Cast Away

~* Yes I know its been a while since I've updated, sorry everyone. I'll try not to let it happen again! *~

Chapter 20 ~ Veritaserum

Draco paced his dorm room, wondering why Ginny wasn't attracted to him. However, he had more important things to worry about, like his promise to himself. With Maria dead, he couldn't exactly seduce her. This left Ginny. Draco decided that all his energy needed to be focused on her.

Ginny would not co-operate though. She was going through a rough time and would not be swayed. He needed to do something about it, and soon, because he was running out of time. Draco couldn't afford delays. Why did Sigma and Maria have to go ahead and die? He thought to himself. Although he thought this, a small voice at the back of his head was saying Don't be so insensitive, be a friend to Ginny now, when she most needs it.

~***~

Ginny walked through the halls filled with students pointing and whispering about her. She'd long gotten used to this, but it still bothered her that people were so quick to believe the worst about her. She was on her way to Transfiguration which she had to sit through with Julia and Cassandra's death stares. Ginny put her head down and walked a little faster, trying to avoid people's stares.

'Ginny, where are you going?' A voice called out. It was Alistair. He and Colin jogged up to Ginny, and they fell into her pace, walking with her.

'I'm going to Transfiguration,' She replied to Alistair's question.

'You don't have to sit through that you know, I heard that Julia and Cassandra are not being friendly to you,' Colin said.

'So, you guys don't blame me for Sigma's and Maria's deaths?' Ginny dared to ask.

'No, how could it have been your fault? It wasn't your fault that You-Know-Who was after Maria's kid, and Sigma died on her own accord, she knew the dangers of the spell she cast on herself, and she still did it,' Alistair said.

'That's true, Ginny,' Colin said.

'Well what am I supposed to do about the rest of the school?' Ginny asked.

'It'll blow over eventually, all you have to do is wait it out,' Alistair advised.

'I somehow don't think this will blow over sometime soon,' Ginny sighed and stopped walking. They had passed all the gossiping students and were now in an empty part of the corridor.

'Well you'll still have us, Ginny,' Colin said with a smile.

'Thanks,' She replied softly. Just as Alistair was about to say something, Draco walked over. He looked at Ginny, then at Colin and Alistair.

'We'll just be going now,' Colin said, and quickly bustled Alistair away before Ginny could protest. She turned to Draco.

'What do you want? Didn't you get the hint?' She said.

'Oh, I got the hint alright, I was just going to offer to help you out, but seeing as you have those two Gryffindors, I guess I'm not needed,' Draco said, and turned to walk away, but Ginny stopped him.

'Wait, what do you mean help me out?' She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

'Put a stop to some of those nasty rumours going around,' Draco replied, not turning to face her.

'That's impossible, no one can change people's minds about what they think of me,' Ginny told him.

'I have a rather large influence over what people think,' Draco replied, walking further down the hall to where the large groups of students were.

Ginny looked at him, wondering what he was going to say. She walked closer to hear him better.

'Hey, listen up everyone, you're all giving Ginny credit where credit is undue, there's no way that scrawney, timid little girl could be responsible for two murders and the kidnapping of an unborn baby! You have no right to give her the credit for my doings,' He finished triumphantly.

'What?' Ginny whispered to herself, unbelieving of what she had just heard.

'That's right everyone, I was the one going to Voldemort and reporting about Maria and her child, not Sigma, and because of it, Sigma died trying to stand up to me. We can't forget that Maria also died when she could have lived, she made a big deal out of giving up her baby, so she was killed,' Draco continued. By this time, some people were crying, and others were glaring at Draco maliciously.

'Why is he doing this?' Ginny said to herself out loud.

'So you all can, you know, give me the credit instead of Ginny Weasley,' Draco finished, and walked away. Ginny sprinted after him and caught him just as he reached the bottom of the stairs into the Entrance Hall.

'What was that all about?' Ginny cried.

