Disclaimer: Like always, don't own any characters, just the plot. Sorry it took so long!


Chapter 3: The Dark Potion


Draco was walking along the lake by the time Ginny had caught up with him. It was still early in the morning and the air was cold and sharp against his skin. It was a good thing that he brought his cloak.

"Hey, Draco. Wait up!" Ginny shouted.

Draco turned around to see a very cold Ginny with dark red lips and pale ivory skin. She looked like a fire goddess.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Draco asked. By now, Ginny was shivering.

"I was just wondering when you were going to start teaching me how to be out going and stuff like that." Ginny replied. Draco raised his eyebrow. "You know.the deal that we made." A wave of sudden understanding swept over Draco's face.

"Ah! Now I remember. Can't believe I forgot that. And even with such a sweet seal."

As Ginny blushed, if that was possible with the present redness of her face, Draco smirked. He then walked up to Ginny so that he was right in front of her.

"You're cold. Why didn't you bring your cloak?" Draco stated softly as he lifted her face with his elegant fingers. He then started to rub his thumb against her cheek as she closed her eyes and breathed sharply making a small cloud in the air. Draco withdrew his hand and unclasped his thick warm black cloak and put it around Ginny's small body. Ginny was suddenly captured in a blanket of warmth.

As Draco pulled the hood over Ginny's head, he whispered into her ear.

"Don't worry about returning the cloak. We have potions together because of your advanced placement, so keep it. It'll be freezing cold in Snape's room." Ginny shivered, but this time, it wasn't because of the cold, but rather the soft warm breaths that caressed her ear.

"How about you?" Ginny whispered back quietly.

"I'll get another cloak along the way." Draco then backed away and kissed Ginny tenderly on her full red lips. This really warmed Ginny.

When the kiss was over, Draco told Ginny to come to his room at lunch, where they would discuss their "deal".

"See you later Red." Draco said suavely, smirking.

After Draco was out of her sight, Ginny too walked back towards the castle. She thought no one saw her sigh, but little did she know that behind some secluded trees, stood a shocked Harry.


Harry couldn't believe his eyes. He had followed Ginny outside to ask her if she wanted to be his girlfriend, but found her with Draco—kissing.

'So that's why Ginny was acting a little cold to me, Ron, and Hermione.' Harry thought while staring down at the grass strewn with dew.

Harry looked up again. Draco was saying something to Ginny and she nodded smiling slightly. Harry was surprised to see that Draco almost smiled but smirked instead. Then they parted. Harry stayed behind the trees for a while after Ginny had entered the castle, until a voice startled him.

"Surprised to see little Weasley with me Potter?" It only had to be one person and one person only. Harry turned around to face Draco.

"What are you doing with her Malfoy? It's so obvious what you're going to do. You're going to manipulate her, fuck her, and then leave her to cry her heart out. She's not like any of your other toys." Harry stated coldly. He stared back at Draco's stone grey eyes which were so dark with hate that they were nearly black. Both of their eyes pierced into the other's. Emerald green clashed with silver grey.

"That is none of your business Potter. That is only my business and mine only." Draco replied icily. "Stay out of it, if you know what's best for you."

"But what if I don't want to? What if I worry about Ginny being with you? What if I care for her? What if I like - no, love her? What are you going to do Malfoy? Use all the money and power that you have to separate me and Ginny? Well you can't because I love her and you don't. You don't know how to love anyone and probably nobody would love you in return even if you did. Sorry if I burst your bubble Malfoy, but you -"

Harry was cut off by a very strong blow on the side of his face. He was knocked onto the floor. Harry put a hand over his cheek to massage it and he then looked up at Draco who had a storm brewing in his eyes as well as in his heart. Draco was filled with fierce anger and his hands were clutched into fists at his sides, his fingers digging into his palms with so much pressure that his palms started to bleed.

"Potter, you just made the wrong move today. I swear that you would pay for all the pain that you had caused me. Little by little I will. I promise." Draco said while slightly shaking with anger.

"What pain could I have possibly put upon you?" Harry asked coldly as he got up from the wet earth. "From what I remember, I think your family and your 'Lord' caused more pain to me that I to you."

Draco chuckled mirthlessly at this, shaking his head.

"The pain that you have caused me is beyond your nightmares of Voldemort. Don't act like you know me Potter. You out of all people should know that judging people from what you hear and see is shallow. You're such the hero after all." Draco said scornfully while looking down at Harry. "Don't you dare act like you know me. Ever. Because you don't. And tell that to all your other lion friends as well."

With that, Draco turned around to leave but Harry said something that made him stop walking.

"Then who knows you Malfoy? Who are you really? Why do you hide yourself from who you really are? Is that why you're using Ginny? Are you using her just to hope that you have someone to understand you and share your troubles with? Well I'm sorry, but Ginny will never understand you."

