~*~Green and Gold~*~
By Kellyanne
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good…oh, I mean…I own nothing *sheepish grin*
~I am so sorry it took so long. Forgive me :(
Chapter 17
"I'm sitting here, Zabini," Draco said as he entered the compartment, not bothering to ask if he could. He was too angry to ask.
"Have fun," Blaise Zabini responded, nodding curtly without even looking up from his book.
"What's wrong with you?" Draco snapped. At his comment, the dark haired boy looked up, setting down his copy of The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts.
"I'd ask the same question," He said in an icy voice that rivaled his own.
"What the hell is wrong with you??" Draco asked, his annoyance growing quickly.
"Just realizing what a moron the alleged 'Prince of Slytherin' is…"
"What???" Draco demanded. Blaise Zabini, one of the few Slytherins he could call a real friend without lying…he had called him, Draco Malfoy, a moron!
"You heard me, Malfoy. You're a moron."
"You better be joking, Zabini, because I'm not taking this lightly!!" He hissed through clenched teeth. The other boy met his gaze.
"Think about it this way, Malfoy. You used to be the most feared Slytherin in this school. Then you met that Weasley girl. Most of the people in our house think it's a joke or something, but I know it's not. I also know that she's the best thing that ever happened to you. Now you're pissed at her for God knows what reason! You're about to lose her." Blaise stood up, grabbing his book and walking to the compartment door. "That's why you're a moron, Malfoy!"
SLAM! He was alone in the compartment now, seething with anger and jealousy. What gave Blaise the right to insult him and draw conclusions about him??? What the hell was wrong with everyone???
He stretched his legs so they rested where Blaise had been sitting. His fists were clenching and unclenching as he felt the urge to punch the windowpane. It was pathetic, really, how angry he was.
It was Potter's fault too. Potter and Ginny. That's a perfect couple right there, he thought bitterly. Ginny and Potter. Ginny Potter.
He sighed. Ginny Malfoy.
'You shouldn't be angry with her' the tiny voice at the back of his head whispered. God, he hated his conscience at the moment.
His thoughts drifted to her, remembering every smile, every laugh, every tear she had shed. And he was about to let that go because she had defended a family friend. A brother to her.
He stood quickly, almost losing his balance. Ginny was right where he had left her moments ago, her knees brought to her chin as she sobbed quietly.
"Ginny…" He said quietly, not able to continue as she looked up, her brown eyes red from crying.
"What do you want?" She hissed, her eyes narrowing.
"I'm sorry. I've never been more sorry in my life," He said, sitting next to her. He took it as a good thing that she didn't move away.
"Yeah, well, you damn well should be sorry," She said softly.
"Will…can you forgive me? It'll be a pretty lonely Christmas holiday if you don't." She looked up to meet his eyes again and slowly—painfully slowly— nodded her head. He smiled and kissed her hair.
"I'm so sorry," He whispered into her beautiful red hair. She squeezed his hand gently and he smiled, never feeling more sorry in his life. God, he had made her cry!
It didn't matter anymore, though, because she had tipped up her chin and covered his lips with hers.
He was in heaven.
The train began to slow and that was when Ginny started to feel nervous. Here she was, sitting next to the son of her family's enemy, and she was about to face said family for the first time in months. They'd meet Draco for the first time…well…it'd be the first time they'd meet him as her boyfriend. As the man she loved.
"Gin, you ok?" Draco asked. She looked up and nodded slowly, not really sure if she was, in fact, ok. How could she be?? What if her family took one look at him and saw just the miniature version of his father?? What if they left him at Kings Cross Station????
"Don't be nervous. If they hate me, they hate. I'm used to it," Draco said quietly. It hurt for him to think that being hated was normal. People shouldn't hate.
"If I can love you, so can they," She said before kissing him gently. Then they were standing and walking off the train. Her heart practically stopped when she stepped onto the platform. Her mum, her dad…all her brothers except Fred and George…they all were looking right at Draco.
