Chapter Eight: The Warning
She looked up again and he still wasn't at the table. She returned to her plate and a few seconds later found herself looking up yet again. It was the tenth time that morning and breakfast was almost over. Most students were already getting up, ready to go out on the grounds and finish the snow fight from yesterday, others wanted to just lounge around their common rooms. But one students hadn't showed up: Draco Malfoy.
Ginny hated herself for wondering what happened to Draco. She hated herself for worrying about his health and she hated herself for caring. Taking one last look at the Slytherin Table—which was now empty—Ginny got up and followed some Gryffindors to the common room.
No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get her mind off of Draco. She desperately needed to know how he was doing. That cut on his arm looked pretty bad and if he didn't see someone about it it could escalate into something fatal. And then Ginny realized that he could be in the Hospital Wing. Ginny ducked out of the common room, dodging questions, and headed towards the Hospital Wing.
As she walked down the crisp cold corridors she wondered how he had received the injury. He obviously was using the deserted class room to practice becoming an animagus. What kind of animal would he make? Dragon automatically entered her head because of his name, but she just couldn't see him as something huge and bulky. He definitely wouldn't be a snake…she hoped he wouldn't be a snake. She had suddenly come upon the doors of the Hospital and she slowly pushed them open. She saw Pompfrey on the other side of the room putting away some linen then walk into her office and shut the door. Ginny sneaked into the room quietly.
The room was brightly lit by the tall windows. All the beds were empty and there was no sign of any one. She was about to leave when she heard voices coming from Pompfrey's office. Ginny put her ear to the door to listen.
"Thank you, Headmaster, for coming."
"It is no problem, although I would prefer not being summoned through the fire place…I'm rather allergic to the soot." Dumbledor gave a few quick sneezes.
"Ah, yes, I always forget…sorry." Pompfrey said, "It's happened again."
"More supplies?"
"Yes, this time some gauze, pain relieving potion and disinfectant. Someone obviously stole those things for a reason and it worries me to know a student, or Professor, is out there hurting." There was a short pause in which Pompfrey mumbled something like, "even though I don't ask questions…I'd rather not know what these kids do to get such serious injuries…it's not my job to hand out detentions."
"Poppy, this makes the third time this year…not counting the other numerous time over the years. Do you think it could be the same person?"
"I do, especially since it's happened during a holiday break."
"Alright, I will ask the teachers to keep an extra eye on any student who looks as if they have an injury they are trying to hide. In the meantime I suggest asking Professor Flitwick to put an Impenetrable Charm on the cupboards."
"I will, thank you Headmaster."
"Now, if you don't mind I'll head out through the door."
Ginny's eyes opened wide, and she quickly began running but as soon as she heard the door handle turn she turned around and acted as if she had just walked into the room. Dumbledor walked out and was startled when he saw Ginny coming toward him.
"Hello Miss Weasley, is there anything you need?"
"Um, yes…"
"Well?"
"Oh, right…" Ginny racked her brain for an excuse. "Well, I needed…um, that is…some pepper up potion! I'm not feeling too well—probably just a cold."
"Madam Pompfrey is right through there, she'll be able to help you." Dumbledor smiled, his eyes twinkling in the sunlight. Ginny watched him walk out of the room, then sighed with relief.
She made her way out of the Hospital Wing. So Draco's been injured more than once, She thought. And now he's stealing supplies from the Hospital Wing to cure himself. It's no wonder he doesn't want Pompfrey to know, becoming an illegal animagus is a serious offense.
~*~*~
That night at dinner Ginny was relieved to finally see Draco. He looked paler than usual, but he kept up any conversation that was directed towards him. There were only seven Slytherins that were staying for Christmas, two of them being seventh years, like Draco. Pansy did whatever Draco did, and the other was Crabbe. Ginny wondered where Goyle was. She had never seen Crabbe without Goyle and the two of them without Draco.
