~Ch. 7- The Attack~
* Hundreds of miles away, in Romania, Charlie Weasley was having a difficult morning. Less than an hour ago, without any warning whatsoever, three of the dragons in the pride he was studying had taken to the skies as a group, flying away so astonishingly fast, that within a minute that had completely disappeared from sight.
It was unheard of. Dragons were notoriously territorial creatures. They wouldn't have left their land unless under extreme circumstances, like deforestation, or if they were taken against their will. Charlie Weasley had wasted no time in notifying the Department of the Ministry dealing with Magical Creatures. He considered carefully, finally reporting, "...It was almost as if they'd been summoned."
Unsurprisingly, this news did not bode well.
"Just keep your eyes open, and your wand ready." He received back from his supervisor at headquarters. "This isn't the only strange occurrence we've heard this week. And the Death Eaters have been quiet for a while now. I have a bad feeling about this..."
A few hours later, the missing dragons were spotted... hovering in the air above Hogwarts castle.
And they had Death Eaters on their backs. * Macnair shifted uncomfortably in the harness that held him to his dragon's back. Cold wind wrapped icy fingers around his skin, even through his heavy robe. He didn't mind. Soon there would be heat enough.
He recalled his master's orders, going over them in his mind, to focus himself fully on their purpose here this day. They had been delivered from the mouth of Lucius Malfoy, who often was the only Death Eater allowed in the presence of the Dark Lord, of late. Voldemort grew distrustful of even his own followers, with the attempts the Ministry had made to infiltrate spies into their ranks.
This important task had fallen to inner circle members. Old loyalists. Macnair rode a dragon this day, as well as Nott, and Avery. It was a testimony to their master's strength, to be able to control the wills of three dragons at once, even though he waited in his secret lair, hundreds of miles away. The rider's could only direct their massive, scaly mounts with leather reins.
The orders were simple. Destroy, and capture. Hogwarts did have many protection spells upon it, but they would soon falter under the assault of magical dragon's flame, hotter than any other substance known to man. And the witches and wizards that guarded this place would have no defense against such a quick surprise attack as this. Macnair grinned to himself. Victory was almost assured.
He glanced to the sky, checking the position of the sun. it was time. He lifted his hand, signaling his fellows.
With roars that shook the foundations of the mountain, the three dragons folded their wings, diving towards the castle a one, spewing forth their fire as they went. * History class with Professor Binns was boring, as usual, and Ginny slumped slightly in her seat, hoping to try and sleep a little while at least looking like she was doing the assignment. But she had barely shut her eyes when there was a rumble, a rumble that felt like it was coming deep within the earth.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. She could hear first years screaming somewhere in another classroom, and she yelped in shock as a wall suddenly collapsed in towards her.
She barely had time to scramble out of her seat and to her feet as her chair was crushed by heavy rocks, and blazing heat came behind it. Staring in horror, she turned back towards her classmates, only to find them fleeing in terror, scrambling to get out the door, while the teacher frantically tried to calm them down.
Managing to squeeze through the crowd and get outside of the classroom, she saw that things were in a complete state of chaos. Students and teachers alike fled down the halls away from crumbling walls and fires that suddenly seemed to burst out from nowhere.
Her eyes snapped around and she moved away from the direction the students were heading in. They were all running. Running away from something. And Ginny wanted to know what it was. At least, that was her excuse.
The real reason was that Draco's classroom was back where they were all running from. She had to be sure he'd made it out.
Macnair brought his dragon around for another sweep. It was just as he'd predicted. Hogwarts would be nothing but ash and crumbled stone by the time they finished with it. Students and adults poured out of every entrance, fleeing the besieged castle, like ants scurrying out of a scattered anthill. Macnair and his compatriots ignored them, keeping the dragon flame focused on the building.
On a down swoop, he passed Avery. "Finding the girl is the first priority!"
Avery nodded shortly, signaling understanding. They slipped away in mid-air peeling off to opposite ends of the castle. The air was filled with smoke and heat and the sounds of panic and destruction. Macnair was having the time of his life.
Draco, on the other hand, was frozen in his seat. The classroom was deserted. He knew that he should have followed the others when they left, should have just gotten up and evacuated the premises like any sane person would have done. But he was paralyzed.
All he could think of was the nightmare. It was happening. Already it was happening. He couldn't believe it. This was impossible. There was no way it could be real.
Hurrying through the smoke, she found her way to Draco's classroom. Ginny swallowed. Come on, Draco. Please, please have made it out... I don't want to uncover something dead... Especially if it's you.
Turning the knob, she coughed a bit at the smoke, but made it in, shutting the door to try and keep the smoke out. And then, it was as if Draco's dream were true. There she was, standing amidst some broken stones and some ashes, looking towards him, that wave of red hair hanging from her head.
"Draco!"
Ginny hurried towards him. "Why are you still in here? We have to get out of here. They don't care who they kill! If this comes down around you, I'd-- "
Her words were cut off as the ceiling above them began to crumble, rocks falling towards her head. She shrieked, her hands covering her head as she crouched down low, trying to get out of the way.
Seeing Ginny broke Draco out of his paralysis. As the rocks began to crumble, he lurched forward out of his seat, diving on top of her and knocking her to the ground, rolling them both under the shelter of the desks.