Draco turned around and smirked.

"Potter, apparently you got everything all wrong. I am not using Weasley. We actually made an agreement, and she is not naïve either Potter. She knows the troubles of the world. She experienced things beyond what you call normal. Don't you act like you know her all too well, because you and your pathetic friends don't." Draco turned to continue to walk towards the towering castle of Hogwarts.

Harry stared after him, wondering who the real Draco was and why he always acted the way he did. He also wondered about Ginny and why she had never said anything. Right then, a pang of guilt ran through Harry. Ginny probably did say something, but he, Ron, and Hermione ignored her. Right then, all Harry could think about was how he had never noticed Ginny.

"I am so sorry Ginny." Harry whispered as he walked slowly in thought to his morning class.


Draco walked into his room swiftly. He sat at the edge of his bed, breathing heavily as anger pumped through his body. His palms were dry with stains of blood. Suddenly, Draco got up and punched the hard stone wall.

"Argh!!"

Draco punched at the wall again and again. He didn't care about the blood running down from his fists. He didn't care about the immense pain he felt. All he cared was that he had to break the wall down and let go of all the anger that he felt inside of him. When he finally stopped, he turned over to lean against the wall. He slid down against the wall to the floor. Looking up at the ceiling, Draco didn't think. He didn't think about Harry or about the classes he had to go to, about Hogwarts or about his father, about Voldemort and about becoming a Death Eater.

All he thought about was one person and one person only—Ginny. He yearned for her, or at least his heart did... If he even had one…

"Potter was right. I don't know how to love anyone. And even if I did, they wouldn't love me." Draco quietly told himself.

Draco liked Ginny or at least he thought he did. She was pretty and all, but the thing that got to him was the need he had for her. He wanted her there, there beside him. As cheesy as it seemed, he felt warm inside when he was with her. He hadn't felt that for a long time. Yet, because of that feeling, he hated Ginny so much.

Ever since his father started to hit his mother because she was teaching Draco love and 'weakness', Draco's mother had no choice to listen if she wanted to live. Draco was six-years-old then and loved his mother very much. Afraid that his father would hurt his mother, Draco never dared to love anyone anymore.

Was that warm feeling love? Or care?

Right then, a cold voice spoke inside his head.

"A Malfoy doesn't feel weaknesses like love." Slap!

Draco sighed heavily and closed his eyes. The memories were flowing back.

"A Malfoy doesn't feel such garbage." Slap!

Draco's memories of being a child always came up in his mind once in a while as if to remind him to not feel any 'weaknesses'. These memories were not of a regular wizard growing up in a happy family. It was full of pain and no love.

The main cause of this was Draco's father, Lucius. He was the cause of all the pain in his life. But just a couple years ago, when there were rumors of Voldemort's return, Lucius disappeared never to be seen again. Draco and his mother were healing, but Draco's heart was too scarred, too blistered. He didn't know if he could heal.

Draco sighed. "What are you doing Draco? Why should anything be different now? Everything was always the same. Malfoys are a part of the dark not the light. They don't belong in the light. You were raised to be the one of the strongest in the dark." Draco smirked at this. Yes, he was raised to be strong and heartless.

Draco got up to go to the bathroom. He washed the blood off his hands and bandaged them with white cloth until he noticed how the awful white cotton clashed with his high quality dark-colored clothes. So, Draco changed the white cotton for black silk. Oh boy was he spoiled.


"Sorry I'm late Professor." Draco announced lazily to the Potions teacher. "I had some business to attend to."

"That's fine Mr. Malfoy. Please take a seat."

Draco suavely sat in a seat next to Blaise, his so-called best friend. As soon as Snape began to talk about the usual boring topic of how potions are magical brews of wonderful secrets, Blaise and Draco began to talk.

"So where were you man? I heard Potter, Weasley, and the Mudblood talkin' 'bout you. Something 'bout a fight. So? What happened?"

"Nothing. Just punched Potter. That's it."

"Aw come on man! I know there's something to this! You don't fight with Potter that much now adays. Is this somethin' to do with that little Weasley? She looked worried the whole time you were gone. And plus, that cloak so doesn't look like something her family could be able to afford. It is so your style too. " Blaise kept pushing. "Well? Come on spill it!"

"I told you. Nothing. Potter and I just had a little fight and I punched him. The end."

Blaise sighed and shrugged. "Fine. But I swear, I will find out the whole story someday. Just give you a little bit of muggle liquor mixed with Fire Whisky, and I get the whole thing plus a little extra." Blaise had a thing for mixing muggle and wizard liquor. He thought of becoming a bartender and later building his own company. But then, like Draco, he was born and raised in a family where its top priority was to mold him into a fine Death Eater to present to the Dark Lord.