"Ginny! Oh, my little girl!!" Her mum squealed before rushing over to crush her in an embrace. The rest of the Weasleys followed, hugging her and kissing her like she hadn't been home in years. She felt Draco's hand slip from her own and she knew he was backing away. She didn't completely blame him. The horde of red hair must be frightening if you didn't belong to it.
After all the, "How are you feeling, dears," and "You look wonderfuls," she could take, Ginny pulled away from her family and took Draco's hand back where it properly belonged: in hers.
"Mum, Dad, this is…" She was cut off when her mum rushed over to Draco.
"Draco! We can't thank you enough for saving our little girl! How can we repay you??" Her mum asked, tears forming in her eyes. She crushed Draco in a hug, before he could respond, similar to the one she had been trapped in moments before and Draco looked as shocked as all the other Weasleys.
The two oldest Weasley brothers slowly made their way to Draco after he was released from her mum's embrace.
"Apparently you're the only one who can keep Gin in order," Charlie said good-naturedly, patting Draco's back in a manly version of a hug (at least that's what she assumed.) She sighed in relief at knowing they were accepting him, but then she realized what he said.
"Hey, I don't need Draco to stay out of trouble!" She said quickly, earning a glare from the blonde who stood out very easily in the blob of red.
"Yeah you do," Bill said, laughing. The corners of his eyes crinkled and his wife, Fleur, swatted his chest.
"Leave her alone!" Fleur said, her words sprinkled with a French accent that had been slowly wearing off since she moved to London.
"I think your family likes me," Draco whispered, smiling widely. He kissed her forehead, his grin growing larger.
"Well, you did save my life," She said, chuckling at the false look of hurt on Draco's face.
"They'd have loved me even if I hadn't saved you," He crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.
"Well, love," She said, grabbing his hand, "If you hadn't saved me, I'd be dead and then…well…then my family'd kill you. We'd both be dead."
She chuckled as he glared down at her.
"Welcome to the Weasley family," She whispered.
After waiting a bit longer on the platform, Weasley, Granger and Potter got off the train and all twelve of them made their way to a beat up Ford Angolia.
The drive, or flight, rather, was practically silent, save the putters and growls of the car. Ginny was the only one brave enough to talk, "So, are Fred and George going to be stuck at Hogwarts all break?" She asked, not really directing the question at anyway. He commended her for her bravery. Potter's glare was now aimed at her with added malice. She didn't seem to notice.
Mrs. Weasley was the one to answer, "I don't see why they'd be at Hogwarts, dear. If they're anywhere, it should be Hogsmeade. Hogwarts??" The woman chuckled, her red curls bouncing cheerfully, reminding him of a redheaded Mrs. Santa Claus.
"But…" Ginny started. For some reason, though, she stopped short. Draco shrugged, thinking that she had caught sight of Potter's glare or something.
Hours later, Ginny Weasley lay snuggled under her pale blue quilt, her brown eyes gazing at the ceiling that Fred and George had enchanted to resemble the Forbidden Forest. Lovely brothers as they are, they even charmed the walls to howl like werewolves every once in a while. She had grown accustomed to the howls, using them as alarm clocks. They went off every hour.
Dumbledore had visited about an hour after they had arrived at the Burrow, quickly placing her under the Fidelius Charm before returning to Hogwarts.
The house was silent, something that usually never happened in the Weasley house. Maybe it was because the twins weren't here…or maybe it was because of Draco.
Everybody had accepted him as one of the family, welcoming them like they had Harry. The one who seemed to accept him the most, though, was Ron, the brother who had hated him since his first year at Hogwarts. It was strange.
Turning on her side, Ginny looked through the darkness to meet a pair of eyes that were as wide as her own. It was Christmas Eve, after all, and neither would fall asleep anytime soon.
"Hermione, what'd you say to make Ron…I dunno…like Draco more?" She asked in a whisper. She heard Hermione shift on her bed across from Ginny's.
"Me?? Well, I didn't do anything," Hermione said. If Ginny could see her friend's face, she'd bet a Galleon that her brow was furrowed.
"Well, if you didn't convince Ron, who did?"
"Your brother did, Gin."