'Look, you don't want them blaming you, now they're going to blame me,' Draco said, and continued to walk away. Tears welled in Ginny's eyes.

'That was the nicest thing anyone's done for me since Harry saved me from Tom Riddle,' She said. Draco stopped and turned to face her. 'Why did you do it?'

'People like you, they don't like me, and the ones who do will probably congratulate me for being responsible, you lost a lot of friends because people thought you were responsible, if people think I'm responsible, they'll simply add another reason to their long lists of why they hate me,' Draco explained.

'It was un-necessary,' Ginny replied.

'No, I think it was necessary,' He said. Ginny closed her eyes.

'Why did you really do it?' She asked, opening her eyes, which were sparkling from tears. Draco looked around the Entrance Hall for an answer, when he found none, he looked into Ginny's eyes.

'Because I have feelings for you, and I didn't like seeing you hurting,' He said, and this time, nothing could stop him walking away, into the Slytherin Dungeons.

~***~

Harry, Hermione and Ron were in the Gryffindor Common Room, sitting with Ginny, Alistair and Colin. Julia and Cassandra still refused to go near Ginny.

'So Malfoy said that, he took all the blame?' Harry asked.

'That was really sweet of him,' Hermione said. 'But he's still a Malfoy, he's still the same person we know and hate, so now that you've thanked him, stay right away from him,' She quickly added.

'I know who he is, but why would he do something like that for me unless he had an alternative motive?' Ginny said.

'Maybe he wants to get you in bed?' Harry suggested.

'Oh you are definitely staying away from him now, Ginny! I'm going to have words with him,' Ron said dangerously.

'Ron! Don't tell me how to live my life, stop being like a brother and start being a friend,' Ginny retaliated.

'Look, Ginny, do what you like, okay? I've given up trying to care about whether or not Malfoy hurts you,' Ron said, and walked out of the room.

'That was rude,' Ginny snorted. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances.

'He's right you know,' Harry said.

'Every time he tries to help you, you push him away further,' Hermione finished.

'Oh so this is my fault? It's always my fault,' Ginny cried.

'Stop being such a pecimist, Ginny, we're here to help you, but what are we supposed to do when you don't listen to what we say?' Harry exclaimed.

'I don't know, and I don't care, but I don't want you to tell me who I can and can't see in my own time,' Ginny said, becoming steadily angrier.

'Maybe so, just as long as those people aren't Draco Malfoy! Honestly Ginny, we've known him since we've been at Hogwarts, he's a snake,' Hermione told her.

'Well maybe you just don't know the real Draco Malfoy,' Ginny pouted.

'Maybe we don't want to know anything more about him than we already do, which is enough to make anyone sick to the stomach,' Harry snorted.

'Oh come off it, it's your own fault that Draco hates you!' Ginny yelled at Harry. 'You had the chance to be his friend, yet you turned it down,'

'For good reason,' Harry retorted.

'You have no idea what kind of person he is,' Ginny cried.

'And I suppose you do?' Hermione interrupted.

'Suppose he's feeding you lies just to get something more from you?' Harry wondered aloud.

'He wouldn't do that,' Ginny said firmly.

'I wouldn't put it past him,' Hermione said. Harry nodded in agreement. Ginny let out a cry of protest.

'You two should be more forgiving and accepting,' She said angrily.

'Now, now, this is no reason to get in fights,' Alistair interrupted. 'Draco Malfoy is a friend of Ginny's, let's just leave it at that, okay?'

'Thanks, Alistair, at least you understand,' Ginny smiled smugly.

'I'm not saying I support the idea of you hanging around Malfoy, but there's no telling you otherwise, you're a free person, free to be friends with whom ever you please,' Alistair told her. Hermione made a protesting grunt and folded her arms across her chest.

'Don't you expect us to be here to pick up the pieces when Malfoy leaves you out in the cold,' She said harshly, and stalked up the girls staircase. Harry ran his hands through his hair.

'All this is becoming too much of a nuisance to handle,' He sighed heavily.

