between them at times. She had always hated how she allowed their rows to get so bad. More importantly, she hated how he had always dumped his problems on her yet never once took into consideration her own feelings...



"Draco...love, what's wrong?" Ginny asked after Draco had entered his private Head Boy chambers, cast locking and silencing charms on the room and began approaching her.

She sat on his bed, in full uniform, and watched him with concern. "Draco?" She attempted once again as he crawled on the bed to her. He silenced her questions with his lips and forced her onto her back. Grabbing hold of his face, she pushed him back a bit,

"What happened Draco? Why were you gone all day? What happened?" She questioned. "What -"

He silenced her once again with a kiss. He deepend the kiss without her consent, yet was suddenly too preoccupied with the kiss to stop him.

An hour or so later, she found herself awake. The last time she was unable to sleep after their were together was when he had yelled at her, but that was back in September. Now in February, she felt slightly uneased by this. Pulled from her thoughts, she felt a familiar wetness on her shoulder. Looking sideways, she found Draco crying. The only difference was that this time, he was awake.

Sitting up immediately, she pulled him up with her, "Draco, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he muttered as he looked past her.

She pulled his face to look at her, worry etched in her visage, "Draco..."

"She's dead. They both are..." He answered quietly as his head involuntarily leaned against her shoulder.

Instantly, her arms wrapped themselves around him, "Your parents?"

"Both AK-ed," he answered as his tears came a tad bit more strongly now,

"By who?" She asked the question she already knew the answer to.

"Ministry. The Order." He said bitterly as he shut his eyes tightly.

She nearly smacked herself physically for even telling Draco about the Order. He had switched sides, he deserved to know there was an organization that was against Voldemort that was less dense than the Ministry was being... didn't he?

"It's okay Draco," she insisted softly, "everything'll be okay."

"How do you know?" he demanded as he felt his grief nearly overwhelm him. He was too unfamiliar with these emotions and he couldn't handle them.

"Because I went through the same thing," She reminded him, "My parents were killed last year."

"It's not the same,"

She remained silent as she continued to hold him. He had apprently become oblivious to the fact that she had become stiff as a board and that she was the one crying while still holding him; comforting him. She thought sorrowfully that she should've known better that to Draco Malfoy, the most important feelings were his own. Girlfriend or not, he would place himself before her. These thoughts entertained her long after he had fallen asleep in her arms and ended long before she stopped crying.



...She got up with a renewed strength as the tears came much more forcefully. She walked over to the writing desk. She picked up several ink bottles and threw one in a random direction.

Crash! Splash!

"I was sixteen! Fucking sixteen when 'we' began!" She yelled,

Crash! Splash!

"You took everything from me and never once did you ever give me a bloody thing back!"

Crash! Splash! She went to a bookshelf.

"My virginity!"

Thunk!

"My generosity!"

Thunk!

"My comfort!"

Thunk!

"My love!"

Thunk!

"And what the hell did you give back you bastard!? Huh? What the hell did you give back!?" She damanded as she screamed at the already-abused bedroom door.

Thunk!

She cried harder as the final book she held loosely in her hand. She attempted to swipe away her tears, only to find they were replaced immediately, fifty-fold. She heard the identifying sound of someone apparating, but didn't bother looking up.

"Gin!?" She felt the only brother she had left after the war, surround her with his arms and her crying became even more hard and her shaking even more violent.

Her grip on the book became non-existant and it felt to the floor with a soft thud. Her knees buckled as she continued to cry into his chest. Letting go of all her strength, she began to slip down from his hold and he fell to his knees, so he could hold her better, more securely.

"Gin, please, don't cry," she heard the distinct pleading in his voice, "This isn't the time to have a breakdown, please Gin!" His embrace tightened around her as she she took fistfuls of his shirt and continued to cry.

He held her for what seemed like eternity before her crying ceased and her shaking subsided. Finally, when it seemed her breathing was at a normal pace once more, he spoke,

"Get changed."

She immediately became stiff in his arms, "What happened?"

"We got the last of the known Death Eaters."

"What happened?" She questioned again as she pulled back to look sternly at him,

"I think it's best you come with me."

---

"Hogwarts?" She managed as they apparated to the edge of the school's boundaries.

"It was the closest hospital considering where we were," he explained as they slowly trudged up the steeping land towards the castle.

"But who...?"

"Hermione isn't a Medical Auror for nothing," he said,

"Ron... who was all on the mission?" She inquired,

"Just Draco and I. When I got him here, I flooed Hermione immediately," Ron explained.

"Is he still alive?" She questioned, the pleading tone accented in her question.

He remained silent, as did their conversation all the way up to the Hospital Wing.

---

Ginny broke into a run once they stepped over the Hospital Wing's doorstep. She ran into Hermione's waiting arms immediately. Hermione pulled back but held onto Ginny's hands.

"Is he alive?" She begged,

Hermione nodded grimly, "Just barely." She looked down at Ginny's hands, "You've got cuts... what happened?"

"I was angry."

The truth dawned on Hermione as she let go and allowed Ginny to go to Draco's bedside, falling to her knees as she took hold of his hand in hers.

"You were throwing things again, then?"

Ignoring her question, Ginny asked in a whisper, "What... what's wrong with him?"

"Several dozen gashes over his legs; broken ribs and left ulna; dislocated clavical; severe burns on his left arm; severe flesh wounds over his ribcage and neck. Thankfully, no internal bleeding and I'm almost sure his organs are fine," Hermione said matter-of-factly before softening her tone, "He'll be fine."

