Chapter 7: The Dragon returns

Ginny sat up in a sweat. She had had the oddest dream. She had been walking down the hall of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Just as she reached the cracked door she had heard the song from that muggle movie- Napping Nancy or something like that- playing and she had seen herself dancing with Harry Potter. Then, oddest of all, she had realized that she was not Ginny in the dream at all. She was Draco. On realizing this, she had tried to warn herself of the impending danger, but the dream had changed to show Harry and dream Ginny dead with the laughter of the Dark Lord and a snake.

Had it been a dream or had she unintentionally communicated with Draco in her sleep? Thinking this, Ginny could not help but feel an oppressing sort of terror fill her. She remembered Professor Snape's unconvincing words- "Draco is safe." He wasn't.

"Well, I've already accidentally contacted him," Ginny assured herself softly in the dark room. "So I can't think of why I should stop when I'm awake."

Ginny closed her eyes and tried to think of Draco- his blonde hair, his grey eyes- when she opened her eyes she wasn't in herbed, she was in the woods and her new body was throwing up, pushing the strand of blonde from his face. Ginny blinked again and was in the Gryffindor tower once more. She made a sound of annoyance. The room was so quiet, Ginny could hear a soft buzz of magic in the still room.

Closing her eyes she tried again. She imagined Draco's drawl and smirk, the way he swaggered down the hall. When she opened her eyes, Lela Snape was reaching out and practically dragging her new body forward. Next to her jogged Sirius Black. He looked serious, but could not help but smile as he said, "not a fan of apparation, eh?" Ginny blinked.

She was back in her bed again. For a moment she had to collect herself as she recounted the fact that Sirius Black was alive and seaking? Should she alert Harry? She tightened her jaw- no. There wasn't time. The buzz had gotten slightly louder and Ginny tried to clear her ear. Perhaps something was flying by her and she had not noticed?

Ginny made another sound of frustration. Behind the curtain, Samantha's sleepy voice muttered something about squirrels. Ginny couldn't concentrate here. She needed something to help her focus. Standing up, she threw on a jacket half-heartedly and found her slippers. She tiptoed quietly out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the tower.

For a moment she stood in front of the portrait of Draco Malfoy, looking down at her oddly. She closed her eyes again, imagining the portrait in life like form- as the real Draco Malfoy. When Ginny opened her eyes, she was in the woods again, still rushing behind Lela Snape and Sirius Black who were arguing as they ran. Draco's body looked up to see a full moon and Ginny felt her new legs pick up speed. "We're nearly at the border of Hogwarts," Lela puffed as Draco's body caught up with her and Sirius. "We'll be safe there." A werewolf howl filled the woods and Sirius and Lela looked concerned. "Run faster," Sirius demanded, grabbing hold of Draco and Lela's hands.

Ginny blinked. When she opened her eyes she was laying on the ground, hair sprawled out once again. This whole seeing through good energy thing was a lot harder than just communicating through the pin and ring. Ginny looked at the portrait of Draco, which smirked down at her coldly.

"You're in trouble," she said to the portrait. She was thinking out loud, filling the vast silence of the stairway and hall with her voice so she could think. Where in the forest could they be? How could she find them? Were they safe?

"Yes, it seems to be a trend since I met you, does it not?"

Ginny looked up, shaken from her thoughts. The Draco Portrait laughed at her surprise. "You talk," she gasped.

"Yes, of course, you twit. Now, are you going to save me? I believe you owe me a saving in the woods," the portrait drawled. Ginny moved forward touching both her hands to the canvas, ignoring the sounds of annoyance made by Portrait Draco. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine the feel of Draco's hair and clothes, the sound of his drawl. Her eyes closed, she did not see the area around her hands glow with light, nor the expression of the Portrait Draco as the hex placed on it by Nagendra was purified away. Rather, when Ginny opened her eyes again she was once again in the forest but now she was not running.

She was sitting on the ground, gripping the tree root out of pain as a piece of bone stuck out from her shin. "Caught it on a root," Sirius said to Lela, who was turned away in disgust. "We'll fix it up," Sirius said with forced cheer. He raised his wand, but paused as the werewolf howl sounded again through the forest. With a wave, Ginny felt the bone move back into place and mend. She nearly screamed in pain and when she opened her eyes she was standing, but tears ran down her face. Without another thought, Ginny rushed down the stairs and out the doors, not noticing the look of admiration from Portrait Draco.