'Oh sod off, Harry,' Ginny said. 'It's really none of your business anyway,'

'Fine then,' Harry replied, and went after Ron.

Ginny turned to Alistair and Colin, giving them looks of gratitude.

'Thanks for that guys, I appreciate it, now don't tell those three meddling imbeciles, but I'm just going to pop out and see Draco,' Ginny said, and left the Gryffindor Common Room, but not before giving the two boys a gratifying smile.

~***~

'Now, put the foetus in this tank, and it will cause it to grow at ten times the rate of the usual time it takes to grow,' The dark lord hissed at Hank. Hank followed out the orders obediently.

'How's that, sire?' Hank asked when he'd positioned the unborn baby in the middle of the tank.

'Good, very good, this baby should be fully grown in a few weeks,' Voldemort said, with an evil cackle.

'I don't see how you're going to make it follow orders while it's still an itty bitty baby,' Hank asked.

'Ah, but you see, by that time, I shall have a big enough device to make the child grow faster,' He replied.

'That could be dangerous,' Hank objected.

'Don't argue with me, I do not care for this baby's well being, all I care about is that it gets me that gem!' Voldemort's anger channelled into a bolt of bright light and smashed into the far wall, causing a rather large crater. Hank gulped.

~***~

Harry found Ron in the library. He was reading a book, 101 Spells for Obedience by Kasta Kurse. Ron was turning the pages rather roughly, and skimming through most of it in a blind rage. Harry walked over to him and sat opposite to Ron, who still hadn't noticed his presence.

'Ron, mate, if you do any more damage to that book you may find yourself paying for it,' Harry eyed the rip in the page. Ron looked up abruptly, noticing Harry was there. He then looked back down at the page and noticed the rip for the first time.

'Oops, don't suppose Madam Pince will notice?' He said goofily.

'You don't have to pretend things are okay, Ginny's being a downright stroppy cow if you ask me,' Harry said.

'You're damn right she is! Who is she to be hanging around Malfoy! Our sworn enemy! I swear she's doing it to get back at me, next thing you know she'll be all shacked up with him and they'll be the most well-known, hated couple in Hogwarts!' Ron exploded. Harry was silent, and a bit blown away for a second, but he regained himself and replied.

'Look, Ron, I don't know what's gotten into Ginny, she used to hate Malfoy, along with all other Slytherins, but people change you know, maybe Ginny's just going through a phase?'

'I don't care what it is, I want her away from Malfoy!' Ron said.

'She'll learn, let her learn from her mistakes, she'll come back to her old self eventually when she realises that we were right all along and Malfoy is a twit,' Harry said calmly.

'I don't want her to learn the hard way, she's better than that,' Ron muttered.

'Well she won't co-operate, so you don't have a choice, one way or another, Ginny will go and see Malfoy the instant your back is turned,' Harry explained.

'She won't be able to if I lock her up, or place an Obedience Spell on her,' Ron indicated to the book he was reading.

'Oh come now, you don't want to be her jail guard, and you most certainly don't want to be the person on the end of the dogs leash,' Harry said, with creative use of metaphors.

'I will be her jail guard, and I will be the person on the end of the dogs leash if it will keep my little sister away from that creep,' Ron growled.

'I don't want her near him as much as you don't, but how else will she learn?' Harry explained. 'This experience will make her less trusting of guys,'

'I'm all up for her to have that experience, just not with Malfoy! Anyone else but him!' Ron cried. 'Why can't she see him for the idiot he is?'

'Because she's being stubborn, and the more we push it, the more stubborn she will be, and the more likely she will run to Malfoy,' Harry said. 'And the more Malfoy gets of Ginny, the worse he is to us, so play it cool and leave her alone about Malfoy,'

'Fine, I'll leave her alone, but I'll be right there when he throws her out saying "I told you so",'

~***~

Ginny slipped along the dark corridors, avoiding the lights which shone in through the windows casting dancing shadows on the walls. She knew that she shouldn't be out this late, and would most certainly be in a lot of trouble if she was caught. This didn't matter, because she had to see Draco, and show him how grateful she was for him taking the blame.

