Disclaimer: None of this is mine except the plot and a few characters
Chapter 36
Monday dawned with an autumn crisp scent in the air. Ginny watched the clouds roll by outside Dumbledore's office window. They had told him of their conversation the night before, and he was quite happy to hear that Draco was sure of the whereabouts of the locket Horcrux. He even agreed that Draco should go to retrieve it as soon as possible.
"Alright, you two go on and get some food before classes begin, we will meet back in the room of requirement at lunch, let me know then if either of you have come up with a plausible reason for Draco to be at the Manor when he should be at school."
They made their way to the Great Hall hand in hand. It was difficult for them to not tell Pansy and Blaise the news straight away, but it was not safe to discuss out in the open. After breakfast Pansy and Draco headed off to Trelawney's tower together and Blaise walked with Ginny to the front steps of the school.
"I'm going to stay here and watch until you are in the greenhouse, that way I can still get to Ancient Ruins in time." Blaise said once they reached the bottom step.
"Okay, I'll wait until you are back here to head over to Hagrid's after class," Ginny didn't like being babysat but she knew she was more vulnerable out on the grounds, they had discussed it Saturday night and Dumbledore agreed that the extra security on her was for the best, although she was pretty sure it had a bit to do with Dumbledore fearing the wrath of her Mum.
"See you later," Blaise called after her, she turned and waved back. The wind was blowing quite a bit but it was a warm breeze so Ginny removed her school robe to enjoy what would most likely be the last of the nice weather. She walked along admiring the varying colors of leaves coating the trees of the forbidden forest. Halfway to the greenhouse she heard someone jogging up behind her. Ginny continued on at her current pace, she didn't want to appear extra jumpy and she knew Blaise would have warned her if it was anyone to worry about. The footsteps grew closer then slowed as the person caught up with her and fell in step beside her.
"There is something different about you today."
"Well, I braided my hair this morning instead of wearing it down, maybe that's it?" Ginny gave Luna a small smile. She knew she had been rather rude to her the last time they had spoken, but Luna had a way of disregarding the past which Ginny was now very grateful for.
"No, I think it has more to do with the tattoo that shows through your white blouse sleeve there." Sure enough Ginny glanced down in the direction Luna had nodded and she could see her dark mark through the white material. She quickly pulled her robes on, but before she could say anything in her defense Luna spoke again.
"Don't worry, my father is the news spreader in the family, not me, I won't tell. You should talk to Neville though, he has been having nightmares about you the last few nights and he is very worried about you."
"Thanks, you know, for not telling anyone," Ginny really wasn't sure what to say.
"No problem, I know what side you are on, beside sworn to secrecy and such anyway."
"Yeah, I guess I am going to a new topic of discussion during Order meetings huh?" She knew the Order had been told of her latest escapade, but she had forgotten that Luna and Neville were now a part of it. That explained why Neville was having nightmares about her.
"You know that everyone wanted you in too. Your mother only put a stop to it because she cares about you and it scared her to think that all her children would be involved in this war. She knew Ron would play a part being Harry's best friend, and all the others were already involved, but she was still holding out hope that at one of the family would be able to escape without being in the middle of everything. You really can't blame her for being concerned." Luna fiddled with her dangling sea shell earring as she spoke.
"I know." Ginny replied softly. "Besides if I had been in the Order, I don't think I would have had the right memories to convince Lucius Malfoy that I wasn't part of all that. I really needed him to accept me as Draco's; it really is a key point in things I am sure will come to pass." Luna merely gave her a sideways glance but didn't ask questions which Ginny breathed a sigh of relief for. Once the girls reached the greenhouses, Ginny turned and waved to Blaise, he waved back and quickly disappeared back into the castle.
"Well at least your new friends take good care of you." Luna said with a smile as they took seats together at one of the gardening benches.
"Yeah they do, they are nothing like everybody thinks. Sure they have been somewhat rude and obnoxious to others in the past but it is really just their way of protecting one another. Slytherin house is more of a family than just classmates."
"You seem happy and in my opinion that's all that matters." She began gathering the tools they would need for their ongoing class assignment, but then abruptly turned back to Ginny a look of concern on her face. "You haven't been in contact with any Venomous Randiers have you? They can often cause false happiness and I would rather be safe than sorry."
Ginny recognized the name from an article she glanced at in the Quibbler, back when she had read the article Luna's father had published by Rita Skeeter about Harry. "Nope, can't say that I have."
"That's a relief," Luna sighed. Ginny just shook her head and enjoyed the rest of the lesson with her friend beside her.
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Draco left the tower rather flustered after class. He and Pansy had spent the whole class trying to get a closer look at whatever Death Eater mission he was destined to fail. But they came no closer to answers than they had before. All that was clear was that another would fulfill his orders and that his punishment was not going to be death, this alone did not make him feel any better. And to make matters worse he was developing a migraine from that damned incense she used.
