Disclaimer: Nothing's mine but the plot, I swear!

~***~

15. Wounded

~***~

"Pain has an element of blank;

It cannot recollect

When it began, or if there were

A day when it was not.

It has no future but itself,

Its infinite realms contain

Its past, enlightened to perceive

New periods of pain."

- Emily Dickinson

~***~

Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron were on their way to breakfast early the next morning when Draco stalked through the hall.

The black expression on his face made Ginny flinch as he walked past her without a glance or even a word – then she noticed the girl he was dragging along behind him by the wrist, and gasped in horror.

"Pansy!"

The girl seemed so out of it, she didn't even acknowledge Ginny's exclamation.

A small crowd of curious, aghast students followed at a safe distance behind, some giggling behind their hands, some laughing outright, some, still wary of Ginny, going out of their way to keep from stepping too near her.

The slights were completely lost on Ginny, for once. She felt her mouth fall open as she stared after Draco's straight, rigid back and the totally cowed girl stumbling behind.

Pansy's long dark hair had been completely sheared off!

~***~

Ginny was breathing heavy by the time she managed to push past the growing crowd of students waiting outside the way in to Dumbledore's office.

Harry, Hermione, and her brother pulled up beside her, and she looked hopelessly at the stone statue guarding the entrance.

"Does anyone know the password?" Ginny asked a bit desperately. She had to know what had happened!

A sudden shrill scream pierced the air, only to be cut off abruptly.

The crowd of students took a step back in unison, gasping, with eyes wide.

There was an explosion of broken glass, and the sounds of a muffled struggle before someone apparently cast a silencing charm and all was quiet.

"What's going on up there?" Ginny asked frustrated, in a near panic. The look on Draco's face as he had passed her had been so vicious she found herself actually fearing for Pansy, even after all the things she'd done to her -

She shook her head to clear the rise of nightmarish memories, and watched Harry look at Ron and shrug.

"I guess Draco doesn't like screaming…"

Ginny brought her hands up over her face with a low, disbelieving groan. "Oh, God – he's finally lost it! He's gone and murdered her!"

The statue suddenly leapt aside, and several girls shrieked in surprise.

Her heart in her throat, Ginny swallowed as she saw Draco step out into the hallway.

A pair of bloody, raw looking scratches furrowed across his taut, lean jaw, and the silvery eyes that he turned on the crowd were full of dark shadows and smoldering with fury.

The suspense was so that when he took a threatening step forward, the crowd started and as if on cue, quickly dispersed and disappeared.

Ginny found herself hesitant to approach him, he looked so fierce, but even as she watched, a weariness seemed to appear in him, as the last of the curious onlookers left. He looked exhausted, but intent on hiding it, and she felt her heart melt.

For a moment she saw the boy she'd fallen in love with, and then she spoke – and he again disappeared.

"Draco? Are you all right?"

His cold, pale eyes flickered over to her, and barely rested on her before he turned away, clearly dismissing her. He walked away, wearing his cold reserve and superiority like a cloak.

Ginny felt her mouth fall open as she stared after him, hurt filling her eyes with burning tears.

Then she got angry.

~***~

"Draco Malfoy, don't you dare walk away from me like that!"

Draco didn't even pause. 

Ginny gritted her teeth and hurried to catch him up, feeling frustrated and breathless.

Her hand caught his shoulder, and tugged sharply.

"Stop!"

Draco turned on her, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Ginny swallowed hard, but stood her ground. She bit back the angry words that came without thought to her tongue, and took a deep breath.

"I know you heard me!"

A disturbing, unsettling smirk curled his lips, and he nodded slowly.

"I heard – I was just taking a page from your book, Gin. You're so excellent at walking away."

"I told you I was sorry!"

He looked her over in an insulting manner before turning away again.

"You certainly are."

She was so stricken by the coldly murmured words, she stood dumbly for a minute, and then hurried to catch up to him again.

"What happened up there?"

"I caught Parkinson, I took her to Dumbledore – end of story," murmured Draco carelessly.

