A Foolish Time of Year

"Narcissa's husband was by no means good at all, as I have said before, he had no heart, he was inhuman, a monster.

After Narcissa was out of school and after they were married; there was a time where evil had not yet been so prominent in the world but it dwelled beneath the surface waiting to rise again and it would and Lucius would help it on its way. He knew what stood in the way of his master and what mush be taken out, he knew who stood where. Mostly, he knew of everything but me and his son.

There was a family, high in popularity at the time, popular yet not rich. They were of what they call 'good' blood but they had no esteem which came with being pure blooded. This was the Weasley family.

Ginny Weasley, the youngest and only female offspring Weasley was no exception of her family; she was just often overlooked, and forgotten. I believe she was the most amazing of them all though.

That night I found Draco, Draco found Ginny and she forgave him. She loved him and forgave him for everything. It is so strange to think of that moment, and know that they had only met once before, that in the briefest of moments before the corruption of Draco's being, she had touched him so deeply, that no amount of evil could dirty her touch to him.

--

I saw her the next morning and she was smiling, she was more then smiling, she was radiant. I never saw her so beautiful before and only one thing could have made such rosy cheeks. And only one thing could make her glow with such unseen light.

I found Draco and he smiled at me, he smiled, he did not talk to me but he truly, really smiled; and there was not much more that I could ask for then that.

I believe they spent time together that break but I'll never know for sure. They never admitted it, they never told me but to me, these were the children I knew best, it just seemed like it was not a truth but not possible to be untrue.

I didn't think anybody noticed their change except me. But they had. I underestimated her friends, they cared, or at least one of them did. Perhaps it was not that she cared yet but she was intelligent or observant more then intelligent; she had self imposed intelligence. And she noticed Ginny and the invisible glow that surrounded her; and she noticed Draco's change and the softness that was in his eyes sometimes. She noticed that these things were extremely prominent when said people were near each other and grew more and more so, the closer they got. She noticed these things with interest and concern.

I can't blame her for her concern. No matter how much I loved and still do love the boy, or how bright he was; he was not well liked. He was barely liked at all, he was feared and idolized sometimes but he was not liked and never loved.

Perhaps this is why they fit so well together. He was the one no one thought had a heart; maybe because he acted like it, most likely because he lost it. He was the one people feared and knew by sight because of fear. He was evil by birth, snide and arrogant and cocky and a coward. I wish it were not true but he was a coward in every way but even so he was not evil, he was just scared. Then there was Her, She was quite and timid, invisible and delicate; she was pure. She came from a family with an overabundance of love. No one would think that she was low on it. Yet she was; I think Draco received more love then she did. They needed each other, and they wanted each other; they belonged to each other.

Yet her friend who noticed them never questioned it, she never confronted it and soon I think, she forgot it. It got to be normal. It got to be normal to see such strange things, that she didn't even see it anymore. She had more important things to worry about; more important issues to look out for. I had nothing more important to do and I saw nothing more important then this. Neither did they; or neither did they, for long.

As Easter break came around, it seemed as if they saw each other less and less, the glow seemed to die from Ginny's cheeks. I never saw the softness in Draco's eyes anymore. I never saw them near each other after that, for a very long time. Draco became cold again; he became his father more and more every day.

One night I found her in the halls. She didn't know what I knew. She didn't know I knew what she knew. She was crying, she was angry and she was crying.

She looked at me, and said, 'He used me like trash, like yesterdays parchment, old and yellowing, too wrinkled to use now. Well he used me, he wrinkled me, he kept me locked up in a drawer so long that I became old, he let me age.' And she cried and, I don't know if she knew she was crying, but she stood there, and tears ran down her face.

I didn't know what to do. I looked at her and didn't know what to do. I knew what she was talking about. I felt my heart fall when I realized what was happening. I felt my heart hurt when I realized what he'd done to her. I knew he did not deserve her but I knew he needed her; and I still loved him so very much. Crying girls are not my area of expertise, to say I was uncomfortable is an understatement. After staring back at her for a few minuets I told her to leave.

'Miss. Weasley, I don't know why you are wandering the dungeons at this time of night, nor do I care. Return to your dormitories immediately' I said glaring at her.

She glared back.

'It is foolish enough you are wandering the school after hours but this is dangerous Miss Weasley, so I suggest you return before you get hurt and I deduct another ten points from the twenty I just have.' And she turned and walked away, glaring at me until she was facing forward.

I watched him for a few days. I couldn't understand why he had done what I thought he had done. It didn't make sense to me that he would just let her go, no one suspected. No one thought they were together. I watched him and once, I saw him waver, he had a moment of uncertainty. I saw it in the way he stood and I realized something. He was trying to be brave, he was trying to do something right. He wanted to protect her; He wanted to keep her pure. A foolish goal, an admirable and honorable goal but it was foolish. Nothing could make Ginny Weasley anything but pure. If someone put the devils mark on her arm, she would still go to heaven.

He was the only thing that made her anything but the purist of pure but I didn't know that until much later."