Draco's Desires

Part Four

Reopening The Chamber

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I hadn't seen Ginny by herself since the night of the Yule Ball. She always seemed to be with other girls from her class or else with Potter and his group. But they ignored her for the most part. That is to say, they didn't realize how special and important and pretty she was, which made me want to deck them and scream at them to take her with them! Don't ignore her and leave her alone by herself! You would think this would be of a benefit to me, allowing me to spend time with her, but I didn't want to scare her away, especially after Pansy creeped her out at the Ball. Poor Ginny, I'll reckon she's afraid that Pansy would kill her is she was seen with me. Honestly, I'm not so doubtful that Pansy wouldn't.

With the Tri-Wizard competition coming up, Potter and his gang were even more negligent of Ginny than usual. They were all in the library sorting through books, trying desperately to get Potter ready for the big day. I personally hoped his hair would alight, courtesy of a Blast Ended Screwt.

Anyway, I was traipsing the halls, passing the time one evening after classes, when I spotted Ginny walking all alone. She looked excitable, glancing around nervously, so I followed her to see where she was going. She pushed open the door to a girls' bathroom and went in. I stopped and grumbled. So she was just going to use the bathroom…and here I thought she was up to something. I was dying for Ginny to be up to something no good.

I was about to walk away when I noticed she had gone into the bathroom that was always out of order. Why would she want to go in there, anyway? I decided to give her a surprise when she came out of the stalls, and pushed my way in there. Draco Malfoy does and gets what he wants!

The ghost of a young girl around my age confronted me the second I was through the door. She glared at me through cokebottle glasses and sniffled. She reminded me distinctly of Hermione Granger, except that even Granger was better looking.

She glared at me. "What are you doing in here? This is the girls' bathroom." The term 'no s**t' came to mind, but I kept quiet.

"Why do you care, anyway? I'm looking for someone. Did a red-head come in here a few minutes ago?"

"Oh yes, the Weasley girl." She sniffed. "Pretty little thing, but lonely." She gave me a pouty look. "But you can't have her. She's MY friend."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…well…whatever you say." I pushed past the ghost girl to find Ginny for myself.

"Don't let her go back in the Chamber!" The ghost suddenly yelled at me.

I turned sharply. "Chamber?" I was all ears now, excitement rising in my stomach and chest. Was Ginny going back to the Chamber of Secrets?

"Don't let her go. Unless of course you want her to die." The ghost girl looked panicked. "When the Chamber was opened the first time, I was killed by the Basilisk. Harry Potter said so."

Harry Potter again. What does Potter know? I moved out of the little tiled hallway and into the main bathroom space. Ginny was kneeling in front of one of the sinks, staring intently at the piping. She was so intent on looking at it, that she hadn't even heard my bizarre conversation with the miserable ghost. But at this point she seemed to know I was there. "What are you doing in here, Draco?" She continued to examine the piping.

"Whatever you're doing, Ginny."

She grinned at this. "I was just thinking…well, wondering…about things."

I had to laugh at the way she was always so shy at getting out her words. But my stomach was leaping with excitement as I observed the piping. "Your little ghost friend guarding the door over there says that she's afraid you'll go in the Chamber again." My eyes gleamed. "Ginny, how do you get to the Chamber of Secrets?"

She jumped. "Why do you want to know? We can't go down there. There might be another Basilisk, or worse!"

"Dumbledore told us all that the Basilisk had been killed by Potter. I don't think there's anything to worry about now. And don't you want to see it? Don't you want to look at the glory of the Chamber when you're not terrified?" My father had told me stories about the Chamber as a small boy and I wanted so much to see it. And this little girl could be the one to take me down there. We'd be possessed by the sheer power of it and I would have Ginny, as well as the Chamber, as my own.

"You're acting sick. I don't think it was all that great, Draco."

"But you were scared and crying and upset. Now you're a bright, powerful young woman!" I think I was convincing her. At least she was blushing a lot. "Now, how does it open? Do you remember?"

"I was under Tom Riddle's control, but I think I do. I remember how to say the words at least."

The ghost swooped down and kneeled beside us, peering at the pipes. "Don't do it, Ginny! I'll go get Harry and he'll come after you again!"

I looked at her threateningly, pulling out my wand. "I wouldn't do that."

"You can't hurt me. I'm already dead," the ghost said miserably, although rather smugly in my opinion. Boastful little freak.

