Disclaimer:
All but plot belongs to the great and almighty JK Rowling.
A/N:
I'm sorry this has taken so long to post, but to be honest, I've had somewhat
of a writer's block. Also, I've been distracted by a HUGE project, and also by that
little (HAH, little, whatever) thing with New York and Washington DC. My heart
goes out to all those who lost someone or something (but didn't we all?) in the
terrible tragedy of the demise of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and
the fourth plane crash in Pennsylvania. But . . . on the happier side, I've
finally got the thirteenth chapter written. Hurray!! So without any further
ado, I give you chapter thirteen of The Return of Salazar Slytherin.
Planning
Draco was not as much sad anymore as he was angry. It seems the one good thing in his life was taken from him. He only had a little while to be with her, and then she died. Why did he have so much bad luck?
After the left the Burrow,
he had found himself walking to the rock where they had made out only a half
hour ago. A half hour, he thought, sneering. My whole life changed in
a half hour.
He sat on the rock, no
longer feeling the heat that his leather outfit attracted. Instead, he felt
oddly cold. Deep inside him something was aching, and his stomach felt hollow.
The only thing he felt like doing was killing Slytherin at the moment. With his
bare hands. It would be satisfying to dig his fingernails into his neck, the
neck that once belonged to his father, and watch as he slowly lost life . . .
But he knew he wouldn't do
that. The only person he would seriously consider killing was himself. What did
he have to live for anymore? One more year of Hogwarts, then what? What job
would he get, where would he live (surely not in his house), who would he
eventually marry? Besides, with Slytherin powerful and mighty, the next few
years would consist of mass panic and people living in fear, just like the time
of Voldemort.
"Draco?"
He instantly recognized the
voice, and thought, I've lost it. He obviously cared for her so much
that he was hearing her voice.
Then he turned around, and
there she was. As real and solid as she had been an hour ago, her fiery hair
slightly damp, hanging around her shoulders. There wasn't a trace of blood on
her. She had been walking towards him, but when his eyes met hers she burst out
grinning and began to run. Draco stood up and by the time she reached him she
was laughing. Planting her lips on his, she giggled into his mouth, while he
kissed her with all he had.
Ginny was alive. He
was so happy he didn't care how, but he just kissed her, tasting her, his hands
feeling the smoothness of her skin, the warmth of her body pressed against his.
He hadn't thought he'd ever hold her again, but he was.
When Ginny pulled her mouth
away from Draco's, she was still smiling. They didn't release each other, but
just stared into each other's eyes.
"Surprise," she said softly,
the grin on her face nearly melting his heart.
"More like 'shock'," he
corrected.
"I don't know what happen,"
she confessed. "One minute I was in extreme pain, and the next I wasn't and the
knife wasn't in me anymore."
"So . . . what, did all the
blood that you lost get sucked back into you?"
"Honestly, how can you make
so light of the situation?" But her bright smile gave away that she was pleased
with how he was reacting to her being alive.
"It's sort of like that
saying: 'If I didn't laugh, I'd cry'. Except I wouldn't really cry, because . .
. I just wouldn't. I just wouldn't be laughing," he said seriously.
"Whatever you say, Draco,"
she said, rolling her eyes. "C'mon, let's get back. I'm starving."
Later that night, Molly Weasley returned home. Fred and George left
back to their joke shop. Of course, no one told Mrs. Weasley that Ginny had
been dead for a few minutes. In fact, they didn't even mention Slytherin coming
to the house.
While she fixed dinner, Ron,
Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Draco went into the backyard and sat on the ground
in a circle, trying to figure out how to get Slytherin out of the way.
Eventually he'd find out that Ginny was alive, and the next time he killed her
she might not magically wake up.
"The only way we can get him
to leave us alone is to kill him," Draco stated simply.
"Then I say we leave it to
the Ministry," Ron said, his arm around Hermione.
"But we're the only ones who
know who Slytherin really is," Harry pointed out.