Ginny knew that Draco was always in his small study late at night without fail, so she knew exactly where to find him.

~***~

Draco sat down, he knew that he would be in there for a while, waiting for someone to come and visit him. A few girls knew about his secret study, Ginny included. He only hoped it would be Ginny to come visiting tonight. There were spells placed around the room by Draco, that people couldn't find the room while more than one person occupied it. This way, there would be no interruptions, and no one would walk into an awkward situation.

There was a creak on one of the far doors, and Draco snapped his head over to see who entered. Leanne Brayshaw wandered over in her famous skimpy pyjamas. Draco sighed, he was in for a long night.

'Hi Draco,' Leanne said as she walked over and sat on the desk, crossing one leg over the other.

'Hi Leanne,' Draco replied automatically. 'What are you doing here?'

'Isn't it obvious?' Leanne faked a hurt look. Draco looked at her blankly.

'No, care to share?'

'Well, I heard about what you did for that Weasley girl, and I must say that it was really bad,' Leanne said.

'What?'

'You see, when word gets around, people are going to be asking a lot of questions, you're not safe,' Leanne told him.

'Oh who cares, it got Ginny off the hook and that's the main thing,' Draco retorted. Leanne was shocked.

'What?' She cried shrilly. 'Why would you want to get her off the hook?'

'Don't ask questions,' He replied coldly.

'I have a right to know, you're letting her get away Scott Free, while you take all the blame, and she doesn't even care!' Leanne cried.

'She cares,' Draco said, more to himself than to Leanne.

'No she doesn't, if she cared she would have come here by now to see you,' Leanne told him.

'You're wrong, Leanne, now I want you to leave,' Draco growled roughly, glaring at the small Slytherin.

'Admit it, Draco, there's no room in her life for you,' Leanne continued. 'She's got her Gryffindor friends who are telling her to keep away from you, and guess what, she's listening to them!'

'Go away, go bother someone who has time for the likes of you,' Draco growled maliciously.

'Try putting some effort into people of your own kind, Slytherins, there's no room for a Slytherin like you in the heart of a Gryffindor,' Leanne advised.

'Look, Leanne, I don't care what you have to say, just get lost,' Draco yelled.

'You need some stress relief,' Leanne jumped down from her position on the desk and walked around to the back of the chair that Draco was sitting on. She began giving Draco's shoulders a sensual massage.

'I don't recall asking you to do that,' Draco said, shoving her off and standing up. He turned around to face her.

'You can't spend your Hogwarts days wondering when that little tramp will come for you,' Leanne laughed.

'Don't you dare talk about her like that, you're worse than Ginny, at least she's not here trying to seduce me when I clearly don't want her,' Draco growled.

'See, I knew you didn't want her,' Leanne smiled gleefully.

'No you imbecile, I was referring to you!' Draco roared, shutting Leanne up completely.

'Look, I'll reason with you,' Leanne said somewhat coldly, folding her arms over her chest. 'You have a choice, you can either have that little Gryffindor of whom you've been enemies with her and everyone she's associated with for years, or you can have me, popular, and a Slytherin, your own kind,'

'You make me sick, you should be making yourself sick! The way you slut around like you can have any and every guy you want just makes me want to throw up,' Draco spat. 'You're like a well trained dog, you'd do anything I told you to do,'

'I find that offensive,'

'That's a surprise,' Draco chuckled.

'So I take it you choose someone who you will never be accepted with, no Gryffindor will greet you with open arms and welcome you into Ginny Weasley's life,' Leanne said bitterly.

'And with you they'll think that we deserve eachother?' Draco mocked. Leanne leaned forward and whispered into his ear.

'Not only that we deserve eachother, but that we belong together,' She said seductively. Draco pushed Leanne away and sneered at her.