The collapse threw a cloud of dust in the air. Draco only held tight to Ginny by instinct, as rocks and debris pelted his back. When the dust settled and the rocks stopped falling, Draco lifted his head cautiously, peering out from under the desk. The ceiling's collapse had completely blocked the door.
Ginny swallowed hard, peering out carefully as well, noticing the fallen rubble. "We're... We're not going to get out now, Draco." She shut her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.
"I don't know what's going on out there... There were things falling apart, fire everywhere..." She frowned. "I think they were dragons... But why would they attack? Why would they attack Hogwarts?"
Draco didn't answer her at first, moving carefully out from under the desk, brushing out his clothes and hair with almost single-minded care. He was trying to stay focused, concentrate on one thing at a time. Slowly, he looked around, stepping over debris and rubble as he moved around the room. The ground still vibrated under his feet, showing that the castle was still crumbling in places. They weren't safe here.
It's not the dream. It can't be the dream. Dreams aren't real.
He glanced back to her. Then up at the ceiling. The hole led to nowhere, just another layer of stone. He plunged his hand into his robes, reaching for his wand.
He didn't find it. He shook out his shirt frantically, digging in every pocket. He cursed. "Damn, I've lost my wand."
Suddenly, her words hit him. Somewhat of a delayed reaction. "Did you say dragons?" His jaw gaped in shock.
Ginny nodded, climbing out carefully as she reached for her own wand. "Drat! I left it in the classroom!" Yeah, that was a dumb idea. Set it aside while you 'napped'. She looked to him. "It has to be dragons... What else could do all of this? What could cause the fire and the trembling and the walls crumbling. It has to be."
She brushed her robes off, moving about the enclosed chamber now, looking for exits of any sort. Suddenly, her voice sounded distant, scared. "We're really trapped in here, aren't we? We... we can't get out, can we?"
Draco looked around the room further, the dim light making him squint. At least the lights still worked, and they weren't trapped in darkness.
Then he swallowed. Trapped. "Yes, Ginny." He replied, his voice soundly oddly calm, distant. Like it belonged to somebody else. "I think we really are." He turned back to her. "And what's more, I don't think it's dragons. Or rather, don't think it's dragons attacking of their own accord."
He leaned against a desk, his hand gripping the edge of it. It was a casual stance, but in reality Draco was having a little trouble standing. His tone was becoming almost breathy. His mind felt curiously blank, and yet, in a jumbled whirl of confusion. Like he'd felt when the attack first started, before Ginny had come. He was staring at Ginny without really seeing her. He was seeing the dream vision, hearing the screams of the tortured and dying, instead of the tomb-like silence of the room.
Draco's knees gave out on him, and he fell heavily, catching himself on his hands, scraping his palms on the gravel and dirt that littered the floor. He was trembling all over.
Ginny turned to look at Draco, only to find him down, trembling like he had just seen a ghost. "Draco?" She turned, moving over towards him quickly. "Draco? Are you alright?"
But clearly, he wasn't. Kneeling down next to him, she brushed her hair aside and moved, trying to pull him into an embrace, to stroke his hair, to murmur to him, to calm him.
It was that mothering instinct in her.
Perhaps if she'd stayed at a distance, left him alone, he would have been able to reestablish a proper grip on himself. Insult himself into getting up, into putting on his mask of control, into forgetting the dream and pushing all such nightmarish thoughts down, back into the depths of his subconscious where they belonged. But she comforted him. She didn't sneer at his trembling. Didn't tell him, as he'd been told so often before in his childhood, that any signs of weakness were not to be tolerated, or coddled. Any tears on his face had elicited immediate and harsh punishment. Emotions were to be kept hidden, secret.
But she held him close. She didn't care that he'd shown weakness.
She just cared.
He returned her embrace tentatively, hesitating, as if waiting for the rejection, to be pushed away. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair, burying his face against her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. Anything. Everything. Or who he was apologizing to. Anyone. Everyone.
And it was as if with the crumbling of the ceiling, all his defenses came tumbling down as well. His eyes burned with tears, his chest constricting and his shoulders shaking as he repressed the sobs. Then he knew who and what it was for.
The girl. The girl tortured to death by his father.
"I was supposed to save her." He cried, more to himself than to Ginny. The words just flowed out of their own accord. "I was supposed to save her, but I couldn't. I was too afraid. Gods, I'm sorry. It's my fault. It's all my fault..."
Ginny kept him in her embrace, stroking his head gently, simply listening to his confused babbling for a while, letting him get everything out, including the sobs. Finally, she started to speak.
"Shh, it's alright, Draco. There was nothing you could have done... Things have to be the way they are. You can't just go back and change everything. If you've made a mistake, you have to accept it and move on."
For a while, Draco just clung to Ginny as he cried, holding onto her as if she were the last stable thing in his life, an anchor in the middle of a storm.
But gradually, his tears subsided, and he was quiet. He pulled away from her slightly, sitting back on his own, rubbing his face tiredly. He avoided her eyes, looking away. Opening his mouth to mutter an apology, a random excuse for his emotional breakdown, Draco found that he couldn't say anything. Not if it was just going to be another lie.
He hooked his arms around his knees, biting his lip, struggling with his desire to confess the truth, and his shame for all he'd done. And hadn't done.