Ginny would take a few bites of her food, then look up to make sure Draco was still in his seat. She wasn't paying attention to anything Lisa was telling her, which didn't seem to matter since Lisa just needed to feel as if someone was listening. While Lisa's voice was echoing in the background, Draco's face was clear in the foreground. She still couldn't get over the way he looked so much like the men from her past lives. It was uncanny!
Finally, right when the desserts appeared on the table, Ginny saw Draco get up. She looked at Pansy and Crabbe, making sure they wouldn't follow. Both of them had a look of desperation on their faces as if they wanted to follow Draco, but they didn't want to leave their dessert untouched. The food won out and Draco walked, alone, out of the Great Hall.
"I gotta go," Ginny muttered to Lisa as she got up from the table.
"Hey, wait, you didn't hear the rest of my story!"
"You can tell me later!" Ginny called back, not turning around.
As soon as Ginny entered the corridor outside the Great Hall she stopped to listen. She could hear footsteps coming from the right and she quickly followed. While she was walking she put a silencing charm on her feet so her footsteps wouldn't echo off the walls. Silently she followed Draco down the halls and stair cases and into the dungeons. She heard the footsteps stop and she peaked her head around the corner to see Draco standing in front of a tall stature of Salazar Slytherin. She couldn't hear what he said, but suddenly the statue moved to the side, revealing an opening in the wall. Draco passed through the opening and the statue began to move back. Ginny quickly rounded the corner but it was too late; the statue was in place.
"Great! I should have stopped him before he got this far!" Ginny yelled at herself.
She contemplated going back up to her common room and trying to take her mind off of things, but she opted for waiting. Maybe Draco would be coming down soon. Ginny sat down in a shadowy corner of the corridor where she had a good view of the statue. As she sat she remembered something Professor Binns had said a few weeks ago about the castle before it was turned into Hogwarts. People were tortured down in the dungeons; Muggles and Wizards and Witches alike. She shivered from the cold.
Only a few more minutes passed before Draco came back out. He looked a little angry and his fists were clinched. Ginny backed up in the corner a little more and waited for what he'd do next. He stood there for a second before he turned and walked right passed Ginny, further into the dungeons. Ginny quickly followed, nearly losing him in the dark labyrinth. They finally came to the classroom where she had found him the night before. He entered the room, forgetting to close the door all the way. Ginny walked slowly towards the door and was about to peak through the crack when a hand reached out and grabbed her!
She was pulled roughly into the room then slammed up against the stone wall-- scratches and bruises forming on her back and arms. Ginny hit her head on the stones and wanted to rub the sore spot, but her arms were pinned to her sides. She could feel tears of pain form in her eyes as she looked up into Draco's face.
"What do you think you're doing?" He asked through clinched teeth.
"You're hurting me." Ginny muttered.
Draco gave her a quick shove into the wall, "Answer me!"
"How did you know I was following you?"
"Let's just say I was trained that way…now the next thing you say better be the answer to my question."
Ginny bit her bottom lip, trying to fight back the pain. She could feel his grip tighten on her arms. "Ok! I'll tell you! Just let me go!"
Draco glared at her through squinted eyes. He released one of his hands while the other gripped even tighter on her arm. His free hand reached for her pockets and Ginny jumped at his touch.
"Hey, stop that!" Ginny began to struggle out of his grasp, but it was useless.
His hand searched her other pocket. Not finding what it was looking for, he went for her back pockets. Finally, he withdrew his hand with her wand, then let her go and backed away.
"Couldn't have you using this, now could I?" He twirled her wand in his hand. "Now the answer."
"I, um, wanted to see if you were alright."
"Don't lie, Weasley."
"I'm not!" She yelled. "Does it surprise you that someone actually cares about your welfare?"
"Even if you feel that way, which I doubt, that's not the reason you were following me. Now out with it."
Ginny looked down at her empty hands. She never thought she would grow dependant on her wand, but now that she didn't have it she felt naked.
"I wanted to see if you were alright and to tell you something." She looked up at his face, which held no expression. "Did you steal the supplies from the Hospital Wing?"
For the first time Ginny saw his face show surprise…true surprise. He soon recovered from the foreign emotion, and his face resumed it's usual candor.