'We belong together like a bird belongs with a fish,' Draco said harshly.

'You and Weasley are less suited for eachother,'

'Who are you to tell me who I can and cannot be in a relationship with? Besides, I have no clue where this relationship with Ginny is going, which is the excitement of it,'

'You want a surprise relationship huh? You want the Gryffindor because she's not only playing hard to get, but she is hard to get,' Leanne questioned.

'That's right, she's a challenge,' He replied. 'And she's a really nice, well spirited person,'

'I don't think that's what you're looking for in a girl,'

'Who are you to judge what I'm looking for in a girl? You seem to be putting words into my mouth, Leanne, and I don't appreciate it one bit, now are you leaving or not?' Draco hissed.

'Not just yet, I'm just trying to make you realise that a relationship between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin is not possible,' Leanne told him.

'Now that just makes me even more determined to make things between me and Ginny happen, to prove you wrong,' Draco smirked.

'Whatever, Malfoy, good luck,' Leanne said, finally turning and leaving the study.

~***~

Ginny had been searching for Draco's study for half an hour with no luck. She knew it was around this area somewhere, and she had a feeling that there was some sort of magic preventing her from finding it. However, a few seconds before Ginny was about to accept defeat and go back to the Gryffindor tower, a door opened up to Draco's study. Ginny slipped through the door and met a frustrated Draco.

'Why is it that I haven't been able to find this place?' Ginny asked as she entered. Draco spun around to face her, clearly surprised to see her.

'Oh, er that's nothing, just a few spells I cast that no two people can visit at the same time,' Draco replied.

'Who was here?' Ginny asked.

'Just Leanne, no one important,' Draco shook it off, as if he was trying to avoid talking about her. Ginny sensed this and pushed the issue.

'What was she doing here?'

'She just wanted to convince me that I should be with her,' Draco replied truthfully.

'And what was your reply to that?' Ginny asked.

'Absolutely not, I would rather be with a banshee,' Draco told her. Ginny felt some relief, but she was unsure whether or not to believe him.

'So anyway, I came by to thank you for what you did for me today, that was really sweet of you,' Ginny said, taking one step closer to him. Draco eyed her as if she were about to attack.

'You already thanked me,' Draco responded. Ginny took no notice of his words.

'I remember you saying that you have feelings for me, were you just saying that to get me off your back, or were you being truthful?' Ginny asked.

'I'm not sure, it's rather messed up at the moment,' Draco said shakily.

'Well, there's only one way to find out,' Ginny smiled and pulled out a small vial of Veritaserum. Draco's eyes widened.

'Where did you get that? Snape will murder you if he finds out you've taken it!' Draco cried.

'Maybe, but he won't find out I took it, unless of course, you tell him,' Ginny said. 'And I don't think you'll tell him,'

'No, I won't,' Draco told her.

'Now, drink it, and I'm going to ask you a few questions,' Ginny ordered.

'Wait just a minute, I don't entirely trust that you won't ask something too personal and embarrassing,' Draco eyed her suspiciously.

'You have my word that I won't ask anything personal or embarrassing, I just want to get to the bottom of how you really feel about me,' Ginny explained.

'Fine, just no personal questions or I will turn my back on you completely and forget about this whole ordeal,' Draco warned. Ginny nodded and handed him the vial which he took a small sip of.

'Okay, let's test it, what's you middle name?' Ginny said.

'Lucius,' Draco replied.

'Fair enough, now, how do you feel about me?' Ginny continued. Draco creased his brow for a few moments before answering.

'I feel that there's something inside, a spark when I see you, it's hard to explain, but I know that there's mixed emotions wherever you're involved,' He said. Ginny's eyes darted around the room and she bit her lip before giving Draco a small smile.

'So what made you feel that way about me?'

'Things have been tough for me, and when I found out that you'd been treated somewhat the same as me, I just felt this connection towards you, like we were supposed to be together,' Draco replied.

'Okay, what do you plan to do about all the Gryffindors and Slytherins who would be rather nasty towards any relationship that we could be in?'