"So?" Ron asked.
Draco shot him a dark look.
"So, you idiot, we're the only ones who can do anything."
Ron glared angrily, and
snapped, "Well, then why don't we tell other people?"
"Who would believe us?"
Hermione asked softly, as if afraid Ron would get mad at her for siding with
everyone else.
"They'll have to once
Slytherin starts to take over the world," he answered.
"Still, we should try and do
something, shouldn't we?" Ginny spoke up.
Everyone was silent for a
moment. Then Harry said, "Well, it is up to Ginny. She's the only one in danger
here."
"All right," Ron sighed
angrily. "Gin, what do you want to do?"
"Try and see if we can find
anything that could help us," she announced. "I don't want us to burst into the
room and try and kill Slytherin with only wands and our pathetic knowledge on
magic."
"Are you saying you want us
to learn Dark Arts?" Hermione asked.
"If necessary," Ginny
relented.
"Well, then we got a great
teacher," Ron said brightly. "Malfoy!"
"Shut up, Ron," Ginny
snapped.
Draco smiled triumphantly at
Ron, and grabbed Ginny's hand just to annoy him further. "I've forgotten a lot
of Dark magic," he admitted coldly.
"I can find some books about
it," Hermione said slowly, reluctant to get into something that had to do with
Dark Arts.
"Are you sure we should do
this?" Ron asked.
"It's not like we're going
to use the Dark magic on innocent people," Harry pointed out. "Just on
Slytherin."
Ron shrugged.
"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley
yelled from inside.
"Well," Ginny said, standing
slowly and reaching to help Draco up, "we don't have to get started
immediately. Slytherin won't know that I'm alive for another couple of days
yet. But Hermione, see if you can get those books as soon as you can."
Dinner was quiet, no one
really having much to say. With a full stomach, Ginny felt exhausted. Even
though it was barely dark, she went to bed early. Draco followed her up the
stairs into her room.
"I'll just wait with you
until you fall asleep," he said smoothly.
Ginny tried to contain her
glee and quickly changed into her pajamas. Then she snuggled under the covers
and closed her eyes. But she couldn't fall asleep, fully aware that Draco was
across the room and watching her.
She opened one eye and
smiled a little. "Come and hold me while I try and fall asleep," she said,
hoping she didn't sound like a two-year-old.
But he obeyed, and kicked
off his shoes and peeled off his jacket before crawling in next to her. And she
fell asleep, safe and warm in his arms, where the troubles of the world seemed
so far away.
"I love you," she murmured
before she slipped off into sleep.
And maybe she dreamt it, but
she could've sworn he replied, "I love you."
A/N: Aww, isn't that sweet? All right, peoples, I hope I've satisfied
your craving – I'll be hoping to get the next chapter out pretty quickly!!
All right, time for thank yous:
w&m_law (Draco wasn't sad too long, was he?), *~*GinnyPotter*~*
(I'm happy she's alive, too, if I killed her I think I'd have to flame
myself!!! lol), 007 (me too), Lady Ev (Slytherin is WAY overconfident. Perhaps
he should have pursued the Narcissa issue further, but he didn't think much of
it), AliEnChiCk (sorry this took so long to get posted!!!!!!), Zoemma (Tony the
Tiger? Quote: "GRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!" lol, just kidding, of course), Draco's Lil
Angel, Aquaria (MARRIED?!!! Now THAT'S an idea…..), Burke (thanks!!),
sOmEoNeSpEcIaL, Hermione M. Granger (I'll try to keep it going as long as I
can, but if that's not enough, check out my other stories!), summer_thyme
(you've probably wasted away by the time it took me to get this stupid chapter
out!!! Lol), Archer (why isn't chapter five of Catenus – hope I spelled that
right :) – up yet?!!! I'm waiting very IMPATIENTLY for it!!! hee hee, but
that's only because I love it so much), and Rosandra May.
