He made his way out of the library, the harsh wind greeting him. He
shivered and walked faster, hoping to get away from the huge shadow the old
library cast over the street. The thought alone of someone knowing what he
was doing and trying their best to stop him sent chills down his spine. He
ran down the road, back into the bustle of the busy shoppers.
"Hey Draco," he heard a voice say. He turned around and stared at Pansy who looked suspiciously smug with a wide smirk on her face.
"What?" he snapped, sick to death of her constantly annoying him.
"I just thought you'd like to know that your girlfriend, that stupid Weasley ferret was following you around before, sneaking into the library just before you did…" her voice trailed off as he spun around, his slate grey eyes wide with shock.
"What do you mean, she went into the library just before I did? How did you know I went to the library anyway?"
"I do have eyes and ears you know. I hear and see things, and I saw Ginny go into the library just before you did. Just like I saw you talk to the wall the time you bombarded us with frog legs," her dark eyes narrowed in suspicion as she stepped closer towards him. "What were you doing anyway?" she asked, tossing her hair around like an angry horse.
"As if I'd tell you," he snapped before walking away.
"I'm onto you, Malfoy. You think you can hide everything from me, but I know what your doing. And don't worry, I'll put a stop to it," she called. For a minute, Draco froze, wondering if she had figured out about James, but he threw that thought from his head and kept walking, determined to find out what was going on.
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"What are you doing?" James asked as Draco sat at his desk, writing furiously on a piece of parchment. Draco quickly covered it with his hand and looked up.
"Nothing," he replied, carefully folding the parchment so James couldn't see what he'd written. James stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowed in suspicion, before he turned and walked away.
"Where are you going?" he called out. James ignored him as he thrust open the door. Draco heard the loud chatter from the commonroom as the door swung open. He stood up and followed him, bursting out into the commonroom. The whole room went silent as Draco stood on the stairs, shocked at the looks on the Slytherin's faces. He scanned the room for James, and his eyes fell on a tall, black eyed, hooked nosed shape. Snape. He inwardly groaned, wondering what James had done to get him into trouble, trouble which Draco got the blame for.
"Come with me," Snape glared, beckoning with his finger. Numbly, Draco made his way down the stairs, deliberately taking his time. He heard muffled snickers on either side of him and, just before Snape pulled him by the arm out the door, he saw James, silently laughing at the bottom of the stairs. Draco glanced at Snape's face, pinched tight with anger. They raced passed suits of armour and brightly lit torches as Snape led him quickly to what he recognised as the gargoyle statue to Dumbledore's office. (His father had shown it to him many times). Snape muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'chocolate cockatoos' and the gargoyle sprang to life, jumping to the side to reveal a large doorway. Draco opened his mouth as if to protest but closed it as he walked into the room to see Dumbledore sitting at his desk, talking to a small red-headed girl with her back to Draco.
"You wished for him, Albus," Snape snapped, pushing Draco roughly into the chair next to Ginny. Dumbledore's face broke into a wide smile.
"Thank you Severus. That is all, you may leave now," he replied. Snape smiled curtly before storming out of the room. Dumbledore tsked softly, as though amazed at how Snape could act when offended, even in the slightest way. He turned towards Draco and Ginny, who glanced nervously at Draco before talking.
"It has come to my attention, that you, Mr. Malfoy and Miss. Weasley, have been-um, well there really is no easy way to put this. A certain student, who I will not name, has told me that you have been violating some school rules in a somewhat unruly manner." The twitch of Dumbledore's mouth as he tried not to laugh and the suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows said all that Dumbledore was thinking. Ginny blushed a deep red and began to splutter.
"And why exactly do you believe this frivolous rumour started by some egotistical Hufflepuff who probably wanted some action?" Draco responded coolly, glaring back at Dumbledore. He had to keep his image safe, to both Ginny and Dumbledore.
"I thought as much," Dumbledore breathed what seemed to be a quickly disguised sigh of relief. "I am so sorry to bother you, I just needed you to confirm that these, uh, frivolous rumours, as you like to call them, Mr. Malfoy, are not true. Thank you. Now, Mr. Malfoy, if you would be so kind as to escort Ginny up to the second floor- Mr. Filch has already extinguished the torches on this level for the tou- uh, the repairs," Dumbledore stumbled as he led the two to the door. "Good evening and goodnight."
Ginny and Draco both squished through the door simultaneously, Ginny just ahead of Draco.
"You don't have to walk back with me, it's okay," she said as soon as the gargoyle had jumped back into place. Draco shook his head silently and followed her.
