Nowhere Fast
By Lady Terayne
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.
Fifteen-year-old Ginny Weasley ran into her room and slammed the door, sobbing. This time, Fred and George had gone too far. Her abominable twin brothers had made a new joke, and as usual, she had been the live test dummy. Apparently, they had come up with a fork that changed its user into a monkey as soon as the metal touched lips. Even worse, the monkey kept making quaking noises, as a duck would. Fred had commented through hysterical laughter that that was just one of the minor faults they would have to work through. Why Fred and George had to choose the days when they had guests to test these new gags, she would never know. In fact, that very afternoon the Weasleys had had the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, for lunch, and he had found the joke to be very amusing indeed, and had even said so.
Ginny had not been amused.
The day, as a whole, had not been good at all. Firstly, she was awakened by an owl from Hermione saying that she would be at least two weeks late (she was supposed to have arrived that very day) due to a death in the family; Hermione's grandfather had died, and it appeared that the Granger family had the job of convincing Hermione's grandmother not to kill herself because of his death. Also, Ron had announced that morning that the Dursleys were considering not letting Harry come. Although that really wasn't a major concern of Ginny's, it certainly put the rest of the family in a bad mood.
Ginny sighed, and looked outside. It really was a windy day out there! She rose to shut the window when a huge gust of wind blew in a large eagle owl. Ginny didn't know of many owls other than her family's and Hedwig, and this creature certainly wasn't one of them. However, maybe it was Hermione's, and she had written to say she would be come as scheduled after all…hurriedly, she untied the parchment from the eagle owl's leg and opened up the letter to see what it said.
The first thing that she noticed was that the ink was still wet, which was very unusual. The handwriting was not that of anyone she knew, but that wasn't about to stop her from reading it.
Dear Father,
By now, I'm sure that you are well aware of my absence. Don't even try to find me; you won't. You know why I left, and I'm not coming back. That's all I have to say to you.
Have a nice life, or better yet, don't.
Ginny examined the letter again, but she couldn't figure out whom it could be from. It was written to a "Father," so she guessed the writer had to be younger, maybe around her age. She guessed by the way it was written that the writer was male, but she wasn't sure. Then, her mind made the connection: wet ink, someone in hiding, never be found…the person had to be on the Weasley property! Ginny knew her yard like the back of her hand, and immediately set off to find whoever it was, the afternoon's events completely forgotten.
*****
Draco sat huddled in the wooden treehouse, sincerely wishing he had prepared more for his permanent vacation. Very luckily for him, the tree he was in was an apple tree, or he would have been quite famished. All he had thought to bring was his Firebolt, textbooks (which were quite heavy by themselves), a few changes of clothes, and some spare change. He had only a battered old Invisibility Cloak to keep himself warm at night, for even though it was summer, the nights were very chilly. His mother probably wouldn't have forgotten a blanket…but then, Narcissa Malfoy was dead, driven to suicide by her own husband. Draco didn't even know why Lucius had tortured her, but it had been the final straw after a long series of events, all persuading him to leave. He noticed that the wind had died down, and with it came the realization that the sounds of someone approaching were not caused by the wind.
He froze. There was nowhere for him to run to, and if the Weasleys found him, he would probably have to go back to Malfoy manor. Currently, that was the last thing he wanted to do. Draco threw his Cloak over himself, even though whoever it was would have to be a complete idiot to not see his things that were strewn about the treehouse. He braced himself for the worst.
Ginny Weasley's head popped into the window, and she was soon crawling in.
She surveyed everything around her: a Firebolt, in very good condition, though still looking a bit careworn; a few books; and some clothes. Looking closer, she also saw a foot sticking out from under the table, but there was no body attached to it. A few feet above it, she also saw a lone finger hovering in midair. Ginny had had experience with Harry's invisibility cloak before, and he was the only person whom she knew had both a Firebolt and an Invisibility Cloak, but the letter was addressed to a Father… Still, he was the only person she could think of.
"Harry? What are you doing hiding in our treehouse? You know if the Dursleys are treating you badly, you can always just come to Mum. She'll never turn you away," she asked softly.
"What makes you think I'm Potter?" asked a cold voice that she knew she recognized from somewhere.
"Who are you, and what are you doing on our property?" she snarled at the invisible person, all gentleness now quite gone from her voice. She felt around for the cloak and ripped it off the person, revealing Draco Malfoy.
