Disclaimer - No owns!
A/N - Okay now it seems I have to smooth out this whole "review" ordeal, as some of you seem rather irritated by my request. You see, when I update too quickly, my dear readers tend to review only the newest chapter. For example - If I post chapter 1 and then chapter 2 soon afterwards, most people would read the two chapters and post their review on chapter two. My desire to WAIT to post new chapters until the most recent chapter has been given adequate attention isn't as much of a demand as it is an explanation of how I plan to do things. Simply put, I'm trying to space the chapters out better. I'm sorry if I was raving and crabby in the end note of the last chapter. I was a fluster of emotions after re-reading Deathly Hallows. And furthermore, I was perhaps naively frustrated that my story was getting so much traffic, but so few reviews. Regardless, I do appreciate all of you who take an interest in my writing. Don't take my bitching seriously.
Oh and a note to the people who are confused about Tom possessing Harry: Remember that Harry is a horcrux.
Chapter 29 - Draco's Big Reveal
Hermione's hair was itching Draco's nose as he tried to keep an eye on Ginny ahead of them. While he was attempting to be tolerant of the mudblood for Ginny's sake, he still found her intimate proximity to him to be quite repulsing. He had to suck it up, though. He had to make up for what he had done. If Ginny found out...
"Down there!" Ginny shouted and he looked down to see the wreckage of the Hogwart's Express gleaming in the fading light. They landed in the field where Draco had stopped Bellatrix and saw that she had disappeared.
"Someone must have come back for her!" Hermione cried angrily, stumbling off Draco's broom and running to the spot where the death eater should have been bound.
"Of course," Draco said, dropping the broom to the ground. "She's important enough." Hermione shot Draco a scathing look as if he had said something rude and crossed her arms.
"Well there goes my idea," Ginny muttered, kicking at the snow.
"She wouldn't have told us anything anyways," Draco remarked, going to stand next to her. He felt guilty, very guilty.
"Then what was the point in coming out here?" Hermione cried. "We're going to get detention for the rest of the school year for this little stunt!"
"I thought..." Ginny trailed off, frowning.
Hermione began pacing back and forth. Draco took Ginny's hand. Ginny eyed their intertwined fingers and at the same time noticed the color of her bracelet. She froze, blinked, and then slowly retracted her hand from his. Draco gazed down at her, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw her expression.
"What?" he asked, sensing something had just gone terribly wrong.
Ginny's narrowed eyes flicked over to Hermione and she grabbed Draco by the arm, dragging him several yards further away.
"What?" he repeated, growing more anxious.
"You feel guilty about something," she hissed, letting him go.
Draco's eyes widened slightly. "What?" he voiced a third time.
Ginny folded her arms across her chest, a guarded stance. "Explain," she demanded.
Draco just gaped at her. "What?"
"Stop saying that!" Ginny snapped and then threw up her hand so Draco could see her bracelet. "Harry gave me this for Christmas." She reached forward and grabbed Draco's hand. He watched as the stones turned from white to a dark yellow. Then abruptly, realizing, he stumbled backwards away from her, nearly tripping in his haste.
They stared at each other for a long moment before Draco spoke. "You told me to do whatever I had to do," he reminded her, his face impassive. "You made me promise!"
Ginny stormed up to him, grabbed his arm and yanked the sleeve of his robe up. The second she saw the gruesome mark covering his skin, she jumped away from him, shaking her head. "No," she murmured, taking out her wand. "No."
"Ginny," he growled, stepping towards her. She leapt further away. "Don't be stupid. You said if... If I had no choice..."
"NO!" she cried. Hermione had noticed their quarrel and was approaching them. "You did it, didn't you? That's why Neville and Luna are gone! You..." Ginny gasped as she thought of something. "Tonks! You... You..."
Hermione had also taken out her wand, but seemed to be confused. "You made me promise!" Draco yelled.
"I didn't think that..." she sputtered. "I didn't know... I was scared..."
"What's going on?" Hermione cut in, getting more wary by the second.
Draco ignored Hermione. "I thought Dumbledore would come sooner!" he insisted. "I had to do it! It was too late for me to back out... I..."
"And what else?" Ginny screeched, still pointing her wand at him. "What else did you do?" Draco faltered. "Out with it!"
