Title: Illusion
Author: Mikayla Syaora Yakaishi Winner
Disclaimer: Since when did I own rights to characters of J. K. Rowling's wonderful series of Harry Potter? And if I do own rights, why didn't anyone tell me?
Claimer: Wow, I own something! O.k., I own this plot, Robbie and Peppie.
Genre: Romance, Action/Adventure, and Drama
Rating: R, just being safe. There are ummm…what do people call them? Oh yeah, "mature" content in later chapters.
Summary of This Chapter: Finally, Draco and Ginny appear in this fic. Although, they don't appear in this fic, Harry and Dumbledore are mentioned.
Author Notes: I hope you all liked the first chapter or prologue, whatever. Now the fic takes off. And why would I have a prophecy without actually following it? So, "fire and ice meet." Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 2 – Bumping Into You"It is said that fire and ice would one day meet…"
Fire.
A redheaded girl,
More precious than jewels.
Her flame is shown,
Through her passion and temper.
Lack of riches,
Replaced by a heart of gold.
A need to be understood,
While secrets linger in her heart.
Power beyond imagination,
The most powerful between the two.
But her yearning for a love,
Could easily draw her on the side of evil.
She is the more dominant one,
Despite what others may think,
Once she has gone,
So will the other.
"Watch where you're going, Weasley!"
Ginny sighed. Today of all days, she had to bump into Draco. And she meant it literally. She had just turned the corner and, for the lack of a better word, crashed into Draco, who was also rounding the same corner.
Sometimes, Ginny just didn't know what she saw in him. He was cruel, sometimes beyond words, haughty, a jerk, and the list goes on. Perhaps she had a silly desire to change him; whatever it was, she'll never know. All she knew was there was just something special about him that made her feel drawn to him. Oh, everyone still thought Ginny had a thing for Harry. But she figured she should move on. Well, retaliation is a must.
"It's your own fault for standing in the way!"
It hadn't even taken her a year to get over Harry. He never noticed her in the first place. Draco was a different thing. He noticed her. True, he usually insulted her but at least she knew he needed to watch her to make comments about her. It was stupid, really. Just a craving for attention.
You can get lost in a family of six brothers. And they all seemed to outshine her. Charlie, the 'Dragon Tamer," Bill, the oh-so-great one, Percy and his perfect grades, Fred and George with their mischief and Ron. Well, he didn't outshine her, really. Ron was a friend of Harry Potter; he went on adventures with him. Yes, she was the only girl in the family but for the most part, Ginny was overlooked.
"On the contrary, I was walking, when you ran into me."
Again, Ginny sighed. This was getting old. As much as she wanted attention from Draco, being repetitive was plain boring. Over the past few months, she and Draco had had this argument over and over again. The first few times weren't a coincidence, it had been fun. But then she started bumping into him everywhere. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that Draco Malfoy, famed Weasley hater, was doing this on purpose.
"Oh, just shut up!"
This was really a nuisance; it was like repeating the same lines of a play over, and over, and over again. Enough was enough; this was getting a little out of hand. It wasn't supposed to turn out to become a routine. All right, show's over.
"Move!"
Now this was amusing. Draco was so surprised that Ginny had ordered him to move out of the way that he actually obeyed.
"Are you usually this obedient?"
Without waiting for an answer, Ginny left in a swirl of robes, heading outside to the school grounds. Draco still amazed at the fact that he had followed an order from her, stood gaping after her.
Ginny walked along the edge of the forest, in deep thought. A sound burst into her thoughts. She froze as if afraid something would attack her but a little bundle of energy burst through the bushes and ran towards her. Shocked, she toppled over and it bounded on top of her and began licking her face.
"Haha…stop that, it tickles!"
Finally catching her breath, she sat up and looked at the creature on her lap. It turned out to be a small, light brown puppy. Its eyes looked pleadingly up at her.
"How did you get here?" Ginny asked the puppy, knowing full well she wouldn't get an answer.
"Well, I guess you're going to have to come with me to see Professor Dumbledore."
As if in agreement, the dog gave a bark and followed Ginny into the school. Standing before the gargoyle statue, Ginny knocked on it and waited for a response. When the statue started moving, the little puppy began to bark but when it saw the Professor standing there, it stopped.
"Miss Weasley, how nice of you to drop by. What can I do for you?"