Ginny smirked, her eyes growing dark and hard. "Like Harry would care much anyway. He likes Cho Chang." She pulled out her own wand, a small 8 inches of a red wood. It suited her well. "Unicorn tail hair," she said to me, running a finger lovingly over her wand. "I hope it's powerful enough to take on whatever we might find down there. And please let the Basilisk be dead!"'

"Ginny! You can't really go down there again! I'll tell Harry!"

Ginny frowned. "Go ahead Myrtle…we'll just see if he cares! After all, an adventure of my own wouldn't be so bad. I never have any fun, and Ron and the others are always doing something. Besides, what would it hurt now that Tom Riddle is gone?" She looked at me for confirmation.

Myrtle moaned, but didn't move from her spot. Ginny ran her hand along the pipes. "I'll bet it's still here. I doubt Professor Dumbledore thought anyone would be thick enough to go back down there again. Especially me."

"And if he did think of that, I know a charm to disable blocking spells." I grinned, glad to be a quick study of the Dark Arts.

She didn't ask how this could be done, or show any surprise. Maybe she was getting used to me and the dark things I did. She just peered at one of the copper taps. She ran her finger over it and squinted. What in the heck was she doing?

She suddenly made a distinct hissing sound that seemed to surprise even herself. She sat down hard on the tile floor and shivered. "Draco, I can't. I just can't!" She was loosing her nerve.

I looked at her incredulously. "Parseltongue? You speak Parseltongue like Potter?" What a woman!

She shook her head. "I don't really speak it. I just learned enough while I was possessed to be able to control the Basilisk."

This was a bit comforting. The thought of the Basilisk had me a little worried, but if Ginny knew a bit of Parseltongue, I figured we were up for clear sailing. "Go ahead, Ginny. Do it again and see if the Chamber opens. Don't be scared, because I'll keep you safe."

She opened her mouth and made the hissing sound right at the tap and the sink sank down into the floor, exposing a large pipe. "That's it." Ginny said bleakly.

"Well, I'm going down!" This was too much for me not to take advantage of. I was never one to let opportunities slip through my fingers. "Catch me if you can!" I bravely dove into the tunnel and started to slide.

"Wait! Draco!" I heard Ginny call my name and then come hurdling down after me. I stuck my legs out and braced my feet against the walls of the pipe to wait for Ginny to catch up. She came sliding along and smacked into me with her small bit of weight. I laughed and let myself slide again, this time pulling Ginny into my lap to protect her…just in case. She screamed like bloody hell, but I was quite excited. After a few minutes of endless sliding we flopped out of the large pipe and landed in the muck at the bottom. "Oh yuck!"

"Oh, I forgot how messy it was down here!" Ginny was purely disgusted.

"Well, next time we come down we're putting a pillow or something there to catch us without getting all dirty. Lumos!" I held up my wand.

She blinked. "Next time?"

I just grinned.

"Draco, I don't like it down here." She was trembling dreadfully.

I started to feel a bit guilty, despite how excited I was. I pulled her to her feet and wrapped my arm around her as I lead her along. "There's nothing to be scared of. My father is Lucius Malfoy, and nothing would dare hurt me!"

"Tell that to Tom Riddle!" She squeaked, looking around a bit wildly.

Tom Riddle…Lord Voldemort's old name. Well, I certainly wasn't afraid of anyone named Tom Riddle, but I wouldn't be quite sure what to do in Voldemort's presence. My father may be a Death Eater, but I wasn't sure what I was. I had a nasty picture of the Dark Lord using one of the Unforgivable Curses on sweet Ginny, but as far as I was concerned, this was my Chamber now. He would have to deal with me!

Ginny looked at me as if she knew I was thinking conceited thoughts. I nearly laughed as we edged past an ancient snakeskin that hardly existed anymore. Ginny gripped my arm. "That's from the Basilisk!"

"Don't worry. It's dead now." I helped her over some crumbling rocks from an old cave-in.

"See, Draco? This is where Professor Lockhart tried to erase Ron and Harry's memories!" She was starting to become more fascinated than frightened. It was like watching a total transformation right before my eyes.

We walked a bit more until we came to a solid stone wall with serpent statues entwining on it. "How do we get by here, Ginny?" I ran my hand over the cold stone and the emerald eyes of the snakes, trying to soak up any sweet evil vibes. Ginny walked right up to the wall and hissed at it. The serpents parted, as the wall slid apart down the middle.

We were then looking around in wonder as we entered the main room of the chamber. "Oh my gosh…look at this place!" Ginny was speechless.

I squeezed her hand and an evil smile slid across my face. "This our place, Ginny. All ours…"

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