"Pansy told me that you were following me at Hogsmeade today," he said casually, sneaking a sidelong glance to see her reaction. It may have been his imagination, but he thought she blushed a pale pink before turning to set her large brown eyes on him.
"Why would I waste my time following you?" she replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Draco stared at her strong profile, the determined rise of her chin and he guessed at that moment, with no evidence at all, that Ginny knew what he was doing.
"Because you don't want me to find out about Siria," Draco said it was such confidence that Ginny stopped in her tracks and stared at him. She went a deep red and tried to deny it, yet all that came out were splutters. Choosing a different tactic, she pushed him back roughly and snapped at him as she began to walk away.
"You think that us girls are so stupid. How long did you think you could play this stupid game without someone realising what you were up to. Do you honestly think that I 'bumped' into you by accident? Do you think that you book got caught up with mine unintentionally? I figured it all out from the beginning. I heard my Dad talking to Mum about the letter and how the Ministry was so concerned that Professor Lupin allowed the letter to be sent. I kept careful eye on what you were doing the whole time. I saw you borrow the book and I followed you out of the hall the night the Bloody Baron spoke to you. I heard everything, Draco. Everything. Now I have no idea if you have performed the curse yet, but I know that you have found out about Siria. I followed you to the library and ripped out the page because- well, I don't really think you should know why; at least, not yet anyway." She stopped at this, taking a deep breath as she began to race down the corridor. Draco, who finally digested what she had just said, quickly ran after her. She turned a corner and, as soon as he rounded it, was gone. He stood silently, knowing that she was hiding somewhere, as there was no way that she could run that fast.
He heard a soft click and spotted a shadow moving behind the window of a door. He walked towards it and turned the handle. He felt it resist as Ginny held it tight, but he was too strong for her. A moment later, he was in the room staring straight at her, his face red with anger.
"How dare you think that you can stick you nose into my business? It's too dangerous for a stupid girl like you," he yelled, moving forward as she stepped backwards, trembling slightly. She quivered suddenly and, before Draco could do anything, she punched him full on in the stomach. He bent over, gasping for breath as she tried to make her way to the door. Just as she reached it though, they both heard voices coming down the hall.
"…we'll put it in that abandoned classroom, the one with the old cupboard in it," a man said loudly. Ginny, wide-eyed, pointed at an old style cupboard at the back of the room. Draco swore under his breath and stood up, clutching his stomach. He reached over and grabbed Ginny's hand, who was standing still with fright. He pulled her towards some desks at the other side of the room, pushing her under the table before hurrying in after her. He pushed his back against the wall and put a finger on his lips to quieten Ginny's loud breathing. The door handle turned slowly and Draco stared as a man in tall, black boots walked in, bending over as he dragged something that looked extremely heavy in- something that had long red hair and arms.
Draco clamped his hand over Ginny's mouth before she could cry out as they both watched the two men drag Molly Weasley's lifeless body into the room. Draco felt Ginny turn her head to bury it in his shoulder as she cried, the tears falling onto his bare arm. He felt her fist clenching on his hand as he held her down, trying to stop her from jumping up and running to her mother.
Gasping for breath, the two opened the cupboard door and dumped the podgy body inside.
"Let's see what V-voldemort t-thinks o-of p-poor Professor Quirell now," the other man said to Snape. Draco did a double take (as easily as he could, considering the conditions) as he recognised Professor Quirell stutter. Quietly, he edged forwards and sneaked a glance upwards at the other man, who he recognised as the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher who'd been killed in his first year.
"It's Quirell," Draco whispered to Ginny.
"W-Who?" Ginny replied, turning her tear-stained face to his in confusion. He shook his hand and listened as the two men walked out the door. He heard a click and the scraping of a key in a lock. Then the footsteps of the men faded away. Gingerly, they crawled out from under the table, Ginny racing to the cupboard and Draco to the door. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.
"Alohorama" he muttered under his breath, pointing his wand towards the handle. It half-turned but, as if by some counter-spell, it turned back. He cursed and tried the door again, yet it wouldn't budge.
"Ginny, we're locked in," he said. He stopped short as soon as he turned around as Ginny who knelt down next to her mother's body. She sobbed softly as she held Mrs. Weasley's hand.
"M-mummy?" she said quietly, gently, so much so that Draco felt like crying himself. But he stopped himself, fighting back the tears at his throat to kneel down and place a hand on Ginny's shoulder.
"Come on," he said, trying to pull her up. She pushed his hand away viciously. "Come on," he said again, more firmly.