"W – what did she do to you? What happened to her hair? How did you catch her? Why didn't you just stun her? You didn't have to embarrass her like that – "

Draco stopped with a harsh sigh, looking inhumanly icy and vastly bored.

"You want to know what happened? Fine, I'll tell you. I woke up, and she was on top of me," he stated crudely.

Ginny gaped at him, eyes wide in shock, her throat tightening at the painful mix of emotions racing through her.

"S - he – she – she – "

Draco regarded her impatiently through hooded eyes.

She dropped her eyes, and stared at the floor.

 He'd – he'd –

 With Pansy?

Pansy?

Her throat closed up completely, making it impossible for her to speak. Was it even possible to hurt like this?

He was lying – he had to be.

What had just happened?

"Do you want details?" She heard him ask cruelly.

'I'm going to throw up…'

Too hurt and nauseous to move, Ginny stood very still, head bowed behind the full hood of the cloak she wore to hide the state of her hair. She very dimly heard him make a disgusted noise after a moment, and walk away.

Pansy would have been hysterical – Draco had just hurt her more than anything she or Voldemort and his Death Eaters had ever tried.

~***~

Ginny watched numbly from a high window as down in the courtyard a magically stunned Pansy was escorted off by a pair of Aurors from the ministry. The high, ancient stone walls of Hogwarts, outlined in the rapidly setting autumn sunlight threw long, oddly slanted, melancholy looking shadows across the troubling scene, and she felt her chest ache in reaction.

Pansy would no doubt be sent to Azkaban. Ginny almost envied the girl for a moment. Some of the threat had been removed with her capture, but Voldemort seemed to still be the deciding factor in both her and Draco's fates.

Ginny found herself gripping the mark on her forearm out of what had become habit, and she wished there was something she could do to make it disappear forever. Looking at it was like waking up from a nightmare only to find the beast you'd been running from was yourself. The hideous thing made her skin crawl, and she never really felt proper…

Do you want details?

Was she never going to learn her lesson when it came to Draco?

He'd been so – well, almost – sweet when he'd snuck into the Infirmary to see her…God, he was so contrary all the time, running hot and then cold, and every damn time she got her hopes up, he slammed them back down –

'None of this would have happened if you hadn't lied to him on New Years, you idiot,' she berated herself mournfully.

It made her sick, thinking he had let that bitch Pansy touch him…she wished she could just forget she even knew. Subconsciously she'd thought of Draco as being hers, even though she'd told him she didn't love him –

It was all such a huge, mixed up, bloody mess.

Turning away from the deep stone window embrasure, feeling ill, Ginny sighed, and made her way reluctantly down to the Great Hall.

~***~

Draco found himself watching Ginny's small, hooded figure across the tables that evening at dinner. She was surrounded by those who seemed to care most for her, but she may as well have been alone, she struck such a lonely, solitary pose.

Pansy had been right about one thing – Ginny had become a shadow of herself since the past year.

It had hurt him to look into her eyes and see the evidence of those changes haunting her. So he'd gone and done what he did best – he lashed out at her, for making him feel what he didn't want to - and succeeded in making her withdraw into herself even more.

He shouldn't have done it - but being a complete rat bastard was the only thing he was truly good at.

Well, maybe not the only thing, he amended thoughtfully, staring at Ginny's delicate, shadowed features, feeling a slight, confident smirk come to his lips.

He could also probably drink that great oaf Hagrid under the table.

Now there was something Lucius would have been proud of…

Draco clenched his jaw at the errant thought, and then watched Ginny abruptly rise and excuse herself.

He was standing reflexively when he saw Potter get up almost immediately to follow her.

Immediately suspicious, Draco crossed his arms and stepped very slowly and deliberately away from the Slytherin table. A hot crimson tide of fury swept down the length of his spine as he saw Potter catch Ginny up, and rest a hand on her shoulder.

He felt his brows lower as a dark frown stole across his face, and he stared after the two retreating figures with a sudden unwelcome and unwanted, feeling of raging jealousy.

What the bloody hell was going on there?

~***~

Scowling, Draco moved silently over the grass of the deserted courtyard, following the pair closely.

