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5. A Shocking Proposal
~***~
"- Whilst skies are blue and bright, Whilst flowers are gay, Whilst eyes that change ere night Make glad the day, Whilst yet the calm hours creep, Dream thou - and from thy sleep Then wake to weep." - Mutability, III, Percy B. Shelley
~***~
Lethargic.
The single word seemed to have become the center around which her whole world revolved.
Her limbs were sluggish, her thoughts tangled, her very breaths weary.
Ginny knew she lay on a bed in the Infirmary, knew there were people surrounding her, speaking to her, but she couldn't open her eyes.
She was aware of time passing, of light and dark as the world passed from day into night, and still she couldn't gather enough strength to move.
She slept for long periods of time, but it only seemed to serve in making her even more exhausted.
At last even the gray darkness behind her eyes began to fade into absolute darkness, and she knew, even in her mindless stupor, that something was horribly, terribly wrong with her.
~***~
"Death comes once, let it be easy." -Carl Sandburg
~***~
Draco sat in the deserted Potions classroom, staring unthinkingly at the faded print of the open book on the desk before him.
He had two options.
He could leave Hogwarts, go far away and try to continue his search for a cure - or he could stay, and let Snape destroy him, and be done with it.
Because Ginny Weasley was up in the Infirmary, slowly dying.
When the thread of life the girl was hanging on to snapped, he'd turn into that slavering creature of his nightmares, and no one could help him.
Ginny.
She'd been nothing to him, and yet he'd had to have felt something for her, to have allowed himself to lose his strict control, to become completely irrational; and rational thought was a luxury for him, now - at any moment in time it would become non - existent, a thing of the past.
A ripple of warning ran across his skin.
Snape had come in, unerringly stealthy, and was behind him, even now, contemplating his destruction, he knew.
It seemed his decision had already been made for him.
A humorless smile tugged at his lips as he lifted his eyes to look at the wall before him.
"Well, come on, get it over with, Professor. Or are you going to stand there and stare at my back all night?"
Draco's sensitive hearing caught the man's very slight, startled movement, the almost imperceptible quickly indrawn breath.
He closed the book slowly, but didn't turn to face him.
"Look, I'll make it easy for you - you won't even have to look me in the eyes."
He could feel the man's indecision, almost smell his guilt.
"Come, Professor - this isn't like you. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost swear you were scared of me."
His cold, low, mocking tone caused a discernable change in the emotions coming off the older man.
'Good', he thought, steeling himself for the inevitable, 'get angry. Get bloody furious - and get it the hell over with.'
His muscles tightened across his back and shoulders as he felt Snape draw nearer.
A loud crash made him instinctively move, and he jumped up, vaulting across the desk to crouch near the wall, his senses screaming danger, nearly driving him into a frenzy.
The door had been thrown open.
"No! You can't kill him!"
The loud, panicked shout hurt his ears. He blinked, and focused his red veiled gaze on the new occupant of the room.
It was Granger.
He should have known she'd figure it out - she'd probably heard Ginny say his name.
Draco tensed, waiting angrily for Potter and Weasley to come bursting in behind her, looking self - righteous and more than willing to land an overlarge splinter in his chest.
He cursed Snape's momentary show of weakness - thanks to it, he'd probably be denied an easy death.
He spared a glance for Snape, who stood against his desk, his wand drawn, before looking over at Granger expectantly.
The girl looked pale and exhausted - scared, but determined.
"You can't kill him, Professor," the girl repeated in a more reserved, breathless tone, shaking her head.
"He's a Vampire, Miss Granger - " Snape began coldly.
"No, no, no - he's not!" The frazzled looking girl shook her head again, looking frustrated, and then she sighed.
"He's not! At least, not yet. He hasn't taken a life."
"Brilliant deduction, Miss Granger, but in case you've forgotten, Miss Weasley is no doubt breathing her last as we speak," Snape drawled nastily. "Now, seeing as you have never had the opportunity to see a newly turned Vampire in such contained surroundings, you may want to leave while you have the chance."
"You have to listen to me, sir! I may have an idea - "
"Miss Granger - "
"What have you got in mind?" Draco found himself asking in a voice that sounded disturbingly unlike his own. He waited for her to lash out at him, to curse him for what he'd done.
The girl surprised him by looking at him with something akin to pity, and it threw him momentarily, before he became angered by it.
"It isn't for your sake really," she muttered in her snobby, controlled voice. "It's for Ginny's - but it might buy the both of you some time, until we can find a cure."
Snape took a step forward, his eyes flashing. "Just what are you suggesting, Granger?"
"I can't believe I'm saying this." The girl took a deep breath, and plunged ahead.
"What I'm suggesting, Professor, is for Malfoy to - to turn Ginny."
"You must be joking - one of them gallivanting about the school was bad enough. Look at what happened," snapped Snape.
"I do not 'gallivant'," Draco felt compelled to growl. "Granger, I thought you were supposed to be a brain. If I couldn't control myself, what makes you think Ginny could?"