"Come on? Come on? How can you be so heartless? My mother has just died here, don't you get it? Oh, but then, the only person close to you that has died lately is your dad, and he didn't exactly mean much to you, did he? Admit it, your glad that the heartless old fool is dead, aren't you? That you and your mother are free from his grasp?" she snapped. Draco felt as though he'd been punched in the heart. His first instinct was to grab her around the throat and shake her to death, yet he turned around instead, trying to shake the cruel words she'd said out of his head.
"I'm sorry," Ginny mumbled. "I shouldn't have said that."
"No, you shouldn't have. You just don't understand. You don't think that anyone like me could get hurt, do you, by what people say. When I was younger, I heard all about the people that I would grow to hate from my father. I was supposed to hate them, it didn't matter if I happened to like them or not. I tried to be Potter's friend, but he rejected my proposal of friendship because he thought a stupid Weasley like you was more important to please. I tried; I tried so hard that I almost lost the ugly oafs that I had to have as my friends."
"But you just won't listen to that will you? You, and all the other Gryffindors, have their heart set on hating me, and my father, and my family and all of Slytherin just because of what you've heard. How do you think I feel, finding out I have a sister when I'm eighteen years old? No one thought of my feelings, did they, when they decided to wipe her from existence now, did they?"
He laughed, as though slightly embarrassed by his outburst and shook his head. "What exactly have you got against my father anyway?" he snapped out, hoping to end the conversation.
"He killed Siria," she mumbled.
"What?"
"He killed Siria. Yes, your father, the one who you love and miss so much," she said sarcastically, "He sold Siria to Voldemort. Oh sure, it was only temporarily, only to have the Ministry look for her while Voldemort went on a killing rampage, but all the same. He went crazy when Voldemort wouldn't give her back."
"Don't be ridiculous," Draco stammered. "M-my dad would never have done anything like that," he finished off. He almost let loose the fact that his father had worked for Voldemort til his death, but caught himself just in time. "Wait a minute. Why do you call you-Know-Who by his real name? I hope you're not trying to impress Harry or something," Draco said, trying to get off the subject. Ginny glared at him again and turned back towards her mother.
"You know Draco," she began, "I don't really want to be a part of this, but now that I'm officially involved, I'd just like to now how exactly you managed to bring Harry's dad back from the dead without Dumbledore not knowing it."
Draco spun around, mouth open as he stared at her. She looked up and smiled sweetly, her eyebrow raised in mockery.
"Stupid girl, am I?"
א
"Hey Draco," he heard a voice say. He turned around and stared at Pansy who looked suspiciously smug with a wide smirk on her face.
"What?" he snapped, sick to death of her constantly annoying him.
"I just thought you'd like to know that your girlfriend, that stupid Weasley ferret was following you around before, sneaking into the library just before you did…" her voice trailed off as he spun around, his slate grey eyes wide with shock.
"What do you mean, she went into the library just before I did? How did you know I went to the library anyway?"
"I do have eyes and ears you know. I hear and see things, and I saw Ginny go into the library just before you did. Just like I saw you talk to the wall the time you bombarded us with frog legs," her dark eyes narrowed in suspicion as she stepped closer towards him. "What were you doing anyway?" she asked, tossing her hair around like an angry horse.
"As if I'd tell you," he snapped before walking away.
"I'm onto you, Malfoy. You think you can hide everything from me, but I know what your doing. And don't worry, I'll put a stop to it," she called. For a minute, Draco froze, wondering if she had figured out about James, but he threw that thought from his head and kept walking, determined to find out what was going on.
א
"What are you doing?" James asked as Draco sat at his desk, writing furiously on a piece of parchment. Draco quickly covered it with his hand and looked up.
"Nothing," he replied, carefully folding the parchment so James couldn't see what he'd written. James stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowed in suspicion, before he turned and walked away.
"Where are you going?" he called out. James ignored him as he thrust open the door. Draco heard the loud chatter from the commonroom as the door swung open. He stood up and followed him, bursting out into the commonroom. The whole room went silent as Draco stood on the stairs, shocked at the looks on the Slytherin's faces. He scanned the room for James, and his eyes fell on a tall, black eyed, hooked nosed shape. Snape. He inwardly groaned, wondering what James had done to get him into trouble, trouble which Draco got the blame for.