If Dumbledore hadn't been the Headmaster of Hogwarts, she would have given a less respectable response. Isn't it obvious that she was going to tell him about the puppy sitting at her feet? It barked at him for heaven's sake!
"I found this puppy outside, I just thought you should know about it."
Dumbledore finally decided to give recognition to the little dog.
"Ah, I see. You can just leave him here in my care. Isn't it about time for lunch?" Dumbledore asked her with a twinkle in his eye. Ginny nodded and headed towards the Great Hall and returned to her earlier thoughts.
When you ask yourself what you see in a person who doesn't give you a second thought, it really makes you think. Even when Ginny thought back to the time when she had a crush on Harry, she didn't have an exact reason for liking him. Sure, he was a hero and everything but the flair of it starts to fade.
You would think Voldemort would have given up trying to get revenge on Harry. People began to expect Voldemort to come at anytime for Harry. It seemed like every year was the same. Harry starts school, a couple of months before the school year ends, something happens, usually to Harry, and it always had something to do with Voldemort. He was either trying to gain immortality, or trying to kill Harry.
When you think about it, other than that, Harry didn't have much going for him. A lot of people think that Harry was a powerful wizard since he had defeated Voldemort so many times. But Ginny had thought about it and he really wasn't. At first, it was his mother's protection that had helped him, and then it was Dumbledore and the sword of Gryffindor, then it was his godfather. He really didn't do everything himself.
Draco was a different thing…or the same. Both Harry and Draco would be horrified at how much alike they were. Draco also didn't do anything himself but his aids were his father and wealth. They were both lonely. Harry, in the sense of family and Draco, in his lack of true friends.
Ginny shook her thoughts away as she neared the Great Hall. She could hear the chatter behind the doors. She was just at the door when…
*crash*
Not again. This was going too far.
Sometimes, you should look before speaking…
"Draco Malfoy, are you deliberately trying to give me bruises or are you just waiting for me to knock myself out, the next time I fall on the floor?"
Picking herself off the ground, she didn't bother to look up before brushing herself off. Her actions stopped when Draco drawled a response.
"As interesting as that sounds, I believe your comment has scared this little guy."
As if life couldn't get anymore interesting. Ginny slowly lifted her head and indeed saw a little boy hiding behind Draco, clutching at his robes. A head topped with dark hair peeked out at her, his brown eyes filled with fear.
Ice.
A light haired boy,
Eyes like a stormy sky.
Good or bad,
Still remain undecided.
Lack of affection,
Replaced by a shell,
A shell of illusion.
Life at home has taught him many things,
Among them that love is a weakness.
So he hides his true feelings,
Allowing no one to know,
The secrets that lay,
Just below the surface.
Fire is its decider,
He will follow in her path.
For fire is his weakness,
His strength and his life.
If fire turns evil,
So will the ice.
"Watch where you're going, Weasley!"
Draco's eyes widened momentarily in shock at the words that slipped from his mouth; but his inbred skills took him over. His cursed upbringing made him do things without him knowing. It was like the autopilot things on what Muggles called planes. It was his automatic reaction to snap at supposedly non-significant people and act like a jerk, or an idiot.
"It's your own fault for standing in the way," Virginia, or more commonly known as Ginny, snapped back.
Behind the cool, emotionless, silver grey eyes, degrading thoughts ran through his mind. Oh, he wasn't degrading her though. Not her; sweet, fiery, caring Ginny. He was throwing insults at himself, mentally, of course. Malfoys were not allowed to show any signs of weakness in front of others; especially people we weren't supposed to associate with. Namely, Ginny.
The only resounding thought in his head was a question. What was it about her that was so special? Well, maybe there were more resounding thoughts. He knew he had just yelled at Ginny again but what his mouth says, isn't what his heart and soul wants.
When Ginny had bumped into him, his first reaction was to wrap his arms around her. Oh, he would have done it too. If only he wasn't born to perform on autopilot. Draco Malfoy was stuck in his own body. Watching his life go by, not on his own terms but on his father's.
"On the contrary, I was walking, when you ran into me."
Come to think of it, haven't they had this conversation before? Memories flashed in his mind. Of course, this has happened many times before. The fact that he did this on purpose sometimes had slipped his mind.
"Oh, just shut up!"
Draco had always known Ginny had a temper; he was the one who saw it most.
"Move!"
Draco moved out of the way. Wait, that wasn't right. Malfoys didn't obey orders from anyone. But it was too late for that now, as Ginny left the castle.