'Laugh at them for not appreciating that people from two different worlds can set aside their differences and become involved,' Draco told her. Ginny was lost for words, all her questions were answered truthfully with more compassion that she could have hoped for.

'I'm going to go to bed now, I need some time to think things over,' Ginny said, and walked out of Draco's study.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

~* I was going to write more, but I figured that I have kept you waiting long enough for this chapter that I'd better post it and save the next part for the next chapter! *~

Rose Petel ~ Why do you feel sorry for Hank? He's not meant to be a character pitied. Could you please tell me how I've made that mistake and let me know any suggestions to change his character around so that he's un-pitied! I would appreciate that! Thanks!

HarryzBabe ~ I hope you liked the scenes between Draco and Ginny, even though there was no romance in there… don't worry, there will be some romance blossoming quite soon, seeing as I really don't have much other plots happening at the moment. I'm glad to finally get this chapter out, sorry about the delays!

Alina11 ~ Thank you for your compliments! Don't worry, Maria's baby will be found, but not as soon as people would like. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and continue to read and review!

Cherrie Berry Draco Luver ~ Wow! That's the first poem I've had in a review! Thank you! I'm really sorry that I couldn't get this up faster, and I'm not going to bother with excuses because I probably don't have a good enough one! Sorry! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, I took your advice and used what I had, things just came to me and I was able to write a decent length chapter.

SarkLover ~ I'm glad you like it, and good to see someone new reading! It's always good to see new people who post reviews! I'm sorry for the wait, and I hope that it was well worth it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and continue to read and review.

Darcy16 ~ Yes, Draco is telling the truth with what he's been saying. He is one confused little boy! This long chapter cancels out the shortness of the last one … hopefully! Hehehe. Did you like this chapter? I hope so! Thanks for your review, look forward to reading your next one!

Tylah ~ It's good to have you back reading again! I missed your reviews while you were away! I'm glad that you're liking the story again, I was afraid that it had changed too much that you would wonder what the hell happened! Thank you for your review, and don't worry, everything will turn out okay for Maria's baby in the end.

deity of death1 ~ Ginny was in a lot of trouble, as you could probably tell, but Draco fished her out and now he's taking the fall for Maria's and Sigma's deaths! Don't you think that was sweet of him? It shows Draco's emotional side, and that he knows exactly how Ginny feels. Thanks for your review and I hope you continue reading and reviewing!

kura52 ~ Hi how have you been doing? Good I hope! I'm sorry about the lateness of this chapter, and I hope that you thought it was worth the wait! Ginny and Draco will be together, actually pretty soon now, but I just wanted to make it out like there was some sort of resistance, or it would seem "too easy". As for Hermione, she has her good and bad sides, right now, she believes that it's Ginny's fault for the deaths of Sigma and Maria, and the kidnapping of Maria's baby. Well there has to be someone who still believes it! Even after what Draco said.

Kelei ~ Yes there will be a Draco/Ginny relationship forming quite soon! Hank is there as the annoying side kick, kind of a replacement for Wormtail as he's been up-graded (never mentioned in my story, but you kind of assume that anyway). Hermione is the way she is because she believes the facts, and there are definitely some strong arrows pointing to Ginny being the cause of these things. For example, she could have helped Sigma, then chickened out at the last minute and killed her. There's endless possibilities. I hope you liked this chapter and I look forward to reading your review!

merlinsmagic ~ Thank you for your review, and I'm glad you like the plot! Hermione is the one who goes by what she can piece together from evidence, and right now there's some strong evidence against Ginny. Therefore she believes that Ginny is truly responsible… guilty until proven innocent, right? I hope you continue to read and review!

Zaptor ~ Draco's idea was not to make Ginny feel better by telling her the things about his past, but to make her trust him, and realise that they are in the same boat. As for your other question, Sigma will be around, she is in the form of a ghost yes, so occasionally she will pop up. I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the review.