Nascondere Amore
I don't own Harry Potter, but I own this fan fiction… yup yup.
A/N: So this is my story that is based off "Good Riddance", a song fic that I wrote awhile back and I figured "Hey I think we should show the evolution of the characters from point A to where they were in 'Good Riddance'". So from that stemmed a Story that I have been slaving over and rethinking for a long time…. I hope you all enjoy and bear with me as I am not the best writer out there!
"Ginny Weasley! Get your arse down here!" screamed the twins in unison. Ginny giggled inwardly when she heard her mother yelling at the boys.
Ginny descended the stairs of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place in time to hear her mother say, "And the next time I tell you to fetch your sister I do not want to hear you screaming obscenely to her, do I make myself clear?"
"Mum, we're not children anymore," said George stubbornly.
"Well," Ginny said walking past them, "you should stop acting like children then."
Her mother nodded with a smile that read that's my Ginny, and walked upstairs to collect everyone's school things.
"Well I never!" gasped Fred in a mocking shocked voice, following Ginny into the kitchen, George close behind.
Ginny gave a small laugh, "Fred! I didn't think 'never' was in your vocabulary!"
"And I didn't think betraying your favorite brothers was in your nature" remarked Fred, sticking his tongue out. Ginny grabbed a spoon from the table and chucked it at him jokingly. He didn't evade the metal object in time and it smacked him in the side of the head. Fred hit the floor with a thud and Ginny screamed.
"Oh Fred! I'm so sorry! I thought you would dodge it!" she said with tears in her eyes as she fell to her knees beside him as George was cradling his head.
"Jesus Gin, you hit him pretty well" said George in a mix of awe and worry.
"Oh shut it George! Fred, can you hear me? Are you alright?" Ginny asked, a tear slipping from her eye and hitting Fred's hand.
"Ughhh" moaned Fred.
"What is it? Fred, speak to me!" Ginny said anxiously.
"I" said Fred weakly, "I feel… cold."
At this Ginny burst into tears and fell onto her injured brother. George on the other hand started laughing, and, remarkably, so did Fred.
"Aw, Ginny Winny!" Fred said through a fit of giggles, "I'm just kidding!"
Just then Mrs. Weasley walked through the door to find the three of them on the ground, two laughing, and one crying.
"Good heavens, what have you two done to her now?" she asked accusingly, helping Ginny up.
"Nothing mum," said Ginny, wiping the tears away, "I just thought I killed Fred is all!"
"What?" shrieked Mrs. Weasley.
"Long story mum" said Fred getting up and rubbing the bump that was now forming on the side of his head.
"Yes, long story," said George, "and as you can see he most certainly is not dead."
"But he will be when I get through with him!" bellowed Ron as he stormed into the kitchen soaking wet, with a towel around his waist, and bright blue hair.
Draco stood on the balcony outside of his bedroom and watched the grounds of Malfoy Manor wake up for the new day. His life had gotten a lot better since his father had been away and was no longer a part of his life.
Lucius Malfoy had been sent to Azkaban at the end of Draco's fifth year at Hogwarts. He had escaped with all of the other death eaters that same summer. But Lucius never went home. The most he did in the year he had been gone was send letters every couple of months, one to Draco, and one to Narcissa. Draco never knew what was written in his mother's letters, but it was always the same thing in the letters sent to him. He knew to expect the usual "I trust you are well son" and the "never let you allegiance to the Dark Lord waver son, for he will show the world his wrath soon and you and I will stand on his right side."
Draco couldn't stand to open the letters anymore, so he simply threw them under his bed when the house elf in charge on the mail delivered them to him.
When the sun had risen over the ivy covered wall of the gardens Draco went back inside his room and proceeded to get dressed for the day.
As he looked at his richly dressed body in the mirror he noticed through the mirrors reflection that one of his father's letters was poking out from under his bed.
Draco kicked it further under the bed as he left his room to join his mother for breakfast. As Draco entered the cavernous dining room, the server house elves scrambled to set his place for him.
"Mother" Draco said politely, as he sat across from his mother, Narcissa.
"Draco" said Narcissa with a smile. Draco smiled back. "Draco," she continued as if an idea had just come to her, " one of the house elves said that when he laid your clothes out for you early this morning, you were already up and out on the balcony looking into the darkness," she paused, then, "are you having trouble sleeping Draco darling?"