"Come with me," Snape glared, beckoning with his finger. Numbly, Draco made his way down the stairs, deliberately taking his time. He heard muffled snickers on either side of him and, just before Snape pulled him by the arm out the door, he saw James, silently laughing at the bottom of the stairs. Draco glanced at Snape's face, pinched tight with anger. They raced passed suits of armour and brightly lit torches as Snape led him quickly to what he recognised as the gargoyle statue to Dumbledore's office. (His father had shown it to him many times). Snape muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'chocolate cockatoos' and the gargoyle sprang to life, jumping to the side to reveal a large doorway. Draco opened his mouth as if to protest but closed it as he walked into the room to see Dumbledore sitting at his desk, talking to a small red-headed girl with her back to Draco.
"You wished for him, Albus," Snape snapped, pushing Draco roughly into the chair next to Ginny. Dumbledore's face broke into a wide smile.
"Thank you Severus. That is all, you may leave now," he replied. Snape smiled curtly before storming out of the room. Dumbledore tsked softly, as though amazed at how Snape could act when offended, even in the slightest way. He turned towards Draco and Ginny, who glanced nervously at Draco before talking.
"It has come to my attention, that you, Mr. Malfoy and Miss. Weasley, have been-um, well there really is no easy way to put this. A certain student, who I will not name, has told me that you have been violating some school rules in a somewhat unruly manner." The twitch of Dumbledore's mouth as he tried not to laugh and the suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows said all that Dumbledore was thinking. Ginny blushed a deep red and began to splutter.
"And why exactly do you believe this frivolous rumour started by some egotistical Hufflepuff who probably wanted some action?" Draco responded coolly, glaring back at Dumbledore. He had to keep his image safe, to both Ginny and Dumbledore.
"I thought as much," Dumbledore breathed what seemed to be a quickly disguised sigh of relief. "I am so sorry to bother you, I just needed you to confirm that these, uh, frivolous rumours, as you like to call them, Mr. Malfoy, are not true. Thank you. Now, Mr. Malfoy, if you would be so kind as to escort Ginny up to the second floor- Mr. Filch has already extinguished the torches on this level for the tou- uh, the repairs," Dumbledore stumbled as he led the two to the door. "Good evening and goodnight."
Ginny and Draco both squished through the door simultaneously, Ginny just ahead of Draco.
"You don't have to walk back with me, it's okay," she said as soon as the gargoyle had jumped back into place. Draco shook his head silently and followed her.
"Pansy told me that you were following me at Hogsmeade today," he said casually, sneaking a sidelong glance to see her reaction. It may have been his imagination, but he thought she blushed a pale pink before turning to set her large brown eyes on him.
"Why would I waste my time following you?" she replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Draco stared at her strong profile, the determined rise of her chin and he guessed at that moment, with no evidence at all, that Ginny knew what he was doing.
"Because you don't want me to find out about Siria," Draco said it was such confidence that Ginny stopped in her tracks and stared at him. She went a deep red and tried to deny it, yet all that came out were splutters. Choosing a different tactic, she pushed him back roughly and snapped at him as she began to walk away.
"You think that us girls are so stupid. How long did you think you could play this stupid game without someone realising what you were up to. Do you honestly think that I 'bumped' into you by accident? Do you think that you book got caught up with mine unintentionally? I figured it all out from the beginning. I heard my Dad talking to Mum about the letter and how the Ministry was so concerned that Professor Lupin allowed the letter to be sent. I kept careful eye on what you were doing the whole time. I saw you borrow the book and I followed you out of the hall the night the Bloody Baron spoke to you. I heard everything, Draco. Everything. Now I have no idea if you have performed the curse yet, but I know that you have found out about Siria. I followed you to the library and ripped out the page because- well, I don't really think you should know why; at least, not yet anyway." She stopped at this, taking a deep breath as she began to race down the corridor. Draco, who finally digested what she had just said, quickly ran after her. She turned a corner and, as soon as he rounded it, was gone. He stood silently, knowing that she was hiding somewhere, as there was no way that she could run that fast.
He heard a soft click and spotted a shadow moving behind the window of a door. He walked towards it and turned the handle. He felt it resist as Ginny held it tight, but he was too strong for her. A moment later, he was in the room staring straight at her, his face red with anger.
"How dare you think that you can stick you nose into my business? It's too dangerous for a stupid girl like you," he yelled, moving forward as she stepped backwards, trembling slightly. She quivered suddenly and, before Draco could do anything, she punched him full on in the stomach. He bent over, gasping for breath as she tried to make her way to the door. Just as she reached it though, they both heard voices coming down the hall.