"Malfoy! What are you doing here?" asked a shocked Ginny.
Draco wasn't fazed. "What do you think I'm doing here, Weasley?"
Ginny said simply, "I read your letter."
"So? Why isn't the Ministry here yet to drag me back to the Manor?"
"First of all, I wasn't sure whom it was from, and secondly, I want to know exactly why you're here. You might be able to convince me to not turn you in."
"Oh, wow, I tell you my life's secrets and you just might not turn me in! What a deal!" he said sarcastically.
"Fine! I won't help you!" she exclaimed.
Draco muttered under his breath, "And who says I would want to accept the charity of a Weasley, anyway?"
Ginny exploded; Draco's comment had really lit the fuse (or, more accurately, the bomb) of her anger. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was only trying to help you!" she snarled, sarcasm evident in her voice. "Please, tell people you don't want their help before you start acting like an asshole! Or is that all you're capable—"
Right then, another voice was heard, and they both fell silent. "Ginny? Are you okay? I know what Fred and George did to you was very cruel, but please come down. Mum says there's a storm on the way."
Draco looked inquisitively at Ginny. She dared call him an asshole? Her brothers had done something to her?
"Er…okay, Ron, I'll be down in a minute."
"Better yet, I'll come up there. Mum said—"
"Yes, Ron, what did Mum say? You'd best come tell me," Ginny said, but here eyes were focused on Draco, and she had an evil smile on her face.
Draco, on the other hand, was not as enthusiastic about Ron coming up the tree. If Weasley came up, that would certainly kill any chance of staying… he had to make Ginny stop Ron from joining them!
"Ok, I'll tell you everything! Just keep the prat from finding me!" he whispered desperately.
Ginny smiled. She loved it when she got her way, and that wasn't very often. "Never mind, Ron, I'll be down in just a second."
Ron's voice was much closer than either of them had expected. "Don't worry about it, Ginny, I'm almost up there anyway."
"No! I'm on my way down!"
On the other side of the treehouse, Draco sighed. This has got to be the most unusual day of my life…Weasley girl is up here trying to help me, Weasley prat is trying to butt in…what next, Crabbe and Goyle throwing a tea party?
"Ginny, we need to talk. Fred and George—"
"Are temporarily forgiven! Go tell them, I'm sure they'll be so relieved!"
"What's so important that you want your favorite brother to go away?" asked Ron, his voice becoming louder as he advanced on the tree.
Egomaniac, thought Draco, smirking slightly. He wondered what would happen if Weasley happened to find him up there…
Ginny scrambled down the flimsy ladder as quickly as she was able to. "Wow! Ron, look! Harry's here! Wouldn't you rather go greet him than bother me?" True enough, Harry was standing in the front yard of the Burrow, no doubt looking for Ron.
"Oi! Harry, over here!" Ron shouted, running to greet his friend, Ginny's plight quite far from his mind now.
Whew, that was too close, thought Draco and Ginny simultaneously. Ginny waited until she was sure both boys had gone inside before she crawled back up the ladder.
Before she could find out why Draco was there, he asked, "Why would your brothers be asking for your forgiveness?" Maybe this wasn't a perfect family, after all.
"Erm, they played a very nasty trick on me…right in front of the Minister of Magic…" she mumbled, barely audible.
"What was that? A joke? Do tell!" She'd aroused his curiosity.
So, rather red-faced, she told him what had happened. He started howling with laughter.
"You'll note that I am not laughing," she said. "Now, I'm going to go back to the house before they come back to investigate, and you're going to stay here and hopefully not be found out. When I get back, I expect you to tell me why you're here. Otherwise, you can consider yourself back at Malfoy Manor. Understand?"
"Who gave you the right to order around Draco Malfoy?"
"I did. Do you see a better option? How about I take you inside, introduce you to the family: 'Mum, meet Draco Malfoy, d'you mind if he stays with us for a little while?' and see how that turns out."
Grumbling slightly, he agreed that there was no other option.
Ginny climbed down the ladder, and yelled up a last warning, "Make sure you keep yourself covered by that cloak!" before heading back to her house.
A/N: whee! The first chapter's done! Well, do I need to continue? I will if people review… In the next chapter, Ginny will find out why Draco's there, and maybe he'll be found. Most likely, they'll get on friendly terms…and yes, more than that….depends on reviews! If you review my fic, I'll review yours! After all, that's only fair…