As she ran past Hagrid's Hut, she paused, taking off her slippers and trying to think where Draco could be. She had seen trees. Nothing but trees. But they were by the border of Hogwarts. Perhaps in it, but as long as they were in the woods, they were in danger from that werewolf. There was a buzzing in Ginny's ears as she searched desperately through the tree line into darkness. Ginny threw off her slippers, tossing them behind her onto the pile of logs by Hagrid's Hut as she flew into the forest. As she ran, she couldn't help but think of Professor Snape's request she not do anything stupid.

The werewolf howled again. "Well, this is certainly not obeying that request," she said to herself breathlessly. The buzzing seemed louder in her ears. She jumped over a root.

"Ginny, if you follow the buzzing it will only lead you to danger."

Ginny nearly fell over from the shock of hearing Emily's voice in her head. Still she continued on, only replying breathlessly, "Danger is where Draco is and so Danger is where we'll have to go." There was a pause- the buzzing was louder still.

"Ginny, I don't know if your powers are strong enough for what you are going to have to do," Emily began but Ginny pushed the words from her mind as she leapt over another root, dodging a low lying branch. She came to a sudden stop, assisted by an outreached arm grabbing her wrist.

Lela Snape pulled Ginny towards her and away from the werewolf that stood towering above Draco Malfoy and a large black dog. The dog was growling threateningly. He let out a bark as Draco backed away slowly. "Can't we apparate away," Draco drawled as he moved, not taking his eyes off of the werewolf and dog. The two animals seemed to challenge one another, barring their teeth.

"We can't," Lela replied, looking tensely at the situation at hand. "We are officially in Hogwarts grounds."

"Bloody hell," Draco snapped as the dog leapt towards the werewolf. Tearing into his neck with vicious teeth. Draco took this moment to move more quickly backward, suddenly noticing Ginny. His eyes widened.

"What are you doing here you idiot," he hissed, "can't you see there is a giant werewolf?" As if hearing Draco discussing him, the werewolf's head snapped to look at the three humans. A vicious smile seemed to come over his face. The werewolf began to stalk forward. The large black dog leapt in front of him, attempting to fight him off. Just as the black dog lunged forward once more to attack, the werewolf clawed the dog from the air and tossed him against the tree like an old tissue. The dog whimpered as he hit the tree, then fell into silence.

Ginny looked at Lela, who looked quickly at the ground where her wand lay, then back to the werewolf. "This is why I need a wand," Draco snapped, not moving from his spot as the werewolf approached.

"Draco, get back here. Run," Ginny hissed. Draco turned his head slightly. "And lead him over to you? That would make me as dumb as you for coming out here in the first place."

Ginny glared at the insolent blond as the werewolf's tail wagged, as if enjoying his pre-dinner show. The buzzing in Ginny's ears grew so loud she could barely hear the Werewolf's howl as it prepared to lunge. What happened next occurred so fast, Ginny would not be sure of the incident until after the fact.

Just as the werewolf prepared to lunge, Lela released Ginny's wrist as she leapt for her wand. As if on que, the moment Lela's grip loosened, Ginny rushed forward to Draco and pushed him out of the way, making him topple to the ground with much less charm than his Malfoy genes usually allowed. As Lela turned to say a spell, the werewolf landed so it's snarling face was so close to Ginny's it nearly put her off balance. Ginny threw out her hands and felt fur between her fingers as she closed her eyes.

The buzzing was nearly unbareable! She was surely about to be bitten or eaten.

But nothing happened. Time seemed to have frozen and the buzzing, once loud enough to make Ginny's head feel like cracking open, began to fade. As it did, Ginny could hear only the howl of the werewolf. She opened her eyes to see the fur between her fingers beginning to recede. The howl began to turn into the pained scream of a man. By the time the buzzing had left Ginny's ears completely, Greyback stood before her in nothing but his birthday suit. Pulling her hands away embarrassed, Greyback's body fell forward and made her topple to the ground as it landed right on her.

In a moment, Draco had pushed the nude man off of Ginny. He was clearly torn between laughing and awe. Ginny appreciated that he decided to go with awe.

"You just forced Greyback to turn back into a human. How did you do that," he asked, helping Ginny up. She shrugged, feeling embarrassed by being affronted by a nude deatheater. She found it odd that her voice caught in her throat at seeing the real Draco Malfoy in front of her after so long. Draco pushed a strand of scarlet from her face and touched his forehead to hers.

"Leave it to a Gryffindor to rush into the forbidden forest without thinking and surprise themselves with the ability to purify an evil werewolf," Draco drawled. Ginny grinned and felt a pain in her feet as she stood on her tip toes in an attempt to kiss the blonde. However, just as their lips were about to meet, Sirius limped over, leaning heavily on Lela for support as he held his ribs.