"…we'll put it in that abandoned classroom, the one with the old cupboard in it," a man said loudly. Ginny, wide-eyed, pointed at an old style cupboard at the back of the room. Draco swore under his breath and stood up, clutching his stomach. He reached over and grabbed Ginny's hand, who was standing still with fright. He pulled her towards some desks at the other side of the room, pushing her under the table before hurrying in after her. He pushed his back against the wall and put a finger on his lips to quieten Ginny's loud breathing. The door handle turned slowly and Draco stared as a man in tall, black boots walked in, bending over as he dragged something that looked extremely heavy in- something that had long red hair and arms.
Draco clamped his hand over Ginny's mouth before she could cry out as they both watched the two men drag Molly Weasley's lifeless body into the room. Draco felt Ginny turn her head to bury it in his shoulder as she cried, the tears falling onto his bare arm. He felt her fist clenching on his hand as he held her down, trying to stop her from jumping up and running to her mother.
Gasping for breath, the two opened the cupboard door and dumped the podgy body inside.
"Let's see what V-voldemort t-thinks o-of p-poor Professor Quirell now," the other man said to Snape. Draco did a double take (as easily as he could, considering the conditions) as he recognised Professor Quirell stutter. Quietly, he edged forwards and sneaked a glance upwards at the other man, who he recognised as the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher who'd been killed in his first year.
"It's Quirell," Draco whispered to Ginny.
"W-Who?" Ginny replied, turning her tear-stained face to his in confusion. He shook his hand and listened as the two men walked out the door. He heard a click and the scraping of a key in a lock. Then the footsteps of the men faded away. Gingerly, they crawled out from under the table, Ginny racing to the cupboard and Draco to the door. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.
"Alohorama" he muttered under his breath, pointing his wand towards the handle. It half-turned but, as if by some counter-spell, it turned back. He cursed and tried the door again, yet it wouldn't budge.
"Ginny, we're locked in," he said. He stopped short as soon as he turned around as Ginny who knelt down next to her mother's body. She sobbed softly as she held Mrs. Weasley's hand.
"M-mummy?" she said quietly, gently, so much so that Draco felt like crying himself. But he stopped himself, fighting back the tears at his throat to kneel down and place a hand on Ginny's shoulder.
"Come on," he said, trying to pull her up. She pushed his hand away viciously. "Come on," he said again, more firmly.
"Come on? Come on? How can you be so heartless? My mother has just died here, don't you get it? Oh, but then, the only person close to you that has died lately is your dad, and he didn't exactly mean much to you, did he? Admit it, your glad that the heartless old fool is dead, aren't you? That you and your mother are free from his grasp?" she snapped. Draco felt as though he'd been punched in the heart. His first instinct was to grab her around the throat and shake her to death, yet he turned around instead, trying to shake the cruel words she'd said out of his head.
"I'm sorry," Ginny mumbled. "I shouldn't have said that."
"No, you shouldn't have. You just don't understand. You don't think that anyone like me could get hurt, do you, by what people say. When I was younger, I heard all about the people that I would grow to hate from my father. I was supposed to hate them, it didn't matter if I happened to like them or not. I tried to be Potter's friend, but he rejected my proposal of friendship because he thought a stupid Weasley like you was more important to please. I tried; I tried so hard that I almost lost the ugly oafs that I had to have as my friends."
"But you just won't listen to that will you? You, and all the other Gryffindors, have their heart set on hating me, and my father, and my family and all of Slytherin just because of what you've heard. How do you think I feel, finding out I have a sister when I'm eighteen years old? No one thought of my feelings, did they, when they decided to wipe her from existence now, did they?"
He laughed, as though slightly embarrassed by his outburst and shook his head. "What exactly have you got against my father anyway?" he snapped out, hoping to end the conversation.
"He killed Siria," she mumbled.
"What?"
"He killed Siria. Yes, your father, the one who you love and miss so much," she said sarcastically, "He sold Siria to Voldemort. Oh sure, it was only temporarily, only to have the Ministry look for her while Voldemort went on a killing rampage, but all the same. He went crazy when Voldemort wouldn't give her back."
"Don't be ridiculous," Draco stammered. "M-my dad would never have done anything like that," he finished off. He almost let loose the fact that his father had worked for Voldemort til his death, but caught himself just in time. "Wait a minute. Why do you call you-Know-Who by his real name? I hope you're not trying to impress Harry or something," Draco said, trying to get off the subject. Ginny glared at him again and turned back towards her mother.
"You know Draco," she began, "I don't really want to be a part of this, but now that I'm officially involved, I'd just like to now how exactly you managed to bring Harry's dad back from the dead without Dumbledore not knowing it."
Draco spun around, mouth open as he stared at her. She looked up and smiled sweetly, her eyebrow raised in mockery.
"Stupid girl, am I?"
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