"Oh, it's nothing mother." Draco fought to find something to say, and then the first thing that came to him was, "just, you know, beginning of term nerves."
"Oh?" inquired Narcissa, "when did you start getting beginning of term nerves?"
"Well" Draco thought hard to think of something, "Since you and I have spent an entire summer together, and talking, I've found that I have changed. And well I'm a bit nervous to how others will take my change." Draco wasn't totally lying. It was true that since he had spent so much time with his mother over the summer, he had changed. He no longer felt the bitter hate toward all who until the summer Draco had viewed beneath him.
His mother had taught him that everyone is rich in their own way. Draco had been rich with money, she explained, but other families who didn't have a lot of money were still rich in their own way.
"Take the Weasley family for instance" she had said shocking her son one afternoon during tea. He hadn't expected his mother to know who the Weasleys were. "Oh of course I know who the Weasleys are dear! Don't be silly! Now, as I was saying, the Weasley family doesn't have a lot of money but they are still rich in their own way. They are rich with the closeness and warmth of a large family. And that girl with the muggle parents, what her name… oh yes Hermione Granger, why she is rich with knowledge."
"How do you know who Hermione Granger is mother?" asked Draco dumbfounded.
"Well being married to the nemesis of her, Ronald Weasley, and Harry Potter does allow me the right to know these things."
"So mother," Draco continued, "is Harry Potter rich with loyalty?"
"Very good!" said Narcissa taking a sip of tea, "that and he is money rich as well."
That was the day that Draco Malfoy found out that people are not better that others… and that Harry Potter was loaded!
But Draco's new attitude on life had not been what woke him up in the early morning, it was one of the many visions Draco had been getting all summer. He hadn't told his mother because he just didn't know how. Narcissa seemed to buy his nerve story because she changed the subject.
"So, we will leave in twenty minutes to the train station" she stated finishing the rest of her breakfast.
"We?" Draco asked in shock. His mother never went with him to Kings Cross, never.
"Yes 'we'! I want to see my only son off on his last train ride to Hogwarts as a student" declared Narcissa standing up and exiting the room gracefully.
"Ginny dear," said Mrs. Weasley kissing her daughter on the cheek, "watch your brother this year please. I do wish to have him stay out of trouble at least once while at school and this is his last year."
"I'll try my best mum," exclaimed Ginny, rolling her eyes. She thought her mother should have given up hope on Ron staying out of trouble. It seemed that if you were friends with Harry Potter, trouble seemed to find you.
"Alright, well have a great year Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley yelled over the whistle of the Hogwarts Express. Ginny waved and ran to catch the train, turning to catch one last glance at her mother. Just as Ginny turned her head away she smacked right into someone else. Looking up, she discovered it was none other than Draco Malfoy. She was expecting a rude remark from him about ruining his perfect clothes but what she got was an outstretched hand.
Ginny took the offered hand cautiously, and Malfoy pulled her off the ground effortlessly.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah," responded Ginny shyly, "er- thanks."
"Don't mention it," Draco said, "um, we'd better catch the train."
"Oh!" Ginny squealed, running for the train with Draco close in toe.
"So Draco, remember what I said. Everyone is rich in their own way." Narcissa said ignoring the stares from many people. Draco knew why they were staring too. Narcissa Malfoy was a very beautiful woman. While she didn't normally go out in front of muggles, when she did, she caught stares from both sexes. Draco didn't think his mother owned any muggle clothes but the beautiful pant-suit she wore, showed she had as much fashion sense with muggles as she did in the wizarding world.
"Don't worry mother," Draco said with a small smile "I won't."
As he started to walk away, Narcissa called out to him, "Draco." Draco turned back to her.
"Next time you are having visions, you can talk to me about them" And with that, Narcissa was gliding out of the train station.
Draco was staring at her retreating form when someone slammed into the side of him. He looked down to see Ginny Weasley on the floor looking up at him in pained shock.
He bit back a cutting comment, which always came so naturally. Draco did the only nice thing he could think of, he held out his hand without saying a word. At first Ginny looked up at Draco in a mix of shock and skepticism. Then she took his hand and he pulled her up, a little shocked at how light she was for her age.