"I don't know if you noticed, but I have quite a few brothers." Both girls laughed in the darkness.
"Fred, I think. Ron said he walked in on Fred writing a letter to Draco. It was a bit odd."
"Why would Fred write a letter to Draco. My Draco?? Draco Malfoy!"
"I don't know. I tried asking Fred at the Three Broomsticks the day when…you know. Anyway, he changed the subject, telling me that you and Draco had just had a frightful row. I don't really understand why he dodged the question."
Ginny's eyes widened and she unintentionally shivered, "Fred was there when the fireplace blew up???"
"Yeah, why? I was there too."
"Couldn't he have used magic or something to stop the fire? He is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, after all!!!" She didn't mean to shout it, but she soon heard grumbling throughout the house and she knew she'd woken up her brothers.
"It was fire, Gin, not dark magic!"
"But it was dark magic, Hermione! Dumbledore told me so! He said only dark magic could target fire to surround someone."
Before Hermione could respond, the door slammed open, revealing a very angry, very groggy looking Harry.
"You guys…inconsiderate…trying to sleep…" Most of what he said was lost due to constant yawning. She got what he was basically trying to say, though, and apologized. He left and Hermione kept quiet, though it sounded like she was smothering giggles into her pillow.
Ginny closed her eyes, wanting to try and get some sleep before her "alarm clock" of werewolves howls sounded to wake her up.
She regretted it the second her lids were completely closed.
Images flashed before her eyes after she had closed her eyes, images that made her want to scream but she couldn't. Her voice had gone dry. She couldn't open her eyes, either, because they seemed to be held shut by an invisible hand.
She saw Fred hunched over a wooden desk, writing a letter to Draco…only it wasn't Fred. It was Lucius Malfoy, sneering down at the parchment that he was writing on. The letter said that he was going to kill her. He was writing in blood.
Then she saw her and Draco as they fought, only the row didn't end like it had in reality. It continued until Draco slapped her across the face to shut her up. Her cheek was burning and she felt tears streaming down her cheeks. He had hit her!
Then came the fire, the hot, red fire that was dancing and licking at her flesh. Draco didn't rescue her this time. She met his eyes as the fire devoured her and he laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed as she melted under the heat of the flames. Nobody cared that she was burning alive. They just pretended nothing was happening.
Then came the most horrible of the images. It was the Quidditch pitch; only the lush green grass had been stained red with blood. Hermione and Ron and Harry…every student and teacher at Hogwarts was laying on the bloodied pitch, dead and cold and lifeless. There was only one person alive, though, and that person was Draco. He was crying, his tears silent but streaming down his cheeks all the same. He was looking down as though he was holding something in his arms.
Then she saw what he was carrying. Who he was carrying.
It was her, her Hogwarts uniform stained and dripping with her own blood. A knife was embedded in her chest. A pocketknife with the initials DM carved into the handle.
This image felt so real that she sat up in her bed and screamed.
Draco sighed, rolling onto his stomach, as he lay, wide-awake, in a sleeping bag on the floor of Weasley's room. He had been rolling in that same sleeping bag for hours, since he, Weasley and Potter had been sent to bed by Mrs. Weasley. The occupants of the house, which Draco found more welcoming then even the largest mansion his father could buy, all sat around a beat-up table in the kitchen, sipping hot cocoa and talking quietly. When it was midnight or so, Mrs. Weasley sent everyone to bed, including the oldest sons, Bill and Charlie, and Mr. Weasley. Draco had laughed his way up the stairs as he watched Bill sulk about having being sent to bed.
Now, hours later, Draco still found himself wide-awake. It wasn't pre-Christmas jitters, though. He knew that for a fact. He'd never, in his lifetime, gotten excited for Christmas. That was his father's fault, but still, the excitement wasn't there.
It was just something about this house, this family, which was keeping him awake. He didn't understand it. He didn't understand them! They were excepting him, for God's sake! Nobody cared enough to do that, even if they'd known him for years and years.
…Until Ginny.
Her entering his life was a blessing and he was grateful for her. He was grateful for her and the rest of her psychotic, redheaded family.