"Draco relax." Pansy said walking along beside him looking around to find them well ahead of the others still descending the ladder.
"I can't, Pans. Don't you see I may have put Ginny into even more danger than she is already. If my father knows about her than rest assured so does he. If I fail it is not uncommon for them to punish people we do care about. I know my mother has been the object of rage after Lucius's mistakes."
"Ginny is stronger than most people give her credit for. I think aside from Potter and Dumbledore she should be the one the Dark lord fears most, she knows him like no one else ever will. Now can we drop this for awhile I really don't like discussing this in the halls." She looked around just to make sure again that no one was within earshot.
"Okay you're right, but just for the record I don't feel any better about it." They continued on to Charms in silence. Once there they took their usual seats and Draco anxiously awaited Blaise's arrival. He finally turned up just before the bell rang signaling the start of class, he looked a little flushed.
"Is everything okay?" Draco asked more than just a bit concerned, while Blaise flopped down into his chair.
"Oh yeah, everything is fine. Just cut it a bit close with waiting for her to get over to Hagrid's, then making it up here in time so I had to run the last stretch." Blaise replied trying to catch his breath between words. Draco felt his muscles relax at knowing she was okay.
At the end of class he told Pansy and Blaise to go wait for him in the room of requirement. "I'll go get Ginny and we'll explain when we get there."
When he reached the stone steps leading out of the castle he stopped and spotted Ginny right away waiting by Hagrid's cabin someone else was with her. He scanned the surrounding area before waiving her up to the castle. As she got closer he saw that it was that Loony girl that was with her.
"Hey, I was expecting Blaise to come and get me, good thing you kinda stand out in the crowd huh?" She said putting her arm around his waist.
Draco gave her a little squeeze. "Yeah, look who's talking."
"So have you ever really met Luna before?"
Draco raised his eyebrow, "No, not properly."
"Well in that case, Draco meet Luna Lovegood, Luna, Draco Malfoy." Ginny grinned at them each in turn.
"Um… nice to meet you." Draco said tentatively.
"You as well," she replied, "So is it true that you are the Slytherin Sex God?" Draco could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, and looked to Ginny for some clue on how to respond to such a question.
"Absolutely." Ginny said taking Draco's hand and pulling him back into the castle. "We'll meet you up there."
"What in the name of Merlin was that about?" Draco asked as they made their way up the stairs.
"Luna is going to be joining us for our little meeting; she is going to get Neville. Since they are in the Order and already know, I figured they could help out too."
"Okay, but I was referring more to the absurd question."
Ginny laughed. "That is just how Luna is; she has a way of finding just the right thing to say to make people uncomfortable. And I have to say the look on your face made it very clear she had succeeded in that mission."
"Yeah, you can say that again. Really is it that wide spread of a rumor?" He asked as they reached the right spot in the corridor and began to walk back and forth.
"I don't know, I think there may be a few first year Hufflepuffs who don't know yet." They were both laughing as they entered the room. Blaise, Pansy, Snape and Dumbledore were already there waiting.
"Ah yes and here is the Death Eater Duo now. Nice to see they haven't gotten to your sense of humor yet." Blaise said casting a sideways glance at Snape.
"I quite agree, laughter is a powerful thing especially in such times as these, we must always try to find humor and joy in life less we be swallowed by the darkness." Dumbledore added. This time Draco looked to Snape.
"What?" The potions master retorted. "I can laugh you know; it just takes something a bit more than a sexual reputation to get me giddy." Draco didn't realize he had left his mind so open as to let anyone read him before they entered the room. He made a mental note to work on keeping his wall up. At this thought Snape sent him a smirk.
As he and Ginny sat down the door opened once more and the Trio along with Looney Lovegood and Longbottom came in. Once everyone was settled and introduced properly they began discussing recent events and different reasons for Draco to have to go to the manor. Longbottom kept throwing Ginny worried looks throughout the conversation. In the end they decided that rather than coming up with a story as top why Draco was home, it would be better to find a reason for Snape to need to meet with Lucius right away.
"I will floo him at 9 o'clock tonight and tell him to meet me right away in Hogsmede. I will have to give him some type of information to get him to come out on such short notice."
Dumbledore thought in silence for a few moments before saying, "Alright then, you may inform him of my current health concerns. But be sure to tell them four months instead of the actual six, I may be able to use this to my advantage, and make sure he understands how I came to be in this predicament. He may not understand the significance but his master surely will."
"Professor are you sure?" Snape's voice cut through the various muttering from the teenagers. Draco couldn't help but wonder what the hell his professors were talking about. What was wrong with Dumbledore?
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A/N – As always sorry for the delay in updates, but as I have always said life and family come first. I really wanted this chapter to be longer but I couldn't make you guys wait any longer most of this has been typed since the last update and I really wanted to get it out there for you. Hopefully the reviews will inspire me to get my butt back in gear (hint hint). Well hope you enjoy.