Staring at Draco, Ginny took in a deep breath of air. "It'll be alright, Draco. It'll be alright. Calm down, please?" She put a hand to his cheek, rubbing it softly.
Staring at him, she felt vulnerable herself. We might not get out of here alive. We might not ever get out of here. But despite the terror of the situation, she wouldn't have traded him for anyone else to be stuck with for anything in the world.
Her touch brought a half smile to his face. He covered her hand with his own, then turned his head, planting a quick grateful kiss on her fingers. "I'm sorry, Ginny." He apologized to her, his face flushing a little from embarrassment.
"We're in the middle of a crisis. Not exactly the best time for me to loose control." He took a deep breath. "I'm better now." It was only a half lie. His head was still a mess, but at least he'd regained his desperate grip on it.
Ginny couldn't help but smile. "Draco... you don't have to worry about it. Sometimes it's hard to keep sane in the midst of things like this." She looks to him, concerned.
"You sure you're going to be alright?"
She paused as she felt another rumble run through the floor, and she shivered. "What do you think is going on out there, Draco? Do you think everyone else made it out okay?"
He released her hand, standing up and moving towards the pile of rubble, examining it with a critical eye. "I don't know." He sighed, turning back to her. "Ginny, I think it was... well, You-Know-Who." He frowned with anger. "My father always boasted that they could breech Hogwarts defenses any time they liked. And they're proving it now."
He shook his head. "But what I can't understand is why now. What they're after. Could be Potter, Could be Dumbledore. Could be anything."
Pulling experimentally at a few of the rocks, his frown lightened. "This doesn't seem too deep. We might be able to shift it by ourselves."
Ginny frowned, looking to him. "You-Know-Who?" She shivered at the thought. "I hope he's not here in person. I can't just..." She wrung her hands. "Maybe we should stay down here, Draco. We should stay here until this dies down."
She swallowed hard. "I don't want to go out there. Not if there's a chance he'll be there."
Draco looked to her, a wry and self-incriminating smile twisting his mouth. "Believe me, I'm just as loathe to meet the Dark Lord as you are."
Then he glanced to the ceiling. "But this whole place could come down. I'd rather be out in the open if that happened."
Ginny bit on her lip, nodding a bit. She moved, reaching to help him dig a bit. "You're right." She nodded, concentrating on moving some rocks. "I don't see why they'd be after Dumbledore after all this time... they must be after Harry." She thought for a moment. "But they've been after Harry before. And they've never attacked like this. So why do you think they used this method? Why break through Hogwarts defenses like this? Why do it when there are so many of the wizarding world here that could stop them from getting to Harry? You know they'll all be protecting him above everyone else... Dumbledore will be safe too..."
She paused, frowning suddenly. "What if they aren't after Harry? What if they're after someone else? Someone else that we wouldn't expect?"
Draco stopped to wipe his brow. He glanced to her, his mouth tightening grimly. "The wraith demon conjuring was after you, Ginny. It was my attention towards you that put you in danger. And now this is happening. I am hoping that the reasons aren't related, and yet I fear that they are."
He looked down to the rocks in his hand, tossing them aside, sighing in frustration. "It's probably all my fault." His jaw tightened. "I seem doomed to a life of disastrous mistakes."
Ginny shook her head quickly. "Draco... if they're after you, I promise I won't let them hurt you. Harry will help.. .and Ron, and Hermione... all of us. We'll all help you."
She placed a hand on his cheek, frowning a bit. "Don't worry about it, Draco. We'll make things right.." He looked to her, his eyes clouded with his inner despair. "Ginny, it's you I'm afraid for now. You who I fear that the Death Eaters will come after." Draco took her hand in his own, squeezing it tightly. "I don't know how to make this right. You can't imagine what it's like to be at their mercy, Ginny."
He shuddered. "I would rather this rock come down on us both right now than to let you fall into their hands. At least you'd have a clean death that way."
Ginny shuddered as well. "Draco... you don't think they could possibly be after me, do you?" She moved closer to him, staring around. "Please? Can we just stay here? I don't want to go out there now.. not if they're after me.. or after you. It's safer this way, isn't it? Safer in here."
She looked up at him, her gaze fearful. "We can hide under the desks.. push them together so we can both hide.. then we won't risk something falling on us.. please, Draco? I... I don't want to go out there."
Draco hesitated, then returned her favor from earlier, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting embrace. He hadn't had much practice in his lifetime with gestures of affection.
He didn't know what to say. She was probably right. It was safer in here, even trapped as they were. So he just held her, taking comfort from the closeness as well. Ginny shut her eyes, resting her head gently against his chest. "I'm sure we'll be alright, Draco." She kept repeating, perhaps the words were said to comfort her, more than Draco, though.
Staying close to him, she just kept her eyes closed, praying that whatever the Death Eaters were doing out there, they weren't looking for her.
After a few minutes, Draco pulled away just enough to see her face. "Ginny?" He began, a soft smile touching his expression. He freed on hand, gently grasping her chin, tilting her head upwards till their faces were no more than a few inches apart.
His voice was very quiet, with a tone of bemusement, and yet, and undertone of uncertainty. Fear of rejection. "Considering that the entire room could cave in at any moment, I can't help but think I'd be a fool to die without at least kissing you once." He looked to her as he spoke, unconsciously holding his breath as he waited for her reaction.