He saw  them pause under an ancient oak, watched Ginny stare at her feet, and Potter kick a pile of fall leaves nervously, his hands in his pockets.

Draco studied them angrily from behind a huge marble column, leaning one shoulder against the cold stone.

Ginny was saying something, but he couldn't hear what she was saying.

Damn it anyway.

He watched them for a moment longer, frustrated, and was about to turn away in disgust when it happened.

He actually brought up his hands to rub his eyes at the sight.

That speccy git was snogging Ginny!

His Ginny! And what was worse, Ginny seemed to be enjoying it!

Even as he watched, she brought her hands up to clutch at his shoulders – her small, dainty, soft little fingers dove into that shaggy dark hair –

Draco spat a foul curse and blindly drove his fist into the stone column, which, very unfortunately, did not give. He heard a loud crunch and felt an explosion throbbing in his hand that ran all the way up to his shoulder.

Hissing, he grimaced, baring his teeth at the crushing pain. But he could barely notice it after a moment, so furious was he. Watching them embrace against the hazy purple twilight made him feel absolutely murderous.

Draco felt a trickle of blood run across his swelling, scraped knuckles, and absently flicked it off, forcing his hand back into a  tight fist.

Gritting his teeth, he allowed his gaze to rake Ginny's slight, lovely form one last time before he shook his hair from his eyes and slowly withdrew back into the deepening shadows, his eyes burning silver in the low light.

~***~

"Never love unless you can

Bear with all the faults of man:

Men sometimes will jealous be,

Though but little cause they see;

And hang the head of discontent,

And speak what straight they will repent."

-Thomas Campion, Advice To A Girl

~***~

"Mmph – Harry! Stop!"

Ginny finally succeeded in pushing the boy away and stood looking up at him with flushed cheeks and wide, confused eyes

"What are you doing?"

Harry took a deep breath, ignoring her, staring over her shoulder with an unsettlingly triumphant expression.

Ginny frowned and turned just in time to see Draco's tall, retreating figure in the distance. She could barely make out the gleam of his sleek blond hair in the gathering night.

Her mouth fell open and she looked back at Harry.

"Are you insane?"

"Let's see how long he ignores you after seeing that," Harry said in satisfaction.

"Harry! What were you thinking!"

"That he'd be pissed and do anything to get you away from me?" Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and arched a brow above his glasses.

"Y – you did that to get his attention?" She stared at him.

"He's being an ass, Ginny – you'd have to be blind not to see you two are miserable not being together," he finally said after a long moment of regarding her. "You don't think we haven't noticed how he stares at you?"

She shook her head in bemusement. "We?" She asked faintly.

"Harry – It's complicated. Draco, he doesn't feel as much for me as you might think. Besides, haven't you ever heard that saying? 'A person may fancy a snake is beautiful, but only a fool would try and claim one.' "

"Ginny. You weren't there when he found out you'd been missing. I was. You didn't see him running around like mad, looking for you. I was with him – he didn't sleep for three nights in a row." Harry regarded her with serious emerald eyes, his voice low and even. "I'll be the first to agree, he's a prat of the first order, but he nearly offed himself trying to find you."

Confused, Ginny dropped her eyes to stare at the grass at her feet. She'd known they'd spent a lot of time looking for her, but…she couldn't imagine Draco acting so selfless. He'd always been so selfish, so self-involved, and so quick to push the blame for his actions on others…

"He hates me," she mumbled weakly, feeling a cool breeze brush her heated cheeks.

"He wants to," Harry agreed ruthlessly from above her. "But he doesn't. The stupid git is in love with you – he just won't admit it."

Ginny looked back at him with teary eyes. "But he has, he did."

"What?"

Sighing, she told him about what had happened on New Year's Eve.

He looked at her incredulously. "Geez, Ginny – are you crazy? It's no wonder he's been acting like a dragon with a sore fang all year!"

"Tell me – tell me you wouldn't have done that very same thing, if you thought it would keep others safe!" She stated in an accusing tone.