"Mr. Malfoy, what had I just been explaining right now about Dark potions?"

From the corner of his eye, Draco could see Weasley snicker with glee. How pitiful.

"Professor, I give you my apologies for talking." Draco started.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. Please continue." Snape answered calmly. Draco slightly smirked at Ron's face fading joy in hopes of Draco getting a detention.

"My answer to your question Professor is that Dark Potions are dark like its name. The color is dark black as the midnight sky when there is no moon outside, but light as a feather of a dove. This heavy comparison of the potion's physical characteristics affects the effect the potion has on the consumer. If taken, the consumer would become delusional, feeling lost in total darkness and emptiness. The consumer would become absolutely vulnerable to the person who had given this potion to him. He is led to bend to the will of the provider in exchange for freedom; but eventually the consumer would give what is desired and die."

The whole class was dead silent. Draco smirked. It seems that Snape didn't say that much to the class yet. Ron's face was now in complete shock and dismay. The only people who seemed calm and unaffected with this information were Draco, Blaise, a couple of Slytherins, and amazingly, Ginny.

Snape actually smiled slightly at this. But that smile was dreadfully ugly. No kidding.

"Mr. Malfoy has explained to us in full of what Dark Potions are. 20 points to Slytherin."

Ron was now in a foul, foul mood. He was frowning like there was no tomorrow.

"Mr. Malfoy has mentioned that the consumer of the Dark Potion would eventually die, but does anyone other than Mr. Malfoy know how to prevent that?" And to Snape's disgust, Hermione was the only person with her hand up. "Yes Ms. Granger?"

"Professor, I believe that there is no way to escape the death of the Dark Potion unless the consumer is strong enough to fight against the effect of it."

"Yes, that is a possibility, but there is a way to escape death. 10 points from Gryffindor for not answering the question correctly."

Hermione frowned in disapproval.

"I will ask once again. Does anyone know how to escape the death of the Dark Potion?" Snape's sharp black eyes scanned the room to find a hand or a least a finger raised. When he was about to just give up and give the question as a homework assignment, Ginny timidly raised her hand.

"Ms. Weasley, can you answer the question? If you are incorrect, Gryffindor will be deducted of more points."

"Don't answer it Gin. What can you possibly know? You're a sixth year in a seventh year Potions class. You'll just deduct more points." Ron whispered to Ginny. This ignited a fire in Ginny and determined her more to answer the Potions question.

"Professor, I will answer the question." Ginny stated strongly.

"Ah Gin!" Ginny heard Ron say softly while putting his face into his hand.

"So Ms. Weasley, let's hear your answer." Snape said while standing in front of his desk.

Ginny started off very slowly choosing her words carefully.

"The consumer of the Dark Potion could escape his death successfully only if he could kill the person who had given him the potion before that person kills him. Another way is how wizards and witches of the olden days had escaped. They challenged the person to a duel in the darkness. Here, both have unlimited powers of magic, however, they are both vulnerable to the power of the darkness. So the stronger will be the victor and the other would die or be tremendously injured in mental and physical health. It is not really an escape, but the wizards and witches of the olden days believed that it was better to fight and win or die trying rather then to just die without trying to survive."

The whole class was again filled with so much silence that it rang through the air.

"Very good Ms. Weasley. 20 points to Gryffindor." Right then as Ron choked in disbelief, Potions Class was over.

As Harry, Hermione, and Ron were walking outside the door, Ginny walked past them and stood in front of them. The trio stopped and stared at Ginny with questioning stares.

"What is it Gin?" Ron asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Ron, you shouldn't underestimate me like you just did in class okay?" Ginny said softly as she stared at the ground. She then closed her eyes slowly.

"What do you mean Ginny?" Ron answered exasperatedly.

Ginny opened her eyes sharply and made a piercing look at Ron. She then smirked.

"Ron, I'll just say one thing and turn my back to you. Watch your back okay? One day, you'll wish you had known me better. One day, you'll wish you had actually noticed me. And this isn't a threat Ron. This is a promise."

Ginny then turned her back leaving a confused and angered Ron. Harry was a little blown away because of her sudden change in attitude and change in appearance. When Ginny looked at Ron, he had looked at her eyes and was shocked. Ginny's regular soft brown eyes had changed into a dark purple with a tint of red and black. He couldn't describe it. The color was similar to the color of dark wine in a bottle when dim light went through.

What's happening to you Gin? Harry thought as he watched the little girl who had a crush on him six years ago walked away from them.


Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was a little short, but yeah. Please review!

--CE

Next Chap: Finally!! The scoop on what happened to Ginny. A little bit of seducing people!!