Ginny found herself blushing at the thought, but she nodded after a moment, looking up at him seriously. "You mean it, Draco?" She couldn't help but smile. "Because I would be very honored if you did.. we may not have another chance."
Knowing no other way to respond, Draco simply smiled back, then bent his head to kiss her. It was by no means his first, but somehow it felt as if it was. Because it was the first time he'd left a part of himself open as he did so. Ginny Weasley made him feel vulnerable. And he was kissing her. It was thrilling, like diving fifty feet on a broomstick and pulling out at the last minute, flushed with victory.
But it was those last few seconds, when the ground was staring you in the face, that really brought the rush. Because that's when you weren't quite sure whether you'd be able to pull out on time or not. Weren't sure if you'd survive it. And that's what it felt like kissing Ginny Weasley.
Ginny felt herself blushing bright red as Draco leaned closer, but as he kissed her, she suddenly felt as if everything was suddenly gone. All she knew was Draco. Draco, and Draco being there, with her. Death Eaters? What Death Eaters? Attack? What attack on Hogwarts?
Harry Potter? Harry who?
Harry Potter, who had just happened to be running by, looking for a way out, when he heard voices behind a wall.
Harry Potter, who had just happened to stop his headlong dash, pull out his wand, and zap an opening through the mangled door and the pile of stone behind it.
That Harry Potter.
Draco stumbled back from Ginny in surprise, as the rubble they'd just agreed to leaving intact was suddenly shoved off to the sides by invisible hands of magic. But his surprise only deepened at the figure who was revealed.
Ginny blinked as the kiss was suddenly ended, shoved back away from Draco with the wall being blasted out of the way. Coughing a little from the dust, she looked shocked as well at seeing the figure.
"Harry? What?"
Harry was the last person she had expected to see, and someone she hadn't really even wanted to see at the moment. She sort of wanted to go back to kissing Draco, but that wasn't possible now.
Harry also looked a bit dazed at seeing the two of them there, together, but he evidently decided to put it aside in light of the emergency. "Come on, we have to get out of here."
Draco glanced to Ginny, then back at Potter. A worried frown crossed his face before he could stop it. "Is it the Death Eaters? They're the ones who've brought dragons down on Hogwarts, haven't they?" He questioned the dark-haired boy grimly.
Harry looked back to Draco with a startled glare. "Yes, of course it's them. I don't know why it surprises it me that you know."Harry took Ginny's arm, pulling her away from Draco a bit.
"Why aren't you out there on the back of a dragon, Malfoy? Along with your father and the rest of his pals?" Harry bit out angrily.
Draco's hands curled into fists, but he said nothing in his own defense.
Ginny frowned at Draco's silence, but turned to Harry. "If the Death Eaters are out there, Harry, I don't want to go out there.. I want to hide, alright?" She pulled her arm away from him, backing away til she was slightly behind Draco.
She continued, her voice trembling. "I don't want them to get me.." She shuddered at the thought.
Harry's expression turned confused and worried. "Get you?" And it was more than just confusion about why the Death Eaters would be after Ginny in specific. Harry Potter didn't understand hiding, or the need to hide. It just wasn't in him.
Looking over at his long-time rival, Draco sensed all this without words, without rational thought. And the jealousy consumed him. Even if he wasn't, Harry exuded an aura of bravery and fearlessness, fearlessness that Draco wished he possessed for just a day, or an hour, or even a few minutes.
Because if he could be free of the fear for long enough, he would be able to do what he needed to do. Confront the source of his fear, the source of his pain. Confront his father.
And kill him.
A bitter taste rose in the back of Draco's throat, but Harry's voice broke into his despairing thoughts.
"What are you talking about, Ginny? The Death Eater's are gone now. But Hogwarts is in bad shape. Things are collapsing and in flames all over the place. We've got to get out."
Ginny let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm just babbling... was just afraid that if the Death Eaters found anyone around here they'd murder them... you know." She cleared her throat. "Just been trapped in here too long, that's all."
She nodded. "If they're gone, then we'd better get out of here." She looked to Draco. "Come on. If I'm lucky, I still might be able to grab my wand from my classroom. Least then I won't be so defenseless."
Draco only nodded back, and the three of them went quickly down the smoke- filled corridors, back tracking to Ginny's classroom, and dodging a few more crumbling walls and ceilings before finally making it outside, coughing and sweating from the ash and flames.
Ginny made her way into her classroom, crawling down under a desk as she saw her wand. Grabbing it carefully and moving back away from the crumbling wall and fire, she went back towards Harry and Draco. "I found it. I don't know what I would have done if I had to replace my wand."
She bit her lip. "Ron would've killed. me." She looked around, as if to be certain that the Death Eaters were completely gone. "So.. Where should we go help out? We should probably see if the Gryffindor Quarters are still up.." She only hoped that the damage wasn't as bad as it seemed.
Hogwarts had been crushed, and she was hating to see it like this.
A large crowd of Ministry wizards had already arrived, and were working with the students and teachers to put of the fire, to salvage what they could of the castle. The once sunny sky was now filled with black clouds of smoke.
Draco looked upwards, still suspicious, uneasy. He scanned the sky for dragons, but saw nothing. Maybe he was just being paranoid.
