Hi guys! This is my first semi-long fanfic, (Draco/Ginny, of course), and I'm really sorry about this chapter. It's kinda short. I promise the next one will be longer though! Now, onto the story.
Something was not right. Not right at all.
Ginny looked up, her eyes narrowed. Her eyes flicked across the compartment: Luna, Neville, Colin, the latter two snoring. The trunks above her head were fine, nothing seemed amiss. Luna noticed her glances and smiled serenely.
"Something wrong, Ginny?" Ginny cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Yes, there is. What can you sense?" She had learned long before she was Luna's friend that her queer imaginings were no rubbish. Luna smiled.
"Oh, just some people who aren't suppose to be here." Ginny frowned and stood up.
"I'll go look. Tell Neville and Colin, will you?" Luna nodded.
"Of course, Ginny. Stay safe." Ginny nodded shortly, sliding open the door and stepping out. The corridor was empty, muffled voices from other compartments the only sound in the compressed air. She paused, frowning, then closed her eyes in order to hear better. She was wrong: there was something more than just the muffled whispers. Treading lightly, she pressed herself against the wall adjacent to the door to the next car and lifted her head ever so slightly.
She had to clap her hand against her mouth to stifle a loud gasp. Ducking down quickly, she whispered a furious incantation and felt herself melt into the background of the train car.
Damn. What were they doing here? She cursed again and slipped away from the door, hugging the wall. Striding towards her original compartment, she opened the door quickly.
"Luna, it's me, Ginny," she whispered hurriedly. "Look, I know this sounds weird, but there are Death Eaters on the train, in the car next to ours. I'm going to warn the others. You tell Neville and Colin, okay? And make sure to hide that Quibbler and anything else that might provoke an attack." Luna looked up at her, blinking.
"Sure, Ginny." She had never once looked panicked, something that Ginny was thankful for. "Should we expect you back within the hour?" Ginny pursed her lips.
"If the Death Eaters leave by then, yes." Luna smiled and waggled her fingers at her.
"Go along, Gin. See you soon." Ginny smiled and shut the door behind her, sprinting down the corridor and murmuring the counter spell, feeling herself appear as she was again. At each compartment, she opened the door and warned each person to hide anything the Death Eaters wouldn't like. She knew that most would start panicking at any mention of a Death Eater, but since the Death Eaters were going to invade everyone's compartment, she might as well.
Every compartment was Slytherin in the first car, and the very last one with the incredible bouncing ferret sleeping inside. She shuddered, drawing away from the window. She didn't want to imagine what would happen if Malfoy caught her peeking.
Looking around, she drew in every detail quickly. No bathrooms in this car, no closets either. The driver's compartment was most likely occupied, and she didn't want any awkward questions. Her breath started to come quicker as she heard scuffling in the next car. The Death Eaters were very near. Her head whipped around again to scan her surroundings, and when nothing new came up, she narrowed her eyes and calculated her choices.
Malfoy. A sleeping ferret wouldn't be too bad, supposedly.
Other Slytherins, very much awake and would probably beat her up and throw her out.
Nowhere else.
Her heart leapt up her throat as a grating noise came from the front of the car, a glimpse of black showing through. Only one plausible option. Choosing the lesser of two evils, she slipped into Malfoy's compartment and slid the door shut, her breath fast and shallow. Trying to slow her breath, she flattened herself against the opposite wall in order to see into the corridor better. A flash of black robes swirled into the first compartment. Six away from the one she was in. Her breath finally steadied, she turned around only to have it hitch in her throat again.
"What are you doing in my compartment?"
Of course, it had to be the great bouncing ferret himself. Ginny stared up at Draco Malfoy. He was standing now, his posture perfectly straight, glaring down at her.
Oh, great. Could her day get any better?
"Sod off, Malfoy," she snapped, trying to turn her back on him, her hand at her robe pocket and wand. Malfoy tutted.
"Really, Weaslette, you ought to treat your betters with more respect." This sparked a reaction. Ginny turned on him, her mouth opened in outrage.
"Better? Better? How dare you think of yourself as my better! You are nothing but low, ferrety scum and everyone knows it!" She ended her exclamation with a furious glare, which, if looks could kill, would have burned Malfoy until he was nothing but a sad pile of ashes at her feet.
That would be rather nice, she reflected, but unfortunately, that didn't seem likely anytime soon. The annoying ferret still stood a good head above her, a smug smile plastered on his face.
"You really ought to rethink your morals, Weasley," Malfoy chided, inspecting his fingernails as he leaned against a wall. "They are in great need of reshaping."
"I - I-" she began, sputtering in outrage. He smiled, only a slight lift of the corner of his lips.
"I know I look stunning, Weaslette, but you needn't gape at me so." Ginny snapped her mouth shut red tinging the edges of her vision.
"I was not ogling at you, Malfoy!" she spat, stiffening her spine to appear taller. Merlin, he was tall. Nearly a head higher that she was, and she was only slightly shorter than Ron.
Ron. A pang shot through her chest, but she quickly dismissed the thought as Malfoy quirked a perfectly coiffured eyebrow at her, mocking her.
"Oh, but you know you want to." Ginny's mouth was open to snap a retort back at him, and she would have, had he not threw a dispicable look at her.
How dare he! she thought angrily, glaring at his pristine robes.
