Misconception

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, a lot of things would be different.

Author's Note: LET'S PRETEND THE SIXTH BOOK DOESN'T EXIST! Before the 6th book, I decided that I'd just change this story, according to what the book gave us. However, I don't believe I can, because of...clears throat certain reasons. Anyway, I'm not very sure I actually...er like Ginny in canon. In fact, I hate her. So..technically, I'm "OOC" with Ginny. Whatever. Short chapter, long update. Sorry. And sorry for grammar blah blah blah..okay, let's get on with it!

Chapter 9: Threats and Regrets

Even if the dungeons were cold in the winter, they were never this cold. Draco felt as if he had fallen into a tub of cold water, but he refused to open his eyes. His bed also felt strangely stiff and hard; normally, it was rather soft and comfortable. Blindly, he groped around him, hoping for a blanket to pull up. To his surprise, he found no blankets at all and a rather cold breeze blew by. He shivered, but he just didn't want to open his eyes.

He then realized that there was an oddly bright light shining on his face; it was warm, despite the cold around him. His eyes opened slowly and closed against the illumination that threatened to blind him. It did not strike him odd that he heard birds chirping in the background until a few seconds later. In his waning moments of sleep, he frowned, wondering if he was dreaming. Again, he opened his eyes, and he groaned at the light that went straight into his line of vision. Groggily, he opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times against the light.

The first thing that came to his mind was: where the hell am I?

Draco sat up quickly and looked around. He was in one of the Quidditch stands; he must have fallen asleep last night while talking to Ginny. Quickly, he checked his watch—it was six o'clock in the morning, Saturday.

Beside him, Ginny was still asleep. She was lying on her side, with her head rested on her hands. Her legs were slightly curled up; she seemed to be sleeping quite comfortably. At that moment, another brisk wind blew by them. He saw Ginny shiver and curl up more.

Gently, he shook Ginny awake. "Weasley, get up," he hissed.

Ginny's eyes fluttered opened and she yawned. She must have thought that she was in bed because she stretched widely and almost lost her balance on the bench. She let out a small scream of surprise but kept her balance. Quickly, she sat up with the same puzzled look that Draco must have had. He stifled a laugh of amusement when she looked up at him, completely bewildered. She frowned.

"Oh," she groaned, "Where am I?"

"Quidditch stand," replied Draco shortly.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. For a moment, she just sat there, looking completely dazed. Draco frowned and watched her with a look of inquiry. She blinked and snapped out of her thoughts.

Again, she shivered, pulling her robes closer towards her. She looked up the sky, as she noticed the warmth of the sun had suddenly disappeared. A gray cloud had covered the sun entirely. Draco let out a breath, feeling rather impatient. He was cold, but Ginny didn't even seem to be noticing anything. A whole minute passed by, and they did not say a word to each other. Ginny was tracing a pattern on the wooden bench with her finger.

"Well," said Draco, shattering the cold silence, "Are you just going to sit here and freeze to death?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him and said, "I didn't ask you to stay."

Draco blinked, speechless. However, he quickly shrugged it off and walked towards the staircase, leading down to the Quidditch field. After a few moments, he heard the soft footsteps of Ginny trailing behind him. When he reached the field, Ginny came up beside him. Without saying a word, both of them walked across the grounds, toward the castle of Hogwarts.

When they reached the doors, Draco reached the handle to pull it open. Suddenly, Ginny grabbed his wrist, preventing him from opening the door. Draco looked at her with bewilderment and slight annoyance. She shook her head and muttered, "Wait."

"What?" demanded Draco, impatiently.

"There might be people in there," said Ginny, looking around nervously.

"And?" asked Draco.

Ginny sighed impatiently, as if it was supposed to be the most obvious thing in the world. Draco, however, did not find it obvious.

"What would they think if they saw both of us coming in at bloody six o'clock in the morning?" said Ginny, turning a shade of red.

"They would think that we were out for a lovely early morning stroll, of course," drawled Draco, rolling his eyes.

"Even so," argued Ginny, "They'll think there is something, you know, going on."

She did have a point, even if it was rather stupid. Draco contemplated this for a moment, thinking of all the rumors that were bound to spread. Hesitant to open the door, Draco's hand slid from the handle. However, he drew in a breath and opened the door. Sure enough, the relatively small crowds that were entering the Great Hall turned their heads curiously at the opened door. Ginny, surprisingly, held her composure and sauntered over to a small group of friends, who immediately began their mindless chattering with her—questions, gossip, and Draco. He could not help but to narrow his eyes at her and her stupid friends, when he heard his name.