* Hundreds of miles away, in Romania, Charlie Weasley was having a difficult morning. Less than an hour ago, without any warning whatsoever, three of the dragons in the pride he was studying had taken to the skies as a group, flying away so astonishingly fast, that within a minute that had completely disappeared from sight.
It was unheard of. Dragons were notoriously territorial creatures. They wouldn't have left their land unless under extreme circumstances, like deforestation, or if they were taken against their will. Charlie Weasley had wasted no time in notifying the Department of the Ministry dealing with Magical Creatures. He considered carefully, finally reporting, "...It was almost as if they'd been summoned."
Unsurprisingly, this news did not bode well.
"Just keep your eyes open, and your wand ready." He received back from his supervisor at headquarters. "This isn't the only strange occurrence we've heard this week. And the Death Eaters have been quiet for a while now. I have a bad feeling about this..."
A few hours later, the missing dragons were spotted... hovering in the air above Hogwarts castle.
And they had Death Eaters on their backs. * Macnair shifted uncomfortably in the harness that held him to his dragon's back. Cold wind wrapped icy fingers around his skin, even through his heavy robe. He didn't mind. Soon there would be heat enough.
He recalled his master's orders, going over them in his mind, to focus himself fully on their purpose here this day. They had been delivered from the mouth of Lucius Malfoy, who often was the only Death Eater allowed in the presence of the Dark Lord, of late. Voldemort grew distrustful of even his own followers, with the attempts the Ministry had made to infiltrate spies into their ranks.
This important task had fallen to inner circle members. Old loyalists. Macnair rode a dragon this day, as well as Nott, and Avery. It was a testimony to their master's strength, to be able to control the wills of three dragons at once, even though he waited in his secret lair, hundreds of miles away. The rider's could only direct their massive, scaly mounts with leather reins.
The orders were simple. Destroy, and capture. Hogwarts did have many protection spells upon it, but they would soon falter under the assault of magical dragon's flame, hotter than any other substance known to man. And the witches and wizards that guarded this place would have no defense against such a quick surprise attack as this. Macnair grinned to himself. Victory was almost assured.
He glanced to the sky, checking the position of the sun. it was time. He lifted his hand, signaling his fellows.
With roars that shook the foundations of the mountain, the three dragons folded their wings, diving towards the castle a one, spewing forth their fire as they went. * History class with Professor Binns was boring, as usual, and Ginny slumped slightly in her seat, hoping to try and sleep a little while at least looking like she was doing the assignment. But she had barely shut her eyes when there was a rumble, a rumble that felt like it was coming deep within the earth.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. She could hear first years screaming somewhere in another classroom, and she yelped in shock as a wall suddenly collapsed in towards her.
She barely had time to scramble out of her seat and to her feet as her chair was crushed by heavy rocks, and blazing heat came behind it. Staring in horror, she turned back towards her classmates, only to find them fleeing in terror, scrambling to get out the door, while the teacher frantically tried to calm them down.
Managing to squeeze through the crowd and get outside of the classroom, she saw that things were in a complete state of chaos. Students and teachers alike fled down the halls away from crumbling walls and fires that suddenly seemed to burst out from nowhere.
Her eyes snapped around and she moved away from the direction the students were heading in. They were all running. Running away from something. And Ginny wanted to know what it was. At least, that was her excuse.
The real reason was that Draco's classroom was back where they were all running from. She had to be sure he'd made it out.
Macnair brought his dragon around for another sweep. It was just as he'd predicted. Hogwarts would be nothing but ash and crumbled stone by the time they finished with it. Students and adults poured out of every entrance, fleeing the besieged castle, like ants scurrying out of a scattered anthill. Macnair and his compatriots ignored them, keeping the dragon flame focused on the building.
On a down swoop, he passed Avery. "Finding the girl is the first priority!"
Avery nodded shortly, signaling understanding. They slipped away in mid-air peeling off to opposite ends of the castle. The air was filled with smoke and heat and the sounds of panic and destruction. Macnair was having the time of his life.
Draco, on the other hand, was frozen in his seat. The classroom was deserted. He knew that he should have followed the others when they left, should have just gotten up and evacuated the premises like any sane person would have done. But he was paralyzed.
All he could think of was the nightmare. It was happening. Already it was happening. He couldn't believe it. This was impossible. There was no way it could be real.
Hurrying through the smoke, she found her way to Draco's classroom. Ginny swallowed. Come on, Draco. Please, please have made it out... I don't want to uncover something dead... Especially if it's you.
Turning the knob, she coughed a bit at the smoke, but made it in, shutting the door to try and keep the smoke out. And then, it was as if Draco's dream were true. There she was, standing amidst some broken stones and some ashes, looking towards him, that wave of red hair hanging from her head.
"Draco!"
Ginny hurried towards him. "Why are you still in here? We have to get out of here. They don't care who they kill! If this comes down around you, I'd-- "
Her words were cut off as the ceiling above them began to crumble, rocks falling towards her head. She shrieked, her hands covering her head as she crouched down low, trying to get out of the way.
Seeing Ginny broke Draco out of his paralysis. As the rocks began to crumble, he lurched forward out of his seat, diving on top of her and knocking her to the ground, rolling them both under the shelter of the desks.