"Cute. Let's go, we aren't safe until we are out of the forest," he grunted. Lela raised an eyebrow and poked him in the ribs with her wand. Sirius made a grunting noise as his eyes filled with water. But after a moment he stood straight again. Nodding at Lela in thanks, he motioned for them to hurry forward. Within fifteen minutes, they were out of the forest.

"Get into the castle," Sirius demanded, shaking his head as he lurked under the shadows of the trees. Ginny nodded, taking Draco's hand and beginning their way back to the castle. She paused.

"Oh," she gasped, "my slippers." Ginny turned quickly and rushed back to the pile of logs behind Hagrid's Cabin were she had rested her slippers. Draco followed exasperated.

"Ginny, l've nearly died three times today, can we just go into the castle so we can have a proper hello," he whined. Ginny smiled but raised her hand to silence him. She had heard a voice and it was not Emily's in her mind. Leaning around the hut, Ginny saw Lela and Sirius standing in the shadow of a nearby tree. Lela seemed to be inspecting Sirius's bruises, lifting his shirt to see the place she had repaired his ribs.

"Lela," Sirius hissed quietly, "it's fine. I'm fine." Despite his attempt to be quiet, the silence around them carried his voice to Ginny and Draco. Draco's ears perked with interest and he joined Ginny in peering around the Hut.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask me about Sirius Black being alive," Draco hissed, hardly audible even so close to Ginny. She gave him a look that clearly said, "hush." He rolled his eyes as Lela's reply reached them.

"One last thing to check, any further bruising to your head? Lord knows you have enough there," Lela whispered. Though her words sounded vindictive, her tone was soft and comforting. Sirius tilted his head confused.

"Lela, I didn't know-" Sirius began looking suddenly ashamed. He winced as Lela touched a bruise on his cheek a bit too hard. Lela seemed not to notice except for the twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"Yes well," Lela replied, "I could build a boat and sail it on the sea of things you don't know."

Sirius made another face as Lela tapped her bruises one by one and they began to disappear.

"You might get lost. Its pretty treacherous ignorance," Sirius smirked. He was looking at Lela, who still avoided his eyes. Seeing this, Sirius' smile faltered.

"Lela," Sirius spoke, taking Lela's chin gently in his hand. Lela looked up at him stubbornly.

"You better hope that our friends and allies are alright," hissed Lela. Sirius looked seriously at her.

"If Dumbledore hadn't sent me away I would have fought in all of their places," Sirius stated determinedly.

"You would have died," Lela replied rolling her eyes but not moving away. "Again," she added.

Sirius' face fell but he tried to recover, nudging Lela playfully. "I'm not the easy to get rid off. You know me. Like a leech to you," he smiled.

"A leech? Of all the things to say when trying to be romantic you choose a leech," Lela asked raising an eyebrow. Next to Ginny, Draco snickered softly.

"Yes, well," Sirius said embarrassed, "it's been quite a bit since I attempted to hit on a pretty lady. I am a bit rusty."

"Well, You'll simply have to practice," Lela shrugged, moving away from the tree. "Hagrid is expecting a large black dog I believe any minute now. Don't want to keep him waiting do you?"

However, Lela did not make it far from the shadows before she was pulled back by Sirius. He twirled her gentle before dipping her to music that only he could hear. Then, with only a devilish smirk as a warning, he kissed her lightly on the lips. There was a moment pause as Sirius returned Lela to her original position.

"Much better," she smirked. "Goodnight. Let's go Ginny. You too Draco," Lela called. Ginny and Draco looked at one another. As they stepped around the hut, feeling embarrassed at their being caught, Ginny noticed the look on Sirius' face- a mixture of amusement and exasperation as he watched Lela leave. Then, he turned into a dog and headed towards Hagrid's door. Once inside the castle, Draco smirked at Lela. "Quite the prude today aren't we," he drawled. Ginny looked at Lela, who blushed slightly.

Before Lela could respond, a stunning scarlet phoenix swooped down the hall, dropping a letter into Draco's hands before flying away. Lela and Ginny looked at it expectantly as Draco opened it.

"Well," Ginny asked curiously. Draco raised his eyebrow at her, but a smile ruined his would-be annoyed look.

"It says I'm to stay in the room behind my portrait outside the Gryffindor tower. Since it's been purified of the dark magic to spy on Hogwarts it's a safe place to be," Draco read. He looked at Ginny confused. "A portrait of me," he asked.

Lela shrugged and moved down the hall, waving over her shoulder as she left. Ginny could not help but notice that she had a bit more pep in her step compared to the last time Ginny had seen her. Draco seemed to notice as well. He chuckled and said, "They'll be mad at each other for a whole nother two seconds."

Ginny laughed, taking Draco's hand and leading him to the stairs to show him the portrait of himself. As she reached the second one, however, she turned, hazel eyes dancing with laughing and excitement. "What," Draco asked, catching her infectious smile.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts Draco Malfoy," Ginny smiled, touching her hand to his cheek and kissing him softly. Draco paused. Ginny had forgotten how it felt to kiss her boyfriend. It felt nice and when she opened her eyes, she wasn't in the woods, or in a dream. She was still there on the stairs with Draco. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as he blinked, a slight pink tint appearing on his cheeks. Then, he pulled Ginny towards him and rested his lips on hers as if he were afraid the events of the night were all a dream- that he would wake up wherever he had been hiding out.

"Well," Ginny said breathlessly when he pulled away. Draco looked smugly at her- overly proud at his effect. "Wait until you see what your father gave to Hogwarts," she said, pushing him slightly to remove the smug look. Then she led him up the stairs.

"That is absurd." Ginny laughed at Draco's pure look of shock. He was standing before the portrait of himself, which looked smugly down at him.

"Nothing absurd about a good looking man," Portrait Draco drawled.

Draco rolled his grey eyes. "Well, he certainly is cocky," Draco smirked.

Ginny laughed out loud, then threw her hands over her mouth to silence it. Draco turned to her offended.

"Just what is so funny," he asked suspiciously.

"Clearly she think it's funny that you're so unaware of your lack of modesty," Portrait Draco drawled. "We are, after all, Malfoys."

"When you look this good," Draco snapped to the portrait, "modesty is simply lying to yourself."

The portrait's smirk widened. "Quite agreed," it replied. "Password?"

Draco seemed to be ignoring Ginny's laughter as he thought to himself. Ginny opened the letter he had handed to her as they walked up the stairs. "Dumbledore doesn't say anything in here about a password," she said thoughtfully.

Draco waved his hand, "Yes except the last line. Read it again?"

Ginny looked down again. Written in a spidery scrawl read the words "How is a raven like a writing desk?" She looked up at Draco. "Yes I suppose that is the most obvious place to start," she agreed. She tapped her head. "How is a raven like a writing desk" she asked him with a smirk.

Long ago Fred and George had been in a fight and to get back at one another they had tried to make the young Ginny, then only five or so, their new twin. Each put great effort into showing her how much they adored her more than the other. Ginny recalled it being quite fun. However, the fairytale had come to an end when Fred, exasperated and downtrodden by Ginny's desire to have a tea party rather than set off dung bombs, turned to Ginny and said, "Ginny! This is of the up most importance. We can't be twins if you do not know the answer to what I'm about to say!"

Clearly it had been an extremely important moment and so Ginny had asked, in her five year old voice, "what Fwed?" Ginny rolled her eyes remembering her difficulty with the letter R.

"How is a Raven like a Writing desk." Fred had asked in a very serious tone. There had been a long pause but finally, George, unable to bear the silence any longer had yelled the answer from outside where he had been degnoming the garden. Fred had leapt up, nearly pushing Ginny to the ground and rejoined his twin. But what had been his answer?

Ginny was brought back to the present, as Portrait Draco and Draco seemed to be discussing possible answers.

"They involve notes," suggested Draco thoughtfully.

"They are often hideous and not wise purchases," suggested Portrait Draco.

"They have wings"

"Desks don't have wings, Git,"

"Pardon me, but I believe I know this sort of thing better than a portrait."

"Clearly you don't,"

Ginny laughed at the two bickering, both with identical looks of annoyance and arrogance. Hearing her laugh, Draco turned and glared at her half heartedly but the corners of his mouth twitched unintentionally and Ginny made a face. She hoped it would make him smile but he simply turned determined to figure out the riddle.

Then it hit her! The answer. She could almost hear George's voice calling through the window as she said, "Neither is made with cheese."

The portrait swung open after making a sound of exasperated annoyance. Draco looked at Ginny oddly. "Really? I get a super cool secret room to myself and the password is neither is made with cheese? That downright disappointing."

"At least you get a secret room," Ginny offered with a smile. Draco shrugged, taking her hand. "Let's have a look shall we," he suggested. Ginny gave a halfhearted protest before following Draco to look n the room.

As the portrait closed behind them, a shadow stood with a young woman in the corner. "There you go," her sugar coated voice said, motioning to the place where Ginny and Draco had once stood. Yellow-white teeth appeared next to the girl, almost appearing to float in mid air. The girl gave a disgusted look. Not noticing, or caring, the shadow moved passed her , down the stairs, and out the door of Hogwarts, undetected by magic or sight- back to the forest before it apparated away.