He chuckled softly, thinking about what it must have looked like to see this horde of redheads crowding around a guy with silver-blonde hair. He rolled in his sleeping bag again, this time staying on his back to gaze at the ceiling.
It wasn't black like it should have been. It was orange. Bright, blinding orange.
"Stop tossing and turning, Malfoy, and go to sleep," Came the voice of Weasley.
"It's kinda hard," He said, not bothering to keep his voice down. Hopefully Potter would wake up and never fall back to sleep. It would serve him right, after what he did to Ginny. His Ginny.
"You just close your bloody eyes!!"
He shuddered, remembering Allie saying something similar to that the night she died. He recovered though, "Even when I do that it still feels like daytime!"
"What are you talking about Malfoy?"
"Your walls! Your bloody orange walls!" He snapped, indignantly cracking his knuckles. Then came a noise that shocked him. Laughter. Weasley was laughing at him.
"What's so damn funny?" Draco asked, feeling a corner of his mouth curl into his trademark smirk.
"I guess you're right. They are quite bright," Weasley said through a chuckle, the exasperated sound to his voice making Draco laugh.
Then Potter groaned, his head popping up through the darkness as he sat straight up in his bed. He groaned again upon seeing the alarm clock, which only made Draco laugh harder.
"Too early…trying to sleep," Potter mumbled, groaning for the third time. For some reason, his garble made both Draco and Weasley shut up. The silence gave way to the sound of voices from somewhere downstairs. They were soft murmurs and then one suddenly grew to a yell. Potter's head shot up in the darkness and he stood, walking to the door as he wobbled sleepily, dangerously.
When he returned, her muttered something about the girls being inconsiderate before he layback down.
The house was now completely silent, which comforted Draco, making his eyelids grow heavy. He sighed into his pillow, pulling it close as he thought of Ginny. She was probably asleep by now, her breathing soft and even as she dreamt. He wondered if she was dreaming about him. Was that possible??
And the only answer was a scream.
It was ear-piercing and heart-wrenching and Draco knew, without a doubt, that it was Ginny.
He jumped from his sleeping bag and took the stairs two at a time until he reached the door that opened to Ginny's room.
Granger was standing before Ginny, trying to hug her, comfort her, anything to calm her down. Ginny, though, was shaking uncontrollably, sobs erupting from her tiny body.
"What the hell happened to her, Granger?" He hissed as he sat beside Ginny, wrapping his arms around her. Ginny, though, refused to be held and squirmed away, huddling at the end of her bed.
"I don't know. She just…just started crying," Granger's chin quavered and he knew that she was about to burst into tears like Ginny.
Tearing his eyes away from Ginny, he saw the rest of the Weasley family standing in the doorway. He dropped his gaze back down to Ginny, who was still shaking, her eyes red from crying.
"What's going on here??" Mr. Weasley asked, his voice groggy and yet hearable enough to show confusion.
"You all go back to bed. I'll take care of her," Draco said, looking up from Ginny to address her family. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both looking at him in shock while Bill just smiled warmly. Everybody else was silent, eyes on the ground.
Finally, after a long moment of silence, Mr. Weasley shook his head as though he were just waking from a dream, "She's my daughter. Shouldn't I…"
This was when Granger stepped away from Ginny's bed, walking to stand in front of Mr. Weasley, "She doesn't need us, Mr. Weasley. She needs…him."
"She's right Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said slowly, her eyes moist and misty, threatening to spill over with tears, "Draco will take care of her just fine." Everybody except the older Weasley woman turned to leave. Her eyes met his and he understood that she trusted him with her daughter. She trusted him. Him being a Malfoy, the son of a Deatheater, the guy who had made her daughter cry more then one time. She trusted him.
"She'll be ok," He said quietly, not really sure if it was to reassure Mrs. Weasley or himself. Nevertheless, the woman smiled tearfully before walking slowly out the door, closing it quietly behind her.