"Pompfrey knows and so does the Headmaster."
"What can they do? Nothing."
"Draco, you could get into trouble. Not because of stealing a few supplies, but becoming an illegal animagus. This is serious stuff, Draco, the Ministry doesn't take it lightly. Plus you could get hurt…like you have…only worse."
"I don't need you to watch over me, Weasley. Leave me alone."
"You don't get it, do you? People have been seriously injured trying to do what you're doing without professional assistance and supervision. St. Mungos is full of botched animagus patients that have gone crazy from the trauma. Some have even died…"
"And some have been successful. I'm not the first illegal animagus at school, and I probably won't be the last. Now if you just hand me the book I'll let you go." Draco held his hand out as if Ginny usually carried other people's misplaced books around.
"I don't have it with me…it's in my room."
"Well we'll just have to go get it."
"No!" Ginny shouted. "I won't let you do this!"
"Ginny!" Draco rushed forward, anger igniting in his eyes.
"I'm not going to do it!"
"Yes you will!"
"No I won't!"
"You'll be sorry!"
"I don't care!"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because—"
"Why?"
"Because—"
"Tell me the bloody reason!" Draco shouted.
Ginny shouted the next words at the top of her lungs, "Because I love you!" Then her hands went up to her mouth.
~*~*~
Lisa looked over at Ginny. She was staring at the fire biting her fingernail on her forefinger while the other was wrapped around her bent knees. Lisa couldn't take it any more. She had watched Ginny suffer long enough. Lisa realized that Ginny wouldn't go to any one for help…so help would have to go to her.
"Ginny," Lisa said, startling Ginny. "Ginny, you better tell me what's wrong, right now."
"Please, just leave me alone." Ginny said, then looked back at the blazing fire.
Lisa looked around the common room, making sure none of the other students could hear. "Ginny, I know this has to do with Draco. Please tell me…I might be able to help."
Ginny looked up into Lisa's eyes and felt the wall she had built around herself begin to tumble down. She did need to tell someone or she would go crazy! She broke down, right there, in front of the fire. Luckily the other students were so engrossed with a chess game that they didn't notice the stifled sobs. Ginny told Lisa everything up until the point she had told Draco she had loved him.
"What did he do?" Lisa asked, holding her breath.
"He just walked away, like I wasn't even worth his time."
There was a short pause in which Ginny collected herself and Lisa thought about what she had been told.
"Ginny, you don't even know Draco…and what you do know of him is that he's mean and selfish."
"You don't get it, Lisa. Every time I see him I remember the others. And I know that deep within him is the same man I have loved for centuries. He was just raised differently in this life. I feel like I'm the oldest person in the world…I probably am."
"Gin, do you think we should tell Dumbledore…about him becoming an animagus?"
"No!" Ginny yelled, causing a few students to look her way. She lowered her voice, "No, Lisa, I don't want him in trouble. I still have his book and I'll keep my eye on him."
"Ginny, as a friend I'm telling you to forget him. He's no good."
"I can't." Ginny got up and left the common room.
~*~*~
Christmas morning dawned bright and cheerful. The blizzard from the night before cast a white blanket across the grounds and the sun filtered through the dorm rooms, causing the inhabitants to awake and see the surprise at the end of their beds. Ginny was woken up by Lisa and Hermione who gathered their presents and entered the common room where Ron, Harry and a few of the other Gryffindors who stayed for Christmas had congregated. They all began to open their gifts, exclaiming over them and showing them off. Ron and Ginny graciously shared the fudge they had received and donned their new sweaters.
Ginny received a set of colored ink from Ron and a sketch pad from Hermione, that had her name embossed on the front in gold curly cursive. Harry had gotten her a gift certificate to Gladrag's in Hogsmeade and Lisa gave her a Muggle novel. Everyone was busy trying out their new gifts to notice that Ginny had one more left. It was a simple envelope that had her name written on the front, and no other clue as to who had given it to her. She slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the parchment within and read;
It would be worth your wile to stay away from me, unless you want your family weeping for their lost daughter.
Draco Malfoy.