"I - I think that Ginny could take care of herself," the girl said carefully. "You could watch out for each other, until - "
"Until what? There is no cure, Granger, despite the 'happy - ever- after' fantasies you might be entertaining in that fuzzy little head of yours," snarled Draco in disgust.
" You don't know there isn't a cure!"
"Right, I've only spent the last seven years searching for one!"
"It's amazing - I thought maybe the reason you've continued to be so incredibly childish and selfish all these years was because of everything you've been going through! I was fully prepared to be level headed and understanding about all this - and here you are, as self - centered and heartless as ever, with poor Ginny lying half - dead in that bed up there! You aren't even going to give her a chance? You owe her that much!"
She sniffed forebodingly, and Draco groaned inwardly.
Then it occurred to him that neither Potter or Weasley had shown up.
"You didn't tell them, did you?" He asked suspiciously.
The girl wiped her eyes on her robe sleeve, and looked at him impatiently. "Of course not - they'd have killed you, and any chance for Ginny would have been lost. It didn't make any difference though, did it?"
He frowned at the bitterness in her voice, and looked to Snape.
Their teacher narrowed his dark eyes and slowly crossed his arms over his chest.
"Do you think we have a chance?" Draco asked bluntly.
Snape gave him a short nod after a long, tense moment. "Perhaps."
"What will we do about Dumbledore? The rest of the staff?"
"I'll see to them," Snape said grudgingly. "You have my silence on the matter - but not my blessing."
After a long silence, Draco walked around the desk and vanished out the door.
~***~
" - a young man, with a pale face, a stately brow, and a strange expression about the eyes, which no one cared to look on twice." - V.V. 1847
~***~
Hermione released a relieved sigh as the tall, pale boy left in his eerily silent manner. It had been hellish, standing so near him.
She'd never been comfortable around Draco Malfoy; there had always been something so dangerous, so disturbingly predatory about the way he held himself, how he regarded people, that she'd never wanted to be in the same room with him. And now she knew why.
Snape looked at her, and she stared back, her brown eyes troubled, but unrepentant. She'd accomplished what she'd come for.
"Well? What are you waiting for, girl?" He snapped again. "We have a job to do."
Hermione hid a triumphant, yet weary smile. Ginny had gotten a chance.
"Yes, sir."
~***~
TBC
(A/N: So sorry about the short chapter, guys - I've been so insanely busy, I haven't had time to update. I'll work really hard on getting the others stories updated soon. Thanks so much for reading, and thanks to those of you who reviewed - I really appreciate you! I hope you like where this is going. ^-^ ~Lee)
5. A Shocking Proposal
~***~
"- Whilst skies are blue and bright, Whilst flowers are gay, Whilst eyes that change ere night Make glad the day, Whilst yet the calm hours creep, Dream thou - and from thy sleep Then wake to weep." - Mutability, III, Percy B. Shelley
~***~
Lethargic.
The single word seemed to have become the center around which her whole world revolved.
Her limbs were sluggish, her thoughts tangled, her very breaths weary.
Ginny knew she lay on a bed in the Infirmary, knew there were people surrounding her, speaking to her, but she couldn't open her eyes.
She was aware of time passing, of light and dark as the world passed from day into night, and still she couldn't gather enough strength to move.
She slept for long periods of time, but it only seemed to serve in making her even more exhausted.
At last even the gray darkness behind her eyes began to fade into absolute darkness, and she knew, even in her mindless stupor, that something was horribly, terribly wrong with her.
~***~
"Death comes once, let it be easy." -Carl Sandburg
~***~
Draco sat in the deserted Potions classroom, staring unthinkingly at the faded print of the open book on the desk before him.
He had two options.
He could leave Hogwarts, go far away and try to continue his search for a cure - or he could stay, and let Snape destroy him, and be done with it.
Because Ginny Weasley was up in the Infirmary, slowly dying.
When the thread of life the girl was hanging on to snapped, he'd turn into that slavering creature of his nightmares, and no one could help him.
Ginny.
She'd been nothing to him, and yet he'd had to have felt something for her, to have allowed himself to lose his strict control, to become completely irrational; and rational thought was a luxury for him, now - at any moment in time it would become non - existent, a thing of the past.
A ripple of warning ran across his skin.
Snape had come in, unerringly stealthy, and was behind him, even now, contemplating his destruction, he knew.
It seemed his decision had already been made for him.
A humorless smile tugged at his lips as he lifted his eyes to look at the wall before him.
"Well, come on, get it over with, Professor. Or are you going to stand there and stare at my back all night?"
Draco's sensitive hearing caught the man's very slight, startled movement, the almost imperceptible quickly indrawn breath.
He closed the book slowly, but didn't turn to face him.
"Look, I'll make it easy for you - you won't even have to look me in the eyes."
He could feel the man's indecision, almost smell his guilt.
"Come, Professor - this isn't like you. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost swear you were scared of me."
His cold, low, mocking tone caused a discernable change in the emotions coming off the older man.
'Good', he thought, steeling himself for the inevitable, 'get angry. Get bloody furious - and get it the hell over with.'
