IWSC: Bonus Round
Durmstrang: FEAR
Year: 6
Word Count: 1570
Mandatory prompt: [Character] Ginny
Secondary prompt: [Dialogue] "You're not the shallow horrible excuse for a human being I first thought you were."
A/N: This is an AU/what-if story set during Deathly Hallows.
Two Sides of the Same Coin
Ginny rushed into an unused classroom, shutting the door behind her and putting her ear to the door to hear if anyone was following
Silence.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Ginny turned her back to the door. Her head leaning against the aging wood.
"Hiding from someone?"
Ginny gasped, whipping out her wand and aiming at the intruding voice. A small light shone from the end of her wand.
"Who's there?" Her voice trembled as she tried to calm her breathing and racing heartbeat.
There was a flicker of light at the far side of the room and a luminescent face appeared in its far corner: Draco Malfoy.
"What are you doing here?" Ginny inquired.
"I could ask you the same thing," Malfoy said, but it was a bark without a bite in it. He seemed subdued somehow.
The Slytherin flicked his wand to light a few candles. It gave the room a soft glow, but not enough light that it could be seen outside the frost-covered windows or the crack under the door.
"So? What are you doing here?" Draco questioned, making her eyebrows rise.
"Why don't you mind your business?" she quipped.
"Hostile much?" Draco observed. "It's just a question."
Something about him unnerved her. He seemed… different.
Ginny slowly moved over to one of the abandoned stools far away from the Slytherin, her wand still trained on him. She didn't trust Malfoy.
"You want to tell me why you chose to hide here?" he asked, sitting down on one of the cast-off dusty chairs. "Don't usually see Gryffindors this side of the castle."
"Not my choice," Ginny said. "One of the Carrow twins. I almost ran into him."
"Why would you be so stupid as to be where the Carrows are?" he scolded. "You Gryffindors never think. You always jump head-first into problems!"
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Ginny barked back. Hermione was right. He was a foul, evil little cockroach. "I'm not one of your lackeys who blindly follows you around."
000_000_000
Draco sighed and turned his back towards her. He didn't want his only sanctuary to be tainted with arguing. There was a long moment of silence, neither willing to say anything. After a while, Ginny lowered her wand, and she spoke calmly this time around.
"So," Ginny asked softly. "Why are you here alone?"
Draco looked back at the girl. She was twirling her wand between her fingers and looked calmer than she did when she rushed in. The Slytherin could see worry lines on her brow. It reminded Draco of himself.
"Peace," Draco mumbled. "A place to think."
Ginny rolled her eyes.
"I would think you'd understand the need to find peace in a place that no longer has it," he drawled only to be met with derision.
_000_000_000
Ginny scoffed. Peace. Why would Draco Malfoy have to worry about peace? He was a Malfoy! He didn't have family on the run, not knowing if they were dead or alive! His family was safe at home. Ron— he was a thorn in her side, but that's just what brothers do. Hermione treated her like a sister. It was nice having another girl around that understood what she was going through. And then there was Harry. 'Harry', she sighed to herself. She was just beginning to find love and that was put on hold. Would that part of her life ever be pursued?
"Why would you be in search of peace?" Ginny asked. "You should be happy. The school finally matches your skewed view of the world!"
"Why would you say that?" he barked, standing up. His nostrils flared. "Because I am Slytherin I should be happy things are like this? You don't know me!"
Draco's grey eyes seemed to shoot sparks at Ginny, and she noticed distantly that his fingernails were biting into his palms.
She scoffed. As though he had a reason to be angry! "Things are perfect for you," she told him indignantly. "You don't have to worry about your family! You don't have to wait and wonder what will happen to them! I have to worry if my oldest brother will be alright! Since You-Know-Who is trying to acquire dragons, I'm scared for Charlie's safety. You have no idea what it feels like seeing the owls come into the Great Hall every day praying that this won't be the letter saying that a member of my family is dead."
