Draco's Redemption
Disclaimer: The Potterverse belongs to JK Rowling.
A/N: This is in answer to a few reviews. I changed the rating from R to PG13. There's some strong language, but as of yet, nothing further than a little heavy petting. The rating may go back to R in later chapters though. Also as for Draco's characterization: notice the title "Draco's Redemption", I'm redeeming Draco's "bad boy" image which is why he's not the "asshole" we've all come to know and love from the books. It's just not time yet for Draco to get his revenge on Lucius. I also mentioned in the prologue and chapter 1 that only JK Rowling can write the characters as they really are since they're in her head. This is the Draco that's in MY head right now.
Chapter 5
Draco moved around the room muttering 'bastard' under his breath. Ginny loaned him a "stress ball" to take out his frustrations on. He could throw it against the wall; it would shatter, repair itself, then return. Ginny told him it gets a lot of use with her being the only girl in a family of boys.
It had been a week since he and Ginny had taken their walk. They returned home to find Dumbledore and Snape standing in the Weasley's living room. Snape had told Dumbledore that Voldemort and Lucius had sent Death Eaters to Ottery St. Catchpole to search for Draco. Since the Fidelis charm will only work against Voldemort and Lucius, other Death Eaters will be able to locate Draco. Dumbledore stationed several Aurors around The Burrow for protection. On top of that, Dumbledore suggested Draco not venture outdoors. That was too bad, because Draco really could use a few garden gnome tosses.
Draco was just about to throw the stress ball against the door when he heard a soft knock and heard Ginny's voice."
"Draco, I bought you some lunch." Ginny came into the room and set a try on a nearby table.
"Thanks" Draco threw the ball against the opposite wall.
"Would it help if we put photos of Voldemort and some Death Eaters on the wall as targets?" Ginny watched as the ball repaired itself and returned to Draco.
Draco smiled at Ginny and sat down at the table while she uncovered dishes of food.
"Harry and Hermione are arriving tonight. We're going into Diagon Alley tomorrow to get our school supplies." Ginny passed Draco a dish of roast turkey and some bread.
"I'll send you my list and some gold for my stuff. Have fun." Draco sighed.
Ginny looked at Draco, who was staring at his sandwich. "You may be able to go."
Draco looked up at Ginny "How? I'm sure the Death Eaters are just waiting for me to show up in Diagon Alley so they can return me to my father."
"I just said Harry is arriving tonight. What does Harry have?" Ginny raised her eyebrows.
"Are you talking about his invisibility cloak? What makes you think he'll let me use that?" Draco looked like a young child about to cry over a lost toy. "I haven't exactly been the nicest person to him."
Ginny moved to kneel on the floor next to Draco. She took his hand in hers and looked almost lovingly into his eyes. "Because that's the way Harry is. He's not one to hold grudges. Besides, you talked Ron into doing the Fidelius charm, I'm sure it'll be nothing to get Harry to loan you his invisibility cloak."
"But I got a black eye in the process."
"WHAT? You didn't have a black eye when you came downstairs to perform the charm!"
"With the beatings I got, I learned fast how to cover up all the wounds. As you know, I've gotten much worse than a black eye."
Ginny remembered his condition when he showed up on their doorstep. Muggle doctors would have written him off as dead. Thankfully her mother knew some powerful medical spells that saved his life. "Draco, would it help if you talked about it?"
Draco looked at Ginny and nodded. Ginny took his hands and led him to a settee in front of the window. Draco sat on one end, and Ginny sat at the other. Draco started.
"Things were great at home until father heard Harry Potter would be in my year at Hogwarts. Once he knew that, it was drilled into my brain all summer. 'You must excel Draco. You must show Potter who is the superior.' I didn't know what all the fuss was about. He was raised by Muggles, how much magic could he really know?"
"I first met him at Madame Malkin's. I was just finishing up my fitting and he walked in. I had no clue that was Harry. Father knew that the Potters were pretty wealthy so I didn't expect their son to be wearing clothing four sizes too big for him. He looked almost pathetic. Kept staring at his shoes. I started talking about Hogwarts and Quidditch. He just mumbled responses. It wasn't until I saw him on the train that I realized who that was. That's when I changed the game plan. I decided I would befriend him. Father would have been very proud to get Harry Potter on 'our' side. Of course that idea failed. Harry chose Ron's friendship instead. Of course now I realize that's a good thing. Harry has powers he doesn't even know about yet and those powers in a dark wizard could be devastating."
Ginny interrupted, "Draco, Harry doesn't know about these powers, how do you?"
Draco shifted on the settee and pulled Ginny into his lap. "Well, Voldemort is almost as powerful as Dumbledore. You know how Dumbledore has that nasty habit of knowing almost everything that goes on at Hogwarts? Voldemort takes it upon himself to know everything about his enemies. He has so much information on Harry that if it were written down, it would take several volumes. Since my father is Voldemort's second in command, occasionally he'll get bits of information here and there. Voldemort knows that if Harry is allowed to mature into an adult wizard, the results would be total annihilation of Voldemort."
Ginny covered her mouth with her hand. "I never realized Harry was that powerful."
"Not yet, but he will be. I think father knew that even before Voldemort told him so. Father instructed me to do anything possible to get Harry expelled. Of course, it all backfired. I ended up getting him on the Quidditch team by throwing that Rememberall. I got my first Howler for that. Rather than get expelled for hiding that dragon, he got a detention, and I ended up getting one also. The end of the year was the worse. 'Draco you are a much better wizard. Why didn't you help our Lord find the Philosopher's Stone? You should have gotten to it first.' All summer long I heard that. I got my first beating that summer when he saw the grades and a Muggle-born got better marks than I did."
Draco held Ginny a little closer. "I didn't know Voldemort had given father the diary. When I found out he set you up like that, I was so mad at him. He wouldn't tell me anything during the year, just that he had a pawn in place. He knew Harry would try to save you and used you to lure Harry into the chamber. Voldemort planned to kill you both with the basilisk. It was fortunate that Dumbledore's phoenix showed up."
Ginny just nodded. Her entire first year was just one painful memory.
Draco ran his hand over her hair and kissed the top of her head. "It was the same every year after that. In my fourth year father was upset that I didn't manage to get my name into the goblet, but it was Voldemort's plan for Harry to win the tournament. I think not beating Harry at Quidditch ticked him off the most. This last time, he had just learned that Harry was chosen as Head Boy instead of me. I finally got tired of all the crap and left. Your father is one of the few Ministry officials who aren't in my father's pocket. That's why I came here."
"Harry's Head Boy? That's great!!"
"Well, let Harry break the news. I didn't say a word."
Ginny turned so she was facing Draco. "My lips are sealed."
"Your lips are just as I like them." Draco said before taking Ginny's mouth in his.
They kissed, hugged, and teased each other until there was a knock on the door. "Ginny, Draco...Harry and Hermione are here." They heard Molly's voice.
A/N: I'm not going to go into the Death Eaters yet. I've read so many fics, I've forgotten what I wrote in my own, and upon reading back, realized that I haven't killed off Voldemort yet (new vicious plot bunny). Look for a little action in the next chapter or two (maybe more, depends what the plot bunnies do to me). This one was more for some Draco background information.