The collapse threw a cloud of dust in the air. Draco only held tight to Ginny by instinct, as rocks and debris pelted his back. When the dust settled and the rocks stopped falling, Draco lifted his head cautiously, peering out from under the desk. The ceiling's collapse had completely blocked the door.
Ginny swallowed hard, peering out carefully as well, noticing the fallen rubble. "We're... We're not going to get out now, Draco." She shut her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.
"I don't know what's going on out there... There were things falling apart, fire everywhere..." She frowned. "I think they were dragons... But why would they attack? Why would they attack Hogwarts?"
Draco didn't answer her at first, moving carefully out from under the desk, brushing out his clothes and hair with almost single-minded care. He was trying to stay focused, concentrate on one thing at a time. Slowly, he looked around, stepping over debris and rubble as he moved around the room. The ground still vibrated under his feet, showing that the castle was still crumbling in places. They weren't safe here.
It's not the dream. It can't be the dream. Dreams aren't real.
He glanced back to her. Then up at the ceiling. The hole led to nowhere, just another layer of stone. He plunged his hand into his robes, reaching for his wand.
He didn't find it. He shook out his shirt frantically, digging in every pocket. He cursed. "Damn, I've lost my wand."
Suddenly, her words hit him. Somewhat of a delayed reaction. "Did you say dragons?" His jaw gaped in shock.
Ginny nodded, climbing out carefully as she reached for her own wand. "Drat! I left it in the classroom!" Yeah, that was a dumb idea. Set it aside while you 'napped'. She looked to him. "It has to be dragons... What else could do all of this? What could cause the fire and the trembling and the walls crumbling. It has to be."
She brushed her robes off, moving about the enclosed chamber now, looking for exits of any sort. Suddenly, her voice sounded distant, scared. "We're really trapped in here, aren't we? We... we can't get out, can we?"
Draco looked around the room further, the dim light making him squint. At least the lights still worked, and they weren't trapped in darkness.
Then he swallowed. Trapped. "Yes, Ginny." He replied, his voice soundly oddly calm, distant. Like it belonged to somebody else. "I think we really are." He turned back to her. "And what's more, I don't think it's dragons. Or rather, don't think it's dragons attacking of their own accord."
He leaned against a desk, his hand gripping the edge of it. It was a casual stance, but in reality Draco was having a little trouble standing. His tone was becoming almost breathy. His mind felt curiously blank, and yet, in a jumbled whirl of confusion. Like he'd felt when the attack first started, before Ginny had come. He was staring at Ginny without really seeing her. He was seeing the dream vision, hearing the screams of the tortured and dying, instead of the tomb-like silence of the room.
Draco's knees gave out on him, and he fell heavily, catching himself on his hands, scraping his palms on the gravel and dirt that littered the floor. He was trembling all over.
Ginny turned to look at Draco, only to find him down, trembling like he had just seen a ghost. "Draco?" She turned, moving over towards him quickly. "Draco? Are you alright?"
But clearly, he wasn't. Kneeling down next to him, she brushed her hair aside and moved, trying to pull him into an embrace, to stroke his hair, to murmur to him, to calm him.
It was that mothering instinct in her.
Perhaps if she'd stayed at a distance, left him alone, he would have been able to reestablish a proper grip on himself. Insult himself into getting up, into putting on his mask of control, into forgetting the dream and pushing all such nightmarish thoughts down, back into the depths of his subconscious where they belonged. But she comforted him. She didn't sneer at his trembling. Didn't tell him, as he'd been told so often before in his childhood, that any signs of weakness were not to be tolerated, or coddled. Any tears on his face had elicited immediate and harsh punishment. Emotions were to be kept hidden, secret.
But she held him close. She didn't care that he'd shown weakness.
She just cared.
He returned her embrace tentatively, hesitating, as if waiting for the rejection, to be pushed away. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair, burying his face against her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for. Anything. Everything. Or who he was apologizing to. Anyone. Everyone.
And it was as if with the crumbling of the ceiling, all his defenses came tumbling down as well. His eyes burned with tears, his chest constricting and his shoulders shaking as he repressed the sobs. Then he knew who and what it was for.
The girl. The girl tortured to death by his father.
"I was supposed to save her." He cried, more to himself than to Ginny. The words just flowed out of their own accord. "I was supposed to save her, but I couldn't. I was too afraid. Gods, I'm sorry. It's my fault. It's all my fault..."
Ginny kept him in her embrace, stroking his head gently, simply listening to his confused babbling for a while, letting him get everything out, including the sobs. Finally, she started to speak.
"Shh, it's alright, Draco. There was nothing you could have done... Things have to be the way they are. You can't just go back and change everything. If you've made a mistake, you have to accept it and move on."
For a while, Draco just clung to Ginny as he cried, holding onto her as if she were the last stable thing in his life, an anchor in the middle of a storm.
But gradually, his tears subsided, and he was quiet. He pulled away from her slightly, sitting back on his own, rubbing his face tiredly. He avoided her eyes, looking away. Opening his mouth to mutter an apology, a random excuse for his emotional breakdown, Draco found that he couldn't say anything. Not if it was just going to be another lie.
He hooked his arms around his knees, biting his lip, struggling with his desire to confess the truth, and his shame for all he'd done. And hadn't done.