Draco glanced over at Hermione who was beginning to look murderous, then focused back on Ginny. "There isn't anything else!" he almost sneered, starting to feel defensive. "I thought you wanted me to come back. If you hadn't-"
"Don't blame this on me!" Ginny warned, voice low.
"We both know whose fault this is," he replied, edging closer. "This is exactly why I didn't want to promise you anything, because I knew you'd be like this."
"What?" Ginny murmured, incredulous, but sounding slightly defeated. "How am I supposed to feel? He... He ruined you. And now my friends are gone."
"You did this, Malfoy?" Hermione interjected, raising her wand higher, and looking around her nervously in the newly-fallen darkness. "And you mean to get us captured, don't you? This is a trap?"
Ginny's eyes widened, but Draco spoke before she could say anything. "Don't be stupid, Granger," he spat. "It doesn't suit you." Then he turned to Ginny again. "You must understand that-"
Ginny closed the distance between them and put her wand against his throat. "I understand," she said venomously. "But if my friends don't make it back safely, I can't forgive you. I can't." She pressed the wand in harder. "Where are they?"
Draco gazed down his nose at her coldly. "He didn't confide in me," he replied. "He didn't tell me anything."
Ginny twisted the wand in deeper. "Make a fucking guess then," she ordered.
"Ginny," Hermione cautioned. "Even if he did tell us... It could be a trap or..."
"Yeah Ginny," Draco taunted. "This could all be just one big plot to get you two captured. Don't trust anything I say, because I, of course, want to hand you over to the Dark Lord as soon as possible."
Ginny's eyes were welling up with tears as she continued to glare at him. "Tell me," she demanded evenly, "where you think they took them."
"And if I'm right?" he asked. "You ask too much of me."
"Too much!?" she cried.
"Keep the book a secret, you said," he began to list. "I did it. You wanted me to take fucking veritaserum with you and I did that too! You made me swear I'd do whatever I had to in order to return to you and-" He tore up his sleeve to reveal the dark mark. "Look! I did this to myself! For you! And now you're asking me to lead you somewhere where you'll most likely be killed?" He snorted and pushed her wand away in disgust. Silent tears had begun sliding down Ginny's face. They had seemingly forgotten about Hermione. "It'll never be good enough for you and I know why. It's because I can never be what you really want. I saw you on the train. I saw."
Hermione watched them, wide-eyed, but didn't interrupt.
"You don't understand," Ginny murmured, shaking her head. "You have no idea."
"I understand enough," he spat. "And I wish I had never given in, but it's too late. My life is already as fucked sideways because of you. So go race after your little friends if you want, but I'm not going to feel guilty if you get yourself killed. It's not my fault anymore." He clenched his teeth and looked away from her. "I think they would have taken them to my house."
Ginny exhaled loudly, but before she could speak, there came a voice from the darkness. "I agree." The three of them whipped around to see Dumbledore emerging into the moonlight. "Malfoy Manor makes logical sense. With your father gone, taking the place must have been an easy task for Lord Voldemort. But as the one in charge of your safety, I cannot allow you to mount a rescue operation."
"But-" Hermione started.
Dumbledore held up a hand. "I shall alert the Order," he assured her. "And your friends will be returned to you." The three teenagers just stared at him. "And you, Draco... I offer you protection at Hogwarts."
Draco pushed down his sleeve, self-conscious under Dumbledore's piercing gaze. "If my mom orders me home, nothing can be done," Draco said quietly.
"Something can always be done," Dumbledore asserted gently. "I wish you had come to me sooner."
"Why do you trust me?" Draco asked, puzzled by Dumbledore's assumptions.
"You are no death eater," he answered, smiling. "It's as clear as day. Now I must insist our immediate return to Hogwarts. Please come grab hold of my arm and I will apparate us." The teens didn't argue, but complied, grabbing their brooms and then gripping Dumbledore's arm. "Hold on tight," he instructed and then turned.
After a short uncomfortable moment, they appeared in front of Hogwart's gates. Ginny resisted the urge to barf by sitting down and putting her head in her hands. "Mr. Malfoy," she heard Dumbledore say. "Please assist Miss Weasley, would you? We should get onto the grounds as soon as possible."
Ginny felt hands grab her and pull her up roughly. She closed her eyes as the dizziness intensified. Draco put his arm around her and lead her through the gates. "I have to sit down," she mumbled, detaching herself from him and slumping to the ground.