Harry flushed slightly, and then cleared his throat, pacing thoughtfully in a slow circle around the huge tree. "All right – but you need to get this straightened out. Everything's in a tangled knot around here enough as it is."

"Harry, why are you so concerned about this? You have worries enough of your own," Ginny asked hopelessly.

The tall, dark haired boy who'd once held her childish heart paused, leaned one shoulder against the tree, and peered around the trunk at her.

"If I hadn't been friends with Ron none of this would have happened to you, you know," he said reluctantly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Harry Potter, don't you dare. Everyone who's ever come to know you has come off the better for it."

"Not…not Cedric."

The words were spoken so lowly she barely caught them. "How many times will you punish yourself for his death? You had no control over what happened, Harry."

"Gin – "

"No, Harry," she said gently, walking around to lay her hands on his chest. "You weren't responsible."

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head against the tree.

"When will it be enough Harry? Will a lifetime of blaming yourself make up for what happened? Because it won't bring him back – and you know better than to think he'd blame you."

Ginny took a step back, and waited. He straightened up, and inhaled deeply.

"Just go talk to that git, will you? And for God's sake, don't let him walk away until you have some kind of understanding – or I swear, I'll lock you two up in a room together."

Ginny smiled suddenly. "Too late – it's already been done – and it didn't work then, either."

"I'll think of something else then," he said impatiently, making a shooing motion.

"I don't think I'm ready for this," she commented nervously, looking back at the suddenly sinister looking castle looming out of the dark sky. Diamond stars winked at her from behind the misty cloud cover moving in. It looked as if it would storm that night.

"Go, Ginny. Things will look better in the morning."

Ginny gave Harry a doubtful look, and moved away across the courtyard.

"If I still have a throat in the morning they will," she mumbled peevishly.

Harry stood outside for a long time after she disappeared, staring thoughtfully at the night sky before he finally dropped his head and trudged through the piles of fall leaves back to the castle.

~***~

Ginny found Draco in front of the glass display case in the hall outside of the trophy room.

She approached him slowly, warily watching the trembling tenseness of his shoulders and the muscles of his back.

He appeared to be staring at something in the case – Ginny craned her neck slightly and saw that it was the collection of plaques and awards Harry had accumulated over the past years – the collection that Harry still blushed about in dismay whenever they passed in the hall and saw the new first years ooohing and ahhhing over it.

She swallowed, and drew herself up, opening her mouth – but she didn't know at all what to say.

That was when she noticed the blood slowly dripping down his hand and onto the flagstone floor.

"Draco, what happened?" She asked on a gasp, reaching out to touch his arm.

He didn't bother to turn, or to shake off her touch. "Don't touch me."

Ginny immediately dropped her hand, and stepped back, stung. The unexpected, obvious tremor in his voice made her chest ache.

Harry had gone a bit too far, that much was obvious.

She watched his back for a moment longer, and then shook her head, pulling a clean white handkerchief from her robe pocket.

"Let me wrap that up for you until you can get up to the Infirmary – "

"If you want to continue breathing, you'll leave me the hell alone," he snarled softly under his breath.

A cold chill washed over her skin, and she nearly dropped the linen in her hand.

"Draco – "

He did turn on her then, his eyes glittering fiercely, wispy strands of silky white blond hair falling across them.

"Did you hear me, Weasley? Or maybe you're just too stupid to care that I'm about five seconds away from squeezing that contrary little throat of yours with my bare hands. Did Parkinson remove some brain cells along with your hair?"

He never raised his voice above a whisper, but that was what nearly undid her. She stared at him dumbly, fear making her mute. She'd thought she'd seen Lucius Malfoy at his worst – he had nothing on his son.

Was this what Pansy had seen?

The memory of the girls face as she'd passed that morning in the hall made her shiver.

"Draco, I – it wasn't what you think – "

"Oh? I didn't just see you with Potter's cursed tongue halfway down your bloody throat?" Draco growled, his eyes focusing on her dangerously.

"He's always winning – everything! At Quidditch, popularity – always favored by the teachers and adored by anything with half a brain. The trophies aren't enough – now he's got to have you too – "

"Draco, you're not thinking clearly," Ginny said carefully, taking another step away.