Staring at Draco, Ginny took in a deep breath of air. "It'll be alright, Draco. It'll be alright. Calm down, please?" She put a hand to his cheek, rubbing it softly.
Staring at him, she felt vulnerable herself. We might not get out of here alive. We might not ever get out of here. But despite the terror of the situation, she wouldn't have traded him for anyone else to be stuck with for anything in the world.
Her touch brought a half smile to his face. He covered her hand with his own, then turned his head, planting a quick grateful kiss on her fingers. "I'm sorry, Ginny." He apologized to her, his face flushing a little from embarrassment.
"We're in the middle of a crisis. Not exactly the best time for me to loose control." He took a deep breath. "I'm better now." It was only a half lie. His head was still a mess, but at least he'd regained his desperate grip on it.
Ginny couldn't help but smile. "Draco... you don't have to worry about it. Sometimes it's hard to keep sane in the midst of things like this." She looks to him, concerned.
"You sure you're going to be alright?"
She paused as she felt another rumble run through the floor, and she shivered. "What do you think is going on out there, Draco? Do you think everyone else made it out okay?"
He released her hand, standing up and moving towards the pile of rubble, examining it with a critical eye. "I don't know." He sighed, turning back to her. "Ginny, I think it was... well, You-Know-Who." He frowned with anger. "My father always boasted that they could breech Hogwarts defenses any time they liked. And they're proving it now."
He shook his head. "But what I can't understand is why now. What they're after. Could be Potter, Could be Dumbledore. Could be anything."
Pulling experimentally at a few of the rocks, his frown lightened. "This doesn't seem too deep. We might be able to shift it by ourselves."
Ginny frowned, looking to him. "You-Know-Who?" She shivered at the thought. "I hope he's not here in person. I can't just..." She wrung her hands. "Maybe we should stay down here, Draco. We should stay here until this dies down."
She swallowed hard. "I don't want to go out there. Not if there's a chance he'll be there."
Draco looked to her, a wry and self-incriminating smile twisting his mouth. "Believe me, I'm just as loathe to meet the Dark Lord as you are."
Then he glanced to the ceiling. "But this whole place could come down. I'd rather be out in the open if that happened."
Ginny bit on her lip, nodding a bit. She moved, reaching to help him dig a bit. "You're right." She nodded, concentrating on moving some rocks. "I don't see why they'd be after Dumbledore after all this time... they must be after Harry." She thought for a moment. "But they've been after Harry before. And they've never attacked like this. So why do you think they used this method? Why break through Hogwarts defenses like this? Why do it when there are so many of the wizarding world here that could stop them from getting to Harry? You know they'll all be protecting him above everyone else... Dumbledore will be safe too..."
She paused, frowning suddenly. "What if they aren't after Harry? What if they're after someone else? Someone else that we wouldn't expect?"
Draco stopped to wipe his brow. He glanced to her, his mouth tightening grimly. "The wraith demon conjuring was after you, Ginny. It was my attention towards you that put you in danger. And now this is happening. I am hoping that the reasons aren't related, and yet I fear that they are."
He looked down to the rocks in his hand, tossing them aside, sighing in frustration. "It's probably all my fault." His jaw tightened. "I seem doomed to a life of disastrous mistakes."
Ginny shook her head quickly. "Draco... if they're after you, I promise I won't let them hurt you. Harry will help.. .and Ron, and Hermione... all of us. We'll all help you."
She placed a hand on his cheek, frowning a bit. "Don't worry about it, Draco. We'll make things right.." He looked to her, his eyes clouded with his inner despair. "Ginny, it's you I'm afraid for now. You who I fear that the Death Eaters will come after." Draco took her hand in his own, squeezing it tightly. "I don't know how to make this right. You can't imagine what it's like to be at their mercy, Ginny."
He shuddered. "I would rather this rock come down on us both right now than to let you fall into their hands. At least you'd have a clean death that way."
Ginny shuddered as well. "Draco... you don't think they could possibly be after me, do you?" She moved closer to him, staring around. "Please? Can we just stay here? I don't want to go out there now.. not if they're after me.. or after you. It's safer this way, isn't it? Safer in here."
She looked up at him, her gaze fearful. "We can hide under the desks.. push them together so we can both hide.. then we won't risk something falling on us.. please, Draco? I... I don't want to go out there."
Draco hesitated, then returned her favor from earlier, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting embrace. He hadn't had much practice in his lifetime with gestures of affection.
He didn't know what to say. She was probably right. It was safer in here, even trapped as they were. So he just held her, taking comfort from the closeness as well. Ginny shut her eyes, resting her head gently against his chest. "I'm sure we'll be alright, Draco." She kept repeating, perhaps the words were said to comfort her, more than Draco, though.
Staying close to him, she just kept her eyes closed, praying that whatever the Death Eaters were doing out there, they weren't looking for her.
After a few minutes, Draco pulled away just enough to see her face. "Ginny?" He began, a soft smile touching his expression. He freed on hand, gently grasping her chin, tilting her head upwards till their faces were no more than a few inches apart.
His voice was very quiet, with a tone of bemusement, and yet, and undertone of uncertainty. Fear of rejection. "Considering that the entire room could cave in at any moment, I can't help but think I'd be a fool to die without at least kissing you once." He looked to her as he spoke, unconsciously holding his breath as he waited for her reaction.