Draco stopped and watched Dumbledore as he silently cast with his wand, fortifying the enchantments protecting Hogwarts. Hermione looked towards the castle, stony-faced. When Dumbledore was finished, he turned to them. "All set here," he announced. "Now let us get inside before we freeze." He hurried forwards at an alarming speed and Hermione was quick to fall in step with him.
Ginny took a deep breath and wobbled to her feet, ignoring Draco's offered hand. She followed after Dumbledore slowly, still feeling woozy.
"Ginny," Draco began, matching her pace.
"I'm too tired to do this," she objected. "Today... Too much."
"I can't wait," he insisted. "We need to talk now."
"I think you've said all you need to say," she said, not looking at him.
"Don't be like this," he snapped. "What's that even supposed to mean?"
"It means," Ginny said, "that you've made it perfectly clear that there's no point in being with me because I clearly just want to be with Tom Riddle and apparently also because I've fucked your life over."
Draco grabbed her shoulders and made her face him. "You were treating me like your enemy," he defended. "You said you would still want me no matter what I did because you were in love with me. And after all the shit I went through to get back to you, you treat me like... like that."
Ginny crossed her arms. "Why would I do that?" she asked sarcastically. "Oh let's see... My brother was almost killed, Harry became possessed and almost made me kill him while simultaneously molesting me, and two of my best friends were abducted. And then I find out that none of that would have happened if the boy I'm love with hadn't become a death eater and used an Unforgiveable on an auror."
"What would you have me do?" Draco cried. "If I had refused him, that would not have gone unpunished."
Ginny remembered earlier that same day she had prayed Draco would come back, even as a death eater, but she had not been prepared with dealing with the reality of that possibility. "You shouldn't have left at all," she answered.
"And you would have stayed all safe at Hogwarts while your mother was in his hands?" Draco asked.
"If she was a death eater," Ginny spat.
"She's not," he retorted. "My father is the one that got us into this."
"We all make our own decisions, Draco," Ginny argued. "Your mother could have made different choices."
"You won't ever understand," he said.
"Fine," she replied, starting forwards once more.
Draco stayed beside her. "Please don't be like this!" he growled.
"What do you want from me?" she demanded, speeding up. Dumbledore and Hermione were almost to the castle already.
He stopped her again, whipping her around to face him. "I love you," he pronounced, eyes fixed on hers. "What else do you want me to say?"
Ginny face softened a bit, but she bit her lip, forcing a glare. "I want you to tell me you'll never go back to him," she told him. "Ever."
"I never planned to," he said. "That's why I confronted Bellatrix. She'll tell him."
Ginny looked unphased. "And you have to tell Dumbledore everything you know and everything you did," she continued. "The Order will need this information. Harry will need it. I want you to tell him too." Draco's jaw clenched, but he nodded stiffly his agreement. "You need to promise me you'll never do anything like this again."
"I promise," he said quietly.
"I can't deal with..." she trailed off, gulping. "I can't be with someone who will spontaneously turn death eater on me."
"I'm not one," he insisted. "I won't ever be one. You have to believe that I only-"
"I do believe you," she murmured, looking down at her feet. "And you did exactly what I wanted you to do. It's horrible, but-" She stopped talking, mortified by her confession.
Draco put his hands on either side of her face and made her look up at him. "We don't need to talk about that," he said, lowering his face towards hers.
Ginny seemed overwhelmed. "I-" she stammered. "You- I wanted you to come back alive no matter what. It was selfish, but I never thought-"
"Shh," Draco interrupted softly and pressed his lips against hers. Ginny responded by throwing her arms around his neck and recriprocating with enthusiasm. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet.
When they parted, breathless, her set her back down. "I told you I'd still want you," she breathed. "I'm in love with you, after all."
"Don't get too attached," he said. "We'll have to see if your brother lets me live."
Draco expected Ginny to laugh, but her face fell.
"Fuck," he muttered.
End Note: Didn't post this for a while because I'm at a place without internet. But oh ho ho dear reader... HP6 movie comes out in only two days! Less! I made two robes tonight. I'll be going as a Gryffindor. I used to always be a Slytherin, but I realized I'm not really that ambitious or anything. I was living a lie! Brave and loyal is more my thing. (AND I SWEAR I'M NOT A HUFFLEPUFF EVEN THOUGH THAT FACEBOOK QUIZ THING SAID I WAS!)
