Thanks to my one and only reviewer, Keita! (I know it is a bit cheesy, but that's half the fun. Besides, it was just a description, and not quite a Pegasus!) That done, on with your regularly scheduled story update!
Chapter 2[Still a week ago]
As Draco stumbled through his day, his thoughts kept returning to that bizarre dream. Why the hell had he dreamt of that Weasley brat? She definitely wasn't that pretty in real life, so why had he seen her as this blindingly beautiful creature?
As the disgruntled sixth year sat down to lunch, Blaise Zabini looked at him sideways over his sandwich. "Malfoy, you feeling alright?" he rumbled. Draco didn't answer. "Oy! Malfoy!" He jumped when Zabini poked him in the arm to get his attention. "What's wrong with you today? You've been completely out of it all morning. I mean, ignoring annoying Griffs is one thing, but you've barely spoken a word to anyone. What's going on?"
Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure, really. Well-" he narrowed his eyes, trying to see if Zabini would laugh at him.
"Seriously Drake, try me."
"Fine, then," Draco grumbled, then hesitated, trying to find a way to explain his dream without sounding like a total idiot. "I just had this- odd dream last night…" he trailed off, thinking of her, then jumped again when Zabini cleared his throat. "Sorry. The dream. Right." He filled him in on the basic idea of the dream, but left out the identity of the girl, or the fact that it was his father shouting at him; instead, he made it sound like it was just some random girl and a faceless mass of angry men.
Zabini looked at him thoughtfully. Was he hiding something? Hmmm… I think he knows more than he's saying about that girl. And the mob, for that matter. "You sure you didn't know who she was?"
Draco flushed slightly, his eyes darting over to the Gryffindor table, then back. Zabini followed his glance, narrowing his eyes shrewdly as he saw Ginny Weasley talking and laughing with the Golden Boy and his friends. "So."
"Buttons," Draco replied sarcastically
Blaise snorted. "Fine, tell me about her later if you want. But I still know who she is." He held up his hand implacably when Draco started sputtering at him. "I don't think so, man! I've known you since you were 5, I can read you like a book."
"Fine," Draco sighed, "I'll talk to you about it later."
Both boys failed to notice Pansy's narrowed eyes as she looked at Draco, then Ginny in speculation. They widened as she saw Draco stare at the redhead again. Why, that little bitch, she thought venomously. How dare she invade my Draco's dreams?!? He's MINE!!
* * *
[Back in the present]
Draco walked down the stairs to the dungeon, deep in thought. As it was his free period, he hoped Snape wasn't busy; he definitely needed some advice…
He looked down, shocked, to see Ginny Weasley sprawled on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. With no more thought to Snape, he clattered down the rest of the steps and ran to her side. She was unconscious, and as he turned her head to the side, he noticed a small pool of blood underneath it. Oh, Merlin, he thought, panicked. She needs to get to the hospital wing NOW, but I don't know if it's safe to move her! He ransacked his mind for something that could help, then snapped his fingers in triumph. "Of course!" He muttered a spell to conjure a stretcher under the fallen girl, then carefully levitated her up the stairs. About halfway to the Hospital wing he ran into Hermione Granger, who blanched when she saw Ginny in front of him.
"What happened?" she demanded. "What have you done to her?"
"First of all, Granger, the only thing I've done is get her this far," he said, his arms trembling slightly with strain, "but it's not a short walk from the dungeons to here, so would you mind giving me a hand so I don't drop her?"
She paled again, but to her credit quickly helped him support Ginny; they made much better time on the second leg of their journey than Draco had alone on the first. Madame Pomfrey came out into the hall as they approached, gasping as she saw the stretcher. "My goodness, what happened? Never mind, bring her here, bring her here!"
Once the white-faced nurse had bustled Ginny inside the main ward, Draco and Hermione were left standing in the atrium, looking at a closed door. Draco sighed, frustrated, and sat down in the chairs set out for anxiously waiting friends and family.
Hermione gave him a sharp look. "So why exactly did you bring her up, anyway?" she asked, softening when she saw the honest worry on his face.
He looked up, irritated. "What, you think I'd really leave someone bleeding from a head wound at the bottom of the stairs? I'm not that much of a prick, no matter what Potter and Weasley may tell you."