He was scaring her. His eyes had taken on a strange light, and he was seemingly oblivious to the ruined state his hand was in – her eyes dropped momentarily to the purple, angry swelling and seeping lacerations, and she winced.

" – and I thought I hated you before," he was saying bitterly.

Ginny's mouth dropped open in outrage. "Excuse me? Who spent the night with Pansy?"

Draco stalked forward and leaned over her, his expression openly intimidating. "You idiot! For God's sake, Weasley – I didn't screw Pansy! You think I'd willingly touch her?"

"Y – you didn't?"

"Hell, no. I asked if you wanted details, remember? I was perfectly willing to explain – "

"Explain? Willing? I almost had to draw blood to get you to say that much, you lying ferret! You knew exactly what I would think – you knew I'd think you – y-you…that you and she had – "

"Had sex?"

Ginny went red in the face and gritted her teeth. "I can't believe you!"

"Yeah, well I can't believe you either – snogging Potter, that four eyed git – haven't you got any self respect?" Draco snapped in disgust.

"He kissed me!" Ginny shouted in exasperation.

"And you let him!" Draco shouted back in aggravation.

Ginny threw her hands up. "I don't know why I even tried to come and talk to you – I don't know how I could be in love with a guy who'd cut off all of a girl's hair, either!"

Draco crossed his arms, looking furious. "So it was okay when she did it to you?"

"She's crazy, Draco! Completely nutters! I don't think she deserved that – I think you were wrong to do it!"

"Typical Gryffindor," he spat loathingly. "Forgive and forget – turn the other bloody cheek – "

"I'm leaving now!" She snapped, turning away.

"Don't you dare walk away from this – you have no right telling me it was wrong, making assumptions – you have no idea what I felt when I saw her after she gave me your – " He cut himself off with a curse, glaring at her.

She turned back on him, her expression half hidden by her hood. "What?"

He set his jaw and stared back at her stubbornly.

The knowledge hit her like a ton of rocks.

"She – she gave you my hair?" Ginny asked in disbelieving awe.

Draco at last swallowed hard and dropped his eyes.

How cruel had that been? Ginny asked herself silently. If he really did still care for her…God, what would she have done if she'd been in his place?

Not knowing if he were alive or dead – or back in Voldemort's grasp…

She probably would have strangled the girl if she'd gotten her hands on her.

Ginny backed up against the wall and stared at Draco. "I'm so sorry – I didn't know…"

His eyes snapped back up to meet hers with a look of incredulity. "You're sorry? What the hell for? It's not your fault Pansy is stark raving mad."

"N – no. I didn't realize what you had gone through," she said numbly. There was too much to think about.

Draco took a hesitant step forward, and she blinked.

"We need to see to your hand."

He frowned impatiently. "Forget it – we need to talk – "

"Later. Come on." Ginny pushed away from the wall tiredly and motioned for him to follow. He mumbled something beneath his breath but at last fell into step beside her.

"Wait." He said suddenly, stopping and turning her toward him.

Her heart gave a leap as he lowered his head. "What is it?"

He didn't answer. He bent his head, and touched his lips to hers in a slow, unbelievably gentle kiss that was at direct odds with everything he was.

She cautiously wrapped her arms around his waist, and he didn't seem to mind that, so she began sliding her palms up and down his lower back in an instinctive soothing motion that he groaned over. He left her lips to trail small, fiery kisses down her jaw line, and beneath her ear where he breifly nipped at her neck.

She caught her breath as she felt his warm breath on her sensitive ear.

"Bet Potter doesn't make you feel like this," he whispered smugly.

It was Ginny's turn to groan. She dropped her arms and took a much needed deep breath.

Draco watched her from beneath his lashes, his lips smirking, but not in their usual mocking way.

She reached out, unnerved by the look he was giving her, and grabbed his uninjured hand. "Come on, before you bleed to death - what did you do to it anyway?"

~***~

TBC ^-^

( A/N: Sorry about the wait, guys. Hope you liked it. Thanks for the reviews and the e-mails!!! ~Lee )