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, before looking over at the quavering girl at the end of the bed. Her eyes were bloodshot and glazed over with tears that were fresh and unshed. Her cheeks had paled, making her face eerie and unearthly. Her chin was shaking and she kept squeezing her eyes closed.
"Ginny…" He said softly, moving to kneel before her on the floor, "Ginny, love, what happened?" He reached to take her hand, shocked when she pulled it away. She looked down at his hand and new tears fell.
Draco followed her gaze and found fresh, red blood glistening on his skin. His eyes flicked back to Ginny's arm, where her hand had been, and saw nail marks that were slowly filling with blood.
"Gin, why'd you do that to yourself?" He asked, his words coming out harsher then he had intended. He took a deep breath before continuing, "Ginny, what happened to make you scream? Is it because you hurt yourself? Is that why you screamed?"
She whimpered, meeting his eyes. They were sad. Sad eyes. She shook her head.
"I…I…" Ginny bit her lip, rocking back and forth as she gripped her knees, blood trickling from the scratches on her arm.
"It's ok. Just tell me what happened. I'll make it better if you tell me what happened." He slowly lifted himself onto the bed, thanking God that she didn't move away as he settled down next to her, "What happened?"
"I…I was laying in bed just…just thinking and then I closed my eyes and…and…" A singled tear fell down her cheek and he lifted a finger to wipe it away. She flinched at his touch.
"Did you have a dream? Was it a bad dream or something?" He asked in what he hoped was a soothing voice. He had never been good at comforting other people.
"Yes…and no. I was still awake…but…I couldn't open my eyes. Then the images kept flashing and…God, they wouldn't stop. I just…couldn't take it. I saw your father and…and I saw us fighting…and then…then…Oh God! I saw you carrying me in your arms! I was dead!! Your knife had killed me…you killed me!!"
"W…what?" He stuttered, his jaw going slack as he listened to Ginny, her voice growing less and less tearful and more and more angry.
"It wasn't a dream, Draco. It was a glimpse of the future. If you and I…stay together…I'm going to die."
"Ginny…I wouldn't let that happen! I swear!!"
"I bet you swore you would never let a thing like us happen! Well guess what! Fate has one hell of a sense of irony because here we are…or were. I'm not going to die at your hand, Draco. Not if I can help it."
His back stiffened and he stood, his eyes narrowing, "What exactly are you saying?"
She bit her lip, her eyes telling the tale of an ongoing battle between emotions. Finally, those same eyes that he loved went colder then ice, "I'm saying that I want you gone. Go home and forget about me. It won't be hard. I am, after all, just another Weasley."
He nodded his head, making sure that any emotion was hidden from his face and eyes. He had learned to do that from his father, "Goodbye then."
He turned around, his back straight, walking up the stairs and quietly opening the door to Weasley's room. He was asleep, Granger sleeping soundly beside him in Draco's sleeping bag.
"Accio bag," He whispered, waiting as his knapsack slowly floated over to him. Everything was still packed inside the bag, his gift for Ginny lying on the top of a pile of shirts. He picked it up, gripping the edges of the green wrapping paper and the ends of a curly gold ribbon attached to it. Green and Gold. Slytherin and Gryffindor. What had he been thinking?
As he walked out of the room, cramming his feet into his shoes on the way out, he decided to leave it for her anyway. One last memory of what she had given up. Walking into the living room, he placed the box under the thick green branches of the Weasley Christmas tree and inhaled the smell of the diminutive home that had welcomed him just because he had been associated with their daughter. He'd miss it.
Walking to the fireplace in the kitchen, he grabbed a bit of Floo Powder and bit his tongue as he said, "Malfoy Manor."
The End
Just Kidding!! That would be just plain mean :D Its not the end yet. A chapter or two left. I'm not quite sure yet. Anyway, please please please review. Some of my old reviewers stopped and now I'm starting to think that they stopped cuz they don't like it anymore :( So…yeah, review so that I know I'm not writing to absolutely nobody.
OOO…just a nice, fun little fact: 5 April is my birthday :) Meaning Saturday. Just so you guys know :) Well, I hope you liked this chapter. More soon depending on how lazy I am heehee