Ghosts in Scarlet
**Harry**
He heard her voice before he saw her.
The unmistakable laugh. Confident. Familiar. Warm.
He turned toward the Entrance Hall and there she was — Ginny Weasley, suitcase in hand, red hair tied back, and a smile that hadn’t changed a bit.
She looked exactly like she had when they last kissed.
And Harry felt like a teenage boy again — caught between past and present.
“Ginny?” he said.
She looked up, spotted him, and lit up.
“Harry!”
She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck before he could think.
He hesitated.
Then hugged her back.
And from the corridor behind him… someone was watching.
**Draco**
He hadn’t meant to follow Harry.
He just did.
And now he stood frozen, half-hidden in the corridor, watching as the girl — the ex-girlfriend, the war heroine, the golden Gryffindor princess — threw herself into Harry’s arms like she still belonged there.
Draco’s stomach turned.
Harry looked… surprised. Maybe even nervous. But he didn’t push her away.
That was all Draco needed to see.
He turned and walked off, jaw clenched.
He wasn’t angry.
He was hurt.
And he hated how much it showed.
**Harry**
Later that night, Ginny sat beside him at dinner, laughing like no time had passed.
He forced smiles. Nodded along.
But his eyes kept drifting across the room — to where Draco sat alone, pushing food around his plate, not looking up.
Not once.
Hermione noticed.
She leaned in. “You okay?”
Harry blinked. “Yeah. Why?”
“You’ve been staring at Malfoy for ten minutes, and Ginny’s basically reintroducing herself to your arm.”
Harry flushed. “It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it like?”
He didn’t have an answer.
**Draco**
The worst part wasn’t seeing them together.
It was pretending he didn’t care.
He walked past Harry in the hallway like he was air. He didn’t pause when Harry tried to speak. Didn’t turn around when his name was called.
If Harry wanted to chase ghosts, let him.
Draco wasn’t going to compete with Ginny Weasley.
He’d rather disappear quietly than stand in the shadow of someone who still had a place in Harry’s past.
**Harry**
He found Draco in the Astronomy Tower later that night.
Of course he was here — high above everyone, alone with the stars, pretending he didn’t need anyone.
Harry stepped forward. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
Draco didn’t look at him. “Maybe I’ve just been busy.”
“With what? Brooding lessons?”
“Funny. Go back to your girlfriend.”
“She’s not—” Harry stopped. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
Draco turned, finally. His eyes were cold. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“Draco…”
“I saw you,” Draco said. “You looked happy.”
“I was caught off guard,” Harry said. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
Draco looked away again. “Doesn’t it?”
**Harry**
He stepped closer.
“I didn’t expect her to come back. I didn’t expect the feelings to get complicated again.”
Draco’s jaw tightened. “So they are complicated.”
“Yes,” Harry admitted. “But not because I want her back.”
Silence.
Then Harry added, voice soft: “They’re complicated because you’re in the picture now.”
Draco’s breath caught.
“I don’t know what this is between us,” Harry said, “but it’s not nothing.”
Draco looked at him — really looked — and Harry saw the vulnerability behind the sharpness.
“No,” Draco whispered. “It’s not.”