"How long...?"

"Broken bones will heal over night, the gashes as well. It'll take me about a day to correct his collarbone, so I'll start in the morning..." She paused to think as she looked Draco up and down, "The burns will heal within a few weeks, but scarring may take a bit longer. The flesh wounds will heal quickly after the bleeding stops permanently and I give him blood-replenisher. All in all, I'd say give him about two months and he'll be all healed."

Ginny released a sigh of relief,

"We should be glad it'll only take two months. Considering how he was when he first got in here, one would assume it'd take at least half a year. But half of his injuries were easily healed, so that's fortunate," Hermione explained as she placed the tray on a wheeled table before going to Ron's side. "It's even better that although the castle's abandoned during the summer, it's still fully stocked for next year. If it wasn't, then even if Ron broke the wards or not, there wouldn't have been much hope for Draco."

Ron nudged Hermione for the insensitivity in her last sentence, "Who's the spoon now?" He muttered but she countered with a glare telling him it wasn't the time to get in a row.

"When will he wake up?"

"In a day or so." Hermione approached Gin from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Ginny?"

"Yes, please."

Without another sound, Hermione and Ron exited.

---

Moments passed before Ginny felt her knees numb. She stood up sorely and sat on his bed as she continued to hold his hand. He looked so pathetic lying there. His silvery-blonde hair was tossed this way and that; his skin looked paler in the moonlight which penetrated the Hospital Wing's windows; his upper body which was left uncovered by the cotton sheets was bandaged and patched with dressing, although in several parts the white was stained with bright red. She had never seen him look so weak before.
So still.
So stiff.
So lifeless.

"After everything we've been through... after all of our fights... after the numerous times I've cried because of you... I'm still here. Worried to death about you; praying you'll be alright; wishing I hadn't been angry at you while at the same time you were out there helping the wizarding world... while getting yourself beaten to death."

She sighed heavily as she gently reached over and pushed strands of his hair off his face.

"I love you Draco. I know that we've been fighting so much lately that it doesn't seem that way. But I do. I wouldn't have married you after your graduation if I didn't. After three years, I still do."

She felt the tears come again as she held onto his hand tighter.

"I was so mad at you today for not being there. For not being around on our anniversary because you chose to take on a mission two months prior,"

The tears trickled down her face.

"I was mad that you were missing according to the Ministry and that I may never see you again... and that you were... that you were... dead," she nearly choked on her words as the tears came more forcefully now. "I was even angrier because throughout our relationship, you've taken everything and never given anything in return. So, I've given everything and never taken anything either... That's not right. That's not how it's supposed to be, Draco. It's not."

She took a shaky breath as she looked at his sleeping form. He looked nothing like the angelic-looking teenager she recalled watching years ago. He looked too worn; too injured; too lifeless.

"And then earlier, I got even more upset because you were on the edge of taking away one more thing from me just by being out there on Auror missions.. What if you died, Draco!? You would've taken away the person I love the most in this world and what would I get back? Grief? Sadness? Empty memories?" She sighed heavily as she began to shake slightly, "I've never wanted to be selfish in our relationship. So the entire time I've never asked anything of you. But can't I be selfish just once, Draco? Can't you give some of what you've taken from me?"

She leaned closer to push more strands out of his face and tucked some behind his ear as she held the left side of his face, "What have you ever given me, Draco?" She let out a slight scream as his right hand took a hold of her wrist.
"Draco! Hermione said you wouldn't be awake for at least a day!"

"Gra- Hermione's entitled to her mistakes," he muttered.
He opened his eyes slowly and, after adjusting to the darkness, he stared at her, "I've given you nothing." She looked down, but he tugged at her hand and she looked at him again, "How could I give you something you've already had, Ginevra? My love, understanding and after some time, even my trust.. everything had already belonged to you and there was no more for me to give."

He pulled her down to him and he struggled to move his right arm again. He let go of her wrist and held her face, "I'm sorry if it didn't seem that way a lot, but I promise you that anything I've taken from you, you've had of mine all along. I love you and I'm sorry that it only seemed all I did was take."

"Draco..." she said shakily as she felt the tears flow freely until she was cried out. It had been so long since he last said he loved her. Then again, it had been so long since she last touched him; heard him; seen him.

"Let me start from this moment to start showing to you that I don't just take." As he wiped away her remaining tears with his thumb, "What do you want?"

She just stared at him, refusing to request anything of him.

"Would you like to sleep by my side tonight, love?"

Timidly, she nodded and looked away immediately, feeling both embarassed and selfish of what she wanted of him. She looked back automatically as she felt him move. He shifted over to his left after much effort, much pain and much cringing. He let go of her face to pull her down to him. After a few minutes, she finally got settled in next to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, attempting to pull her closer to him,

"Draco, you're still injured," she said gently,

"I don't care," he said stubbornly as he pulled her against his aching body. He cringed horribly before attempting his trademark smirk, "I barely feel any pain."

"Don't lie."

"Fine, it feels like hell. Now don't talk."

She smiled up at him as she carefully leaned her head against him. He kissed the crown of her head, "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know you were throwing things again."

"I'll buy you another set of Witchipedias tomorrow."

"Use my money."

"That ruins the point of my pay-back."

"So?"

"Don't be so arrogant."

"Fine, use your money. Now, don't talk."

Draco closed his eyes, only to open them again, "Draco?"

"I thought we agreed no more talk-"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

End.