Ginny found herself blushing at the thought, but she nodded after a moment, looking up at him seriously. "You mean it, Draco?" She couldn't help but smile. "Because I would be very honored if you did.. we may not have another chance."
Knowing no other way to respond, Draco simply smiled back, then bent his head to kiss her. It was by no means his first, but somehow it felt as if it was. Because it was the first time he'd left a part of himself open as he did so. Ginny Weasley made him feel vulnerable. And he was kissing her. It was thrilling, like diving fifty feet on a broomstick and pulling out at the last minute, flushed with victory.
But it was those last few seconds, when the ground was staring you in the face, that really brought the rush. Because that's when you weren't quite sure whether you'd be able to pull out on time or not. Weren't sure if you'd survive it. And that's what it felt like kissing Ginny Weasley.
Ginny felt herself blushing bright red as Draco leaned closer, but as he kissed her, she suddenly felt as if everything was suddenly gone. All she knew was Draco. Draco, and Draco being there, with her. Death Eaters? What Death Eaters? Attack? What attack on Hogwarts?
Harry Potter? Harry who?
Harry Potter, who had just happened to be running by, looking for a way out, when he heard voices behind a wall.
Harry Potter, who had just happened to stop his headlong dash, pull out his wand, and zap an opening through the mangled door and the pile of stone behind it.
That Harry Potter.
Draco stumbled back from Ginny in surprise, as the rubble they'd just agreed to leaving intact was suddenly shoved off to the sides by invisible hands of magic. But his surprise only deepened at the figure who was revealed.
Ginny blinked as the kiss was suddenly ended, shoved back away from Draco with the wall being blasted out of the way. Coughing a little from the dust, she looked shocked as well at seeing the figure.
"Harry? What?"
Harry was the last person she had expected to see, and someone she hadn't really even wanted to see at the moment. She sort of wanted to go back to kissing Draco, but that wasn't possible now.
Harry also looked a bit dazed at seeing the two of them there, together, but he evidently decided to put it aside in light of the emergency. "Come on, we have to get out of here."
Draco glanced to Ginny, then back at Potter. A worried frown crossed his face before he could stop it. "Is it the Death Eaters? They're the ones who've brought dragons down on Hogwarts, haven't they?" He questioned the dark-haired boy grimly.
Harry looked back to Draco with a startled glare. "Yes, of course it's them. I don't know why it surprises it me that you know."Harry took Ginny's arm, pulling her away from Draco a bit.
"Why aren't you out there on the back of a dragon, Malfoy? Along with your father and the rest of his pals?" Harry bit out angrily.
Draco's hands curled into fists, but he said nothing in his own defense.
Ginny frowned at Draco's silence, but turned to Harry. "If the Death Eaters are out there, Harry, I don't want to go out there.. I want to hide, alright?" She pulled her arm away from him, backing away til she was slightly behind Draco.
She continued, her voice trembling. "I don't want them to get me.." She shuddered at the thought.
Harry's expression turned confused and worried. "Get you?" And it was more than just confusion about why the Death Eaters would be after Ginny in specific. Harry Potter didn't understand hiding, or the need to hide. It just wasn't in him.
Looking over at his long-time rival, Draco sensed all this without words, without rational thought. And the jealousy consumed him. Even if he wasn't, Harry exuded an aura of bravery and fearlessness, fearlessness that Draco wished he possessed for just a day, or an hour, or even a few minutes.
Because if he could be free of the fear for long enough, he would be able to do what he needed to do. Confront the source of his fear, the source of his pain. Confront his father.
And kill him.
A bitter taste rose in the back of Draco's throat, but Harry's voice broke into his despairing thoughts.
"What are you talking about, Ginny? The Death Eater's are gone now. But Hogwarts is in bad shape. Things are collapsing and in flames all over the place. We've got to get out."
Ginny let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm just babbling... was just afraid that if the Death Eaters found anyone around here they'd murder them... you know." She cleared her throat. "Just been trapped in here too long, that's all."
She nodded. "If they're gone, then we'd better get out of here." She looked to Draco. "Come on. If I'm lucky, I still might be able to grab my wand from my classroom. Least then I won't be so defenseless."
Draco only nodded back, and the three of them went quickly down the smoke- filled corridors, back tracking to Ginny's classroom, and dodging a few more crumbling walls and ceilings before finally making it outside, coughing and sweating from the ash and flames.
Ginny made her way into her classroom, crawling down under a desk as she saw her wand. Grabbing it carefully and moving back away from the crumbling wall and fire, she went back towards Harry and Draco. "I found it. I don't know what I would have done if I had to replace my wand."
She bit her lip. "Ron would've killed. me." She looked around, as if to be certain that the Death Eaters were completely gone. "So.. Where should we go help out? We should probably see if the Gryffindor Quarters are still up.." She only hoped that the damage wasn't as bad as it seemed.
Hogwarts had been crushed, and she was hating to see it like this.
A large crowd of Ministry wizards had already arrived, and were working with the students and teachers to put of the fire, to salvage what they could of the castle. The once sunny sky was now filled with black clouds of smoke.
Draco looked upwards, still suspicious, uneasy. He scanned the sky for dragons, but saw nothing. Maybe he was just being paranoid.