"My head is up here, you know." His voice was full of amusement as well. Damn him and his annoyingly perfect face.
"You bastard!" she hissed. Malfoy raised an elegant eyebrow.
"Your mother really needs to teach you some manners," he said idly. "But of course, she must work very hard to keep your poverty-stricken family out of the gutters, yes?" Ginny was about to mouth a retort that would, in truth, strike her mother dumb, but was stopped abruptly by a faint rustling sound. Her mouth went dry.
While she had been bickering with Malfoy, she had completely forgotten the fact that she was still very much in danger of being discovered by Death Eaters, most of which would torture her, then toss her out or drag her to the dark lord.
"Oh, bloody hell," she muttered, raising Malfoy's other eyebrow as she turned back to the compartment door and peered out. A pale face was illuminated in the artificial light of the train car before disappearing into the compartment directly next to her's and Malfoy's. "Oh bloody, bloody hell."
"Language, Weasley," Draco admonished. "Really, whatever does happen in that hovel of yours?" Ginny was too panicked to reply. Her gaze darted futilely around the compartment, even though she knew there would be nothing to help her there.
"Crap."
"Language!"
"Shut it!" she muttered furiously, casting her eyes about again, though she knew she'd find nothing new.
Bile rose in her throat as a bitter thought rose in her mind. Even if she found a hiding place, Malfoy would surely rat her out. Life was just too unfair.
"And why should I?" Ginny snapped out of her train of thought.
"Just shut it, Malfoy!" She whipped around when she heard him laugh. It was a deep sound, comprised of no mirth at all. A shiver ran down her spine
"Scared, Weaslette?" Ginny's head snapped up, acquiring a kink in her neck, but she didn't care.
"Sod off, Malfoy!" she spat. He tutted.
"Is that any way to treat your savior?" Ginny looked up in alarm.
"My - hey! What are you doing!" She had forgotten to keep her voice down then, but Malfoy quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Shut up," he muttered through clenched teeth as he shoved her under the seat unceremoniously before straightening up. Ginny was about to berate him with language that would have made her mother faint, but at that moment, the door slid open and she heard the springs creak above her as Malfoy stood up to greet the newcomers.
"Good evening, Mister Malfoy," a cold, silky voice drawled. Ginny shuddered, her mind still trying to process what had just went on. Malfoy had hidden her? Why?
He'd probably show me out later, she thought with an increasing sense of despair.
"And you, Carrow," Malfoy responded. Ah. One of the Carrows. "Please, call me Draco." Ginny sneered despite herself. So Malfoy was cronies with these evil men? Typical.
"So, what brings you here, Carrow, McNair, Yaxley?" Malfoy asked. Ginny felt the springs above her creak as a Death Eater seated himself on the seat she was hiding under. Black robes obscured her view of most of the compartment as well. She heard someone muttering something to another Death Eater.
"We are here to look for Potter," one replied at last. "We are hoping to surprise the Dark Lord with an early capture, so we can do away with him quickly." Ginny saw the heel of one boot shift into view. It looked like Malfoy's.
"I'm afraid I haven't seen him the entire ride," Malfoy said smoothly.
Damn right you haven't, Ginny thought bitterly. You master is the reason he isn't here! A Death Eater clucked disapprovingly.
"Pity." He paused, as if contemplating various options. "Maybe we ought to take one of his friends, for a bargaining device, you know?" He laughed harshly. "How about that pretty one - the blood-traitor Weasley? She's a looker, that's for sure. And I heard something about her and Potter being a thing back then. She'd be a good 'un, I think." Ginny froze, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Panic bloomed within her; in her mind she saw a Death Eater dropping something, bending down to pick it up, then seeing her. Her breath came in short pants that only halted when Draco snapped something else.
"Do you think the Dark Lord would appreciate a blood traitor in his presence?" he snapped, the anger evident in his voice. "Now, I'd like to have a bit of time to myself, if you don't mind." Ginny listened with bated breath as the springs above her head creaked yet again. The Death Eater had gotten up.
"Well, Draco, I hope to see you around some time." It was a female's voice this time, sickeningly sweet and seductive. She shivered. Probably the other Carrow sibling. Draco - when had it become Draco? - made a noncommittal noise, then coughed pointedly.
"Alright, alright, we'll leave, Draco," the male Carrow said pacifyingly, and Ginny would hear his robes swishing across the floor. "See you around." The sliding door slid open, and then shut.
Ginny did not move for a long time.
She vaguely heard the creak of the floor as Draco knelt down, his face appearing. There was a crease between his brows, and - could that be worry in his eyes? It was probably a hallucination. She wasn't thinking straight.
"Weasley." His voice was gruff. "A-are you okay?" Ginny didn't respond - she couldn't. Her eyes were wide - she felt herself being moved, pulled out of the tiny alcove she was hiding in - a hand touched her hair, she flinched. The world seemed to revolve around her, a blur in her eyes, a glint of white-blonde here, a flash of black there. She felt something compressing her lungs, crushing her windpipe - breath, breath, breath, breath.
"Weas - Ginny, put your head in between your legs," she heard, far away in the distance. She felt her head being forced between her legs, a hand tracing circles on her back. A moment later, she felt herself falling down, down, down. And then she let herself go into the darkness.