Draco didn't need to study her face, he knew it well already. He had watched her since his second year, always telling himself he did so because he kept his enemies close. He never allowed himself to focus on her overall beauty. But he noticed her individual features that made her, in all actuality quite beautiful. Ginny's hair was a deep red, unlike the traditional carrot of the Weasley family. Her eyes were a light brown, almost a burnt gold. She had freckles, not a lot, but just enough to spray across her nose. And Draco had never seen such smooth milky skin in his life.
When Draco helped her up, a sharp pang hit him in the chest, but he tried to ignore the familiar feeling.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked Ginny as she stared at him in a look of disbelief.
"Uh, yeah," Ginny said, her voice trembling a little, "er- thanks."
"Don't mention it" Draco said fighting the urge to bite his lip like he always did when he got nervous. Then he heard the whistle of the Hogwarts Express sound. He looked to Ginny; she mustn't have heard it because she was still staring at him. "Um," Draco said feeling uneasy under her gaze, "we'd better catch the train."
Ginny looked around wildly "oh!" She squealed, running for the train, Draco close in toe.
When Ginny boarded the train, she rushed down the corridor and stopped in front of the room which held her brother, his girlfriend, Harry, Luna, and Neville.
When she stopped she felt a body fall into hers from behind. She turned to see Draco Malfoy back up a step or two. "Sorry" she said. She opened the door and went in closing the door behind her.
"Ginny," said Hermione "was that Malfoy out there?"
Ginny took her time answering the girl. She swung her bag onto the overhead compartment. Then she flopped down onto the seat and looked around at them all.
Ron's hair was back to normal except for a faint blue at the tip. Harry looked the same only a bit older. Hermione had been taking the time to care for her hair and appearance since she and Ron started dating back in the summer before their sixth year. Luna had grown in height as well as other areas. She had grown out of her awkward mystical phase and into a mysterious, sexy young woman. Neville was completely the same. No matter how many years passed, Neville remained timid and unsure of himself.
"Ginny!" Hermione urged.
"What?" Ginny asked coming out of her daze.
"I asked you if that was Malfoy out there."
Ginny nodded and looked out the window as the train pulled out of the station and started on its way to another year and another adventure.
"Well" Ron butted in, "What did the slimy git want?"
"Yes," Harry added, "What did Malfoy want?"
"Nothing" Ginny said looking back at the group of heroes. She noticed the look of skepticism on their faces and smiled reassuringly, "I promise. He was just going to a compartment."
"I don't believe it. That guy is too… too… well he's an arse!" said Ron matter-of-factly.
"Ron, settle down" Hermione said soothingly. She rubbed his arm and kissed his neck quickly. They had all grown used to the little signs of affection that Hermione gave Ron unknowingly.
"Yeah, calm down Ron. Besides this year Malfoy seems so much less- well- Malfoyish.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, he just seems…" Ginny looked out the window again, "different"
"Draco did you get the end of summer letter?" Blaise Zabini asked, as Draco stepped into the compartment holding Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini.
"Yeah I did" Draco said, sitting down next to Crabbe. It wasn't uncommon for Blaise to ask Draco a question openly. Since he was the closest thing Draco had to a best friend, he tended to know a lot of things in Draco's life.
"Well," Blaise pressed on, "did you actually read it?"
Draco looked at him confused. Blaise knew he had stopped reading his fathers letters.
Blaise rolled his eyes, "didn't think so."
"Why?" Draco asked.
"Because it looks like you and your mother weren't the only ones who got letters this year." Blaise held out four letters, each addresses to a person in the compartment.
Draco grabbed a letter and read one:
As you are aware, time is running thin to choose what you are going to do when you are out of the protection of the school which you currently attend. I would hope you hade already chosen the path you will follow when you leave.
As you near the end of first term I will send you more word as to what will be happening.
Lucius Malfoy
Draco looked back up at the group of Slytherins staring at him as if he would lead them in a decision.
"My father is trying to recruit you?" Draco asked slowly.
"Looks that way," Blaise said taking the letter back and putting it away.
Draco sat there for a second, and then he grabbed a cup off the window sill and threw it with all his might at the door. As the cup shattered, Draco got up and left the cabin. He walked down the hall and paused briefly outside the cabin which held the five Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw.
Draco looked at Ginny. He saw her laughing and he felt himself smile.
God she is- no! Draco smacked himself mentally. He mustn't thing such things about a Weasley.
A/N: So what do you think of the first chapter? I have been writing about everyday in an attempt to finish this story SO! Reviews are welcomed as they inspire me to keep writing!