It took Draco a few minutes to get his wits about him. He proceeded to follow Ginny but she had such a head start that she was already out of sight.
Hearing a rustle from the bushes behind him, he swung around and pointed his wand at the general bush. A small figure shot out of the bush and latched itself onto Draco. He looked down to find a kid, who looked no more than 4 or 5. And the thing that threw Draco off was not the fact that the little boy was here, but the fact that he was crying. Oh no, Draco Malfoy was not good with blubbering children. He doubted that he was good with children at all. A crying one would just be worse. And here he was with worse.
Draco stood there while the boy used his robes like a handkerchief. After what seemed like a very long while to Draco, the boy was down to sniffles and looked up at Draco. "Will you help me find Peppie?"
"Peppie?"
"My doggy, he's this big," the boy let go of Draco and held out his arms, "and he's brown and he's my bestest friend. They were gonna take him away so I ran away, they were scary and they had little sticks…" he trailed off, noticing the wand in Draco's hand.
"You have one too! What did you do to Peppie?" then something occurred to the little boy, something he had almost forgotten that made him move away from Draco. "Don't hurt me. Go away! Peppie!"
Great, Draco was even more helpless now. What was worse now, was the fact that he suddenly had the urge to want to help this lost little boy.
"Shh…I won't hurt you. Look, this stick is called a wand, and it does magic."
The boy sniffled, "I know, one of them said a…avada…"
Chills ran down Draco's back. "Was it Avada Kedavra?"
"Uh huh. *sniffle* and then…then…mommy…" Draco again had a crying child on his hands.
Draco picked the little boy up and tried to sooth him. Miraculously, this boy had changed Draco in just mere minutes. He had melted Draco's confining shell. Draco didn't even know his name. By now, the boy seemed to have tired of crying. Taking out his handkerchief, he wiped away the wetness from the boy's cheeks.
"So, kid, what's your name?"
"Robert. My mommy calls me Robbie. You can call me Robbie too."
He didn't deserve this child's trust. It was hard enough to know that his father went out to kill people. But it was harder to accept the fact when you held a survivor in your arms. And Draco knew, he knew that those people Robbie was talking about were the Death-Eaters. There was no doubt about it in Draco's mind.
Setting Robbie on his feet again, he spoke again.
"Alright, Robbie, I'm Draco. I'm going to take you to see Professor Dumbledore, k?"
"Dumbledore?" Robbie brightened considerably, "Mommy told me all about him. She said he could help me."
At least that answered some questions. So Robbie's parents, or at least one of them, knew about the Wizarding world.
"Ready to go then?"
"Uh huh. When Professor Dumbledore fixes everything, will we go find Peppie?"
Draco smiled slightly. This boy was so innocent. How will anyone be able to tell him that his mother would never come back?
"Sure, whatever you want. Come on then."
Draco was surprised when Robbie took his hand. It felt…well, rather pleasant. No one had ever placed so much trust on him before or believed that he could help make everything all right with the world. Draco smiled down at Robbie. This was what had been missing from his life. To be needed.
They had walked into the school when Robbie asked him a question. Draco looked down to answer him. That was a mistake. Not looking at where he was going, he crashed into Ginny for the second time that day.
"Draco Malfoy, are you deliberately trying to give me bruises or are you just waiting for me to knock myself out, the next time I fall on the floor?" Ginny burst out before picking herself off the floor.
At Ginny's outburst, Robbie quickly hid behind Draco.
"As interesting as that sounds, I believe your comment has scared this little guy."
Draco watched with amusement as Ginny noticed 'the little guy.' He smiled as Ginny turned a pretty pink colour. Robbie, realizing that Ginny was harmless to him, stepped from behind Draco's robes.
"Are you Draco's friend? He's going to help me, you know. Draco's very nice to me. He's going to take me to see Professor Dumbledore so he can make my mommy come back. And then Draco's going to help me find Peppie. He's my doggy. My name is Robert but you can call me Robbie. What's your name?"
Boy, do kids talk a lot. In one breath, Robbie had just told Ginny everything he didn't want her to know.
Author Notes: Well, you probably connected Robbie and his dog, Peppie, to the puppy Ginny found, haven't you? Well, I can't tell you if you're right but if you know me well enough, you'll probably know the answer. Anyway, don't we all just love Robbie and Draco?