His muscles tightened across his back and shoulders as he felt Snape draw nearer.
A loud crash made him instinctively move, and he jumped up, vaulting across the desk to crouch near the wall, his senses screaming danger, nearly driving him into a frenzy.
The door had been thrown open.
"No! You can't kill him!"
The loud, panicked shout hurt his ears. He blinked, and focused his red veiled gaze on the new occupant of the room.
It was Granger.
He should have known she'd figure it out - she'd probably heard Ginny say his name.
Draco tensed, waiting angrily for Potter and Weasley to come bursting in behind her, looking self - righteous and more than willing to land an overlarge splinter in his chest.
He cursed Snape's momentary show of weakness - thanks to it, he'd probably be denied an easy death.
He spared a glance for Snape, who stood against his desk, his wand drawn, before looking over at Granger expectantly.
The girl looked pale and exhausted - scared, but determined.
"You can't kill him, Professor," the girl repeated in a more reserved, breathless tone, shaking her head.
"He's a Vampire, Miss Granger - " Snape began coldly.
"No, no, no - he's not!" The frazzled looking girl shook her head again, looking frustrated, and then she sighed.
"He's not! At least, not yet. He hasn't taken a life."
"Brilliant deduction, Miss Granger, but in case you've forgotten, Miss Weasley is no doubt breathing her last as we speak," Snape drawled nastily. "Now, seeing as you have never had the opportunity to see a newly turned Vampire in such contained surroundings, you may want to leave while you have the chance."
"You have to listen to me, sir! I may have an idea - "
"Miss Granger - "
"What have you got in mind?" Draco found himself asking in a voice that sounded disturbingly unlike his own. He waited for her to lash out at him, to curse him for what he'd done.
The girl surprised him by looking at him with something akin to pity, and it threw him momentarily, before he became angered by it.
"It isn't for your sake really," she muttered in her snobby, controlled voice. "It's for Ginny's - but it might buy the both of you some time, until we can find a cure."
Snape took a step forward, his eyes flashing. "Just what are you suggesting, Granger?"
"I can't believe I'm saying this." The girl took a deep breath, and plunged ahead.
"What I'm suggesting, Professor, is for Malfoy to - to turn Ginny."
"You must be joking - one of them gallivanting about the school was bad enough. Look at what happened," snapped Snape.
"I do not 'gallivant'," Draco felt compelled to growl. "Granger, I thought you were supposed to be a brain. If I couldn't control myself, what makes you think Ginny could?"
"I - I think that Ginny could take care of herself," the girl said carefully. "You could watch out for each other, until - "
"Until what? There is no cure, Granger, despite the 'happy - ever- after' fantasies you might be entertaining in that fuzzy little head of yours," snarled Draco in disgust.
" You don't know there isn't a cure!"
"Right, I've only spent the last seven years searching for one!"
"It's amazing - I thought maybe the reason you've continued to be so incredibly childish and selfish all these years was because of everything you've been going through! I was fully prepared to be level headed and understanding about all this - and here you are, as self - centered and heartless as ever, with poor Ginny lying half - dead in that bed up there! You aren't even going to give her a chance? You owe her that much!"
She sniffed forebodingly, and Draco groaned inwardly.
Then it occurred to him that neither Potter or Weasley had shown up.
"You didn't tell them, did you?" He asked suspiciously.
The girl wiped her eyes on her robe sleeve, and looked at him impatiently. "Of course not - they'd have killed you, and any chance for Ginny would have been lost. It didn't make any difference though, did it?"
He frowned at the bitterness in her voice, and looked to Snape.
Their teacher narrowed his dark eyes and slowly crossed his arms over his chest.
"Do you think we have a chance?" Draco asked bluntly.
Snape gave him a short nod after a long, tense moment. "Perhaps."
"What will we do about Dumbledore? The rest of the staff?"
"I'll see to them," Snape said grudgingly. "You have my silence on the matter - but not my blessing."
After a long silence, Draco walked around the desk and vanished out the door.
~***~
" - a young man, with a pale face, a stately brow, and a strange expression about the eyes, which no one cared to look on twice." - V.V. 1847
~***~
Hermione released a relieved sigh as the tall, pale boy left in his eerily silent manner. It had been hellish, standing so near him.
She'd never been comfortable around Draco Malfoy; there had always been something so dangerous, so disturbingly predatory about the way he held himself, how he regarded people, that she'd never wanted to be in the same room with him. And now she knew why.
Snape looked at her, and she stared back, her brown eyes troubled, but unrepentant. She'd accomplished what she'd come for.
"Well? What are you waiting for, girl?" He snapped again. "We have a job to do."
Hermione hid a triumphant, yet weary smile. Ginny had gotten a chance.
"Yes, sir."
~***~
TBC
(A/N: So sorry about the short chapter, guys - I've been so insanely busy, I haven't had time to update. I'll work really hard on getting the others stories updated soon. Thanks so much for reading, and thanks to those of you who reviewed - I really appreciate you! I hope you like where this is going. ^-^ ~Lee)