000_000_000_
Draco just stared at her. He listened, but couldn't fathom how simple-minded she was. She really believed that she was the only one who was fearful of what could happen to their family. The anger he felt just a moment ago dissipated. His once tense shoulders sagged as his tightened fists loosened. The half-moon crescents from his fingernails began to sting. It was that irritation that grounded him; he sighed.
"You think you're the only one that's worried about the owl posts," Draco spoke softly. "You think you're the only one scared that you're one owl away from your whole world shattering around you? You say you're worried about your brothers and what You-Know-Who might do. I'm worried about my mum because she is in the same house with that monster! She has to cater to that crazed man living in her own home! I was forced to be in his service! You have no idea what I've been through!"
Draco pulled up the sleeve of his left arm. "This was forced on me." He showed the Dark Mark. "I didn't want it!"
He could feel anger start to build again and began to pace. "Do you have any clue what it feels like to watch someone die just because of the subject they teach, knowing that there is nothing you can do? You cannot show any emotion against what is happening. You can't show anything other than hatred for anyone that does not follow the Dark Lord's philosophies."
Draco sat back down on the stool he'd been sitting on before. "At least you can talk to your parents. I can't."
_000_000_000
Ginny was stunned silent. She couldn't believe what she heard. It never crossed her mind that Draco was going through all of that. Getting a good look at the Slytherin, she could see the dark circles under his eyes. She suddenly noticed the pronounced cheekbones and jawline that spoke of his not eating.
"Listen, Malfoy—"
"No," Draco said, cutting her off. "I don't want to hear it! I've had enough of people's pity or excuses! I came in here for some peace and quiet. If you want to stay, stay. I won't bother you. But leave me alone. I want just a smidgen of peace."
Ginny walked over to where Draco was and sat down near him. She didn't want to crowd him, but after hearing what he said and how he said it, she didn't think he should go through this alone.
A long moment of silence passed between the two once rival students. In their time of quiet contemplation, a calm, silent understanding developed between the two of them.
They understood that they both had fears for their loved ones that were outside of Hogwarts, and that offered them a camaraderie that wouldn't have existed in any other situation.
Ginny looked over at Draco and saw a different person sitting in the classroom with her. He was no longer that spoilt brat she'd always assumed him to be. Hearing what he worried about, and how much he feared for his mum, she felt a little bad for jumping down his throat.
Growing up in the Weasley household, Molly Weasley brought her children up with the belief that differences could be settled with food. "You may not agree in the end, but there is an understanding," that was what her mother had always told her. Ginny decided to see if her mum's method worked.
"Do you want something to eat?" Ginny asked in a half-whisper.
After so long spent in silence, Draco seemed to have almost forgotten that he wasn't alone in the dusty room. He looked at the Gryffindor in question.
"What?"
"Are you hungry?" Ginny asked again, a little slower. "You know food for consumption, maybe even some tea to wash it down with."
"Hilarious," Draco smirked.
This suggested that he was trying not to smile. Progress.
"Well, are you?"
"Sure," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders.
Ginny called Winky, asking her to bring her a light snack and tea for two.
It didn't take long for the food to come. There were cucumber sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, pumpkin pasties, and chocolate biscuits. Surprisingly, the two rival house students ate in comfortable silence. After most of the food was gone, Ginny poured herself another cup of tea. She looked over at Draco and saw that he was staring out in space.
"Malfoy," Ginny mumbled, "I-I thank you for joining me."
"Yeah, sure." Draco nodded, taking a sip of his tea.
"You know," Ginny said, smirking. "You're not the shallow horrible excuse for a human being I first thought you were."
All of Draco's long-fostered superiority went out the window when he spits his tea out of his mouth to avoid choking.
After a long moment getting his breathing under control, he said, "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take that."
"It's a compliment," Ginny said smiling.
"Thanks?" Draco said. "I think."
THE END
A/N: I know it's a little late, but Happy Mother's Day!
My mom asked for the bonus round story. So, here it is.
Thank you for taking the time to read it. Please leave a review letting me know what you think.
Many hugs and kisses
Mandancie