"No, it's not that.. I just wondered why you didn't get someone else instead of doing it yourself. A teacher or something."
"I didn't want to risk leaving her there. For all I knew, Snape could be swooping around the castle, not in his classroom. I didn't want to have to run halfway across the castle to find someone when I could do it just as well," he replied softly.
Hermione sat back and thought about this for a while, every now and then giving Draco a measuring look.
After about fifteen minutes of fidgeting, both of them jumped when Madame Pomfrey opened the door and smiled at them. "She'll be fine, dears, you got her to me in time." She frowned a bit, and continued, "Though why she was in that condition in the first place…"
Neither student paid much attention to her, and pushed past her into the ward to see Ginny laying in a hospital bed, looking groggy and in a certain amount of pain.
"Ginny!" Hermione ran over to her. "What happened? How do you feel?" Draco hovered in the background, not knowing what to do. Ginny groaned a bit, but answered.
"I'm not quite sure what happened, actually. I tripped on the way down the stairs…" She frowned, remembering that evil laugh, and shuddered involuntarily.
"What?" asked Hermione, "What is it?" She frowned when Ginny shrugged uneasily, reaching down to rub her leg where it had been broken; now it was just sore, but she still remembered the pain. "It sounds odd, I know, but… just before I blacked out, I… I could have sworn I heard someone- laughing." She shuddered again, then said too brightly, "I'm probably just imagining things. I hit my head after all." Draco quietly stepped out while the two girls continued talking.
"Madame Pomfrey?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yes dear?"
"How long will she have to stay here?" The kindly-looking nurse assured him that she would be fine in a few days, but Draco remained troubled as he walked down the hall. He shook himself suddenly; what was he doing, getting all worried about a Weasley? She didn't give a lead Knut about him, why should he care? He forced himself into a jauntier stride as he walked back to the dungeons to get his books for his next class, but uneasy thoughts still lurked at the back of his mind.
* * *
Later that night, Ginny slept in the hospital wing, tossing and turning in the grip of a nightmare. Draco looked at her in subdued wonder, remembering his dream. In the moonlight, her features were clarified and refined to the startling beauty he remembered. She whimpered as she twisted on the narrow bed, then gasped and sat bolt upright as she suddenly awoke. Draco jumped, startled, and the frightened young woman whirled to look at him. She tensed slightly, and said, "What are you doing here?"
"I was worried about you," Draco said, unthinking, then mentally cursed himself for admitting it while her eyes widened. He opened and shut his mouth a few times, trying to think of a good excuse, but soon gave up and slumped back in his chair with his head on his hand.
"Hermione said you found me…" she said slowly, then paused for a second, biting her lip. "Why were you worried about me?"
Slightly hesitant, Draco looked at her, seeing curiosity and a bit of fear in her eyes. "I heard you say you heard someone laughing-"
"No," she interrupted, "I mean why does it matter to you? I'm a Weasley."
Draco stared her in the eye uneasily for a moment, then looked down at his hands. "Never mind that." He cast around, looking to change the subject. "What were you dreaming about?" His gaze sharpened when she flushed and looked down, a mumbled "Nothing," not fooling him in the slightest. He sat back a bit, and his jaw dropped. Could she have dreamt of him, as he had of her? But then, why had she been so frightened by the dream? He had been startled and made nervous, but not frightened… "Come on," he said, "you might feel better if you talk about it." His thoughts were confirmed when she still refused to look at him or speak of the dream, and he sighed in frustration. "Fine then," he said wearily, and stood up to leave.
"Hey," Ginny asked abruptly, "How did you get in here anyway? It's halfway across the school from the dungeons, how did you manage it without getting caught?"
Draco grinned and swung a silvery cloak that had been hidden on his lap over his shoulders. His body immediately disappeared. "What, you think Potter gets all the cool toys, but not me?" he asked mockingly, grinning at her astonished expression. "I begged Father for one once I realized how his head appeared in Hogsmeade third year." He frowned. "You and Granger are lucky you weren't involved in that little prank. I still owe Potter and Weasley a handful of mud to the face." He smirked mock-thoughtfully while Ginny stifled a grin rather unsuccessfully. "Each."
Draco winked in farewell, pulled the hood of the cloak up over his head, said, "Sweet dreams!" and quietly- but not quite silently- walked over to the exit. He opened the door, and