She looked at him, almost apologetically, but her friends barely noticed. He shook his head and walked through the small crowds to the Great Hall. The Great Hall was still lacking many students, who were probably sleeping in, making up for the lack of sleep during the course of the week. However, as Draco walked toward the Slytherin table, he could feel the glares at the back of his head, as he passed by each table—Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and even Slytherins. Apparently, news travels fast around Slytherins, especially with Blaise Zabini.

Immediately, he lost his appetite.

As he took his seat at the far end of the Slytherin table, he looked up to see Ginny, sitting with the trio. From the Ravenclaw table, Luna Lovegood waltzed to the Gryffindor table and seated herself next to Ron Weasley, who was looking rather bemused by her dreamy gaze. Draco sighed inaudibly and looked around his own table; as soon as he met their eyes, the Slytherins immediately dropped their glare and continued eating their food.

Imbeciles, he thought to himself.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Blaise come into the Great Hall with Pansy. Following behind them were Crabbe and Goyle, looking rather sullen and moody. Draco smirked; at least Crabbe and Goyle were still on his side. Like that will do any good…

Blaise sat at the other end of the table, much to Draco's relief. Crabbe and Goyle, however, sat across from Draco with their usual grunts of "hello". Draco barely nodded to acknowledge their presence. He tried to concentrate on eating his food, but out of the corner of his eye, he continued to see the glares. Draco was almost certain he could hear them talking about him—"the Death Eater". After a few minutes, he found that he couldn't take it anymore.

Abruptly, he stood up from his seat, making it scrape against the ground loudly. The Hall went quiet for a second, but the chattering continued after as if nothing happened. He stalked moodily toward the doors, still hearing their whispers, their accusations—"I heard he killed---.", "tortured…" "murdered…" "Death Eater."

No. He didn't do any of that…or at least, not on purpose…

He wanted to turn around and hex them. Draco felt an unexplainable anger boil inside of him, and he just wanted to take it out on the first person who crossed his path. Clenching his jaw, he forced himself to walk on, to not look back at the glares. They did not matter; all that mattered was getting through these years as a spy. All that mattered was knowing he was on the right side.

But was this all that mattered?

Draco found himself walking aimlessly down an empty corridor. His footsteps echoed, bounced off the stone walls. Light was pouring in from the small windows, high above Draco's head.

"Let go of me!"

Draco froze in his tracks. He heard a thud against the wall and a small gasp of pain. Frowning, he edged closer toward where the noise was coming from. He planted himself against the wall, hoping not to be seen. Luckily, there was a stone column nearby, and he hid himself behind there.

"Silencio!" hissed a husky voice.

Sure enough, Draco could no longer hear the victim. However, the other continued talking in a low and dangerous tone.

"This is what you get for nosing into other people's business…" Draco heard a mocking sigh. "It's so typical of you as a Gryffindor…and a Weasley…"

Draco immediately recognized the voice. It was Blaise, and the victim was most likely Ginny. She must have walked out of the Great Hall when Draco didn't notice; Blaise probably followed shortly after. Draco looked out from behind the column and saw that he was right. Ginny was shoved against a wall, and Blaise was pinning her down from the shoulders.

Quickly, Draco pulled out his wand and aimed it at Blaise from the side.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted.

Instantly, Blaise flew sideways and his wand flung into the air. Draco caught the wand just in time and pocketed it. Blaise quickly got up, glaring at Draco fiercely. Draco only smiled mockingly, pointing his wand at Blaise. Draco looked over at Ginny, who was silent and trembling with fear. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward his side.

"Ah, Blaise," said Draco casually, "Surely, you're not afraid that a Weasley will do you in? Shouldn't you be more afraid that I'll report you?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did," snapped Blaise, reaching into his pocket.

By his side, Ginny was trembling uncontrollably. She moved closer towards Draco, and Blaise eyed her with a wicked amusement. As if changing his mind, he took his hand out of his pocket.

He smirked and said with a scoff, "Looks like the Weasley has grown quite fond of you; associating yourself with blood traitors now, Malfoy? And I thought you could sink no lower."

Instantly, Draco's temper flared up. He raised his wand and shouted, "Cruci—"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!"

Draco and Ginny whipped around, finding Professor McGonagall storming toward them. Her nose was flaring dangerously, and she looked absolutely furious. Draco instantly put his wand in his pocket, trying his best to act innocent. However, he did not pull it off, for McGonagall knew that look all too well.

"Malfoy, Zabini, and…Weasley?" said McGonagall incredulously. She shook her head and turned to Draco. "Were you just about to hex Zabini? If I'm not mistaken, with an Unforgivable Curse?"

"I'm afraid you are mistake then, Professor," said Draco boldly.

Her nose flared again. She looked to Ginny, who was still trembling with the utmost fear. McGonagall looked at her with indifference and said, "Miss Weasley is this true? And why in heaven's are you shaking like that?"

Ginny did not answer. She could not answer.

"Oh for heaven's sake—who put the Silencing Charm on Miss Weasley?" snapped McGonagall irritably.

Ginny pointed at Blaise, and McGonagall snapped her head toward him. "Is this true, Zabini?" asked McGonagall. In the meantime, Draco took the Silencing Charm off of Ginny, who whispered a very shaky "thanks".

Blaise looked at McGonagall carelessly and said, "I don't know what she's talking about."

"You liar," said Ginny angrily.

McGonagall huffed and said, "I really don't have time for this. Fifty points from Slytherin, ten points from Gryffindor. And you two," she pointed at Blaise and Draco "a week of detention."

McGonagall stormed away toward the other direction, muttering angrily and incoherently. Blaise shot a dangerous look at both Draco and Ginny; angrily, he said, "You'll both pay for this."

"Empty threat," mocked Draco.

"We'll see about that," said Blaise. He turned and left.

Draco glared at the back of Blaise's head, wishing that he could have put the Cruciatus Curse on him. But McGonagall just had to step in---he was so close to getting his revenge. Ginny, on the other hand, was looking rather fearful. She looked at Draco with wide eyes and asked, shaking, "Do you really think it was an empty threat?"

"Who knows," said Draco, indifferently shrugging his shoulders.

Ginny bit her lip. She whispered, "He said he'd do something worse to me than he did to my brother…"

Draco looked at Ginny, who looked right back at him with the deepest worry in her eyes. He sighed and said, "You don't need to worry about that, you have Potter and his friends to protect you."

Ginny shook her head, "If you hadn't stepped in, he probably would have---" She shuddered at the thought of what he could have done.

Draco smirked and said quietly, "Don't tell me you were in Dumbledore's Army for nothing…"

However, Ginny did not smile. Draco started walking and beckoned Ginny to walk along with him. She was in shock, and it was probably the first time she was really threatened by a Death Eater. He probably said more than that he was going to kill her—he probably threatened with rape, torture, and other horrible things. It was no wonder that she was frightened half to death.

After a few twists and turns of the corridors, they reached the Entrance Hall and walked to the outside, breathing in the brisk air. Ginny did not look anymore relaxed, and Draco did not blame her. They walked quietly along the small paths; Draco was half wondering why he was out here with her. Perhaps he did owe this to her….

"Why didn't you tell me that it was Blaise that did that to you?" asked Ginny quietly.

Draco kicked the ground, as he walked, and said, "I didn't know it was him."

"Liar."accused Ginny gently. "You knew very well it was him."

Draco shrugged and said honestly, "I just didn't want you to report it, Weasley…something noble a Gryffindor would do."

She frowned and stopped. Draco stopped, as well, but gave no expression whatsoever. She shook her head and pointed out, "I already promised I wouldn't, Draco…"

Draco felt something odd as she said his name. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew it was…odd. What was it?

"Oh, that's right," he said sarcastically, "Gryffindors keep their promises."

Ginny smiled. The clouds were already gathering overhead, ready for the Christmas snow. The air was cold around them, but the cloaks kept them warm enough. Ginny let out a shuddering breath and a smoke of vapor came out of her mouth. Seeing that smoke, Draco felt another craving for a cigarette, but it quickly went away.

"Sorry I dragged you into this, Weasley," said Draco, although his tone was a bit indifferent.

Ginny, however, ignored the indifference and said, "It's my fault for being a noble Gryffindor in the first place…saving you and everything…"

Draco laughed hollowly and said, "Do you regret it now?"

"Not at all," replied Ginny. "You needed to be saved." As those words came out, Ginny immediately flushed and looked away.

Draco felt a bit happier after she said that, but he did not show it at all. Outwardly, he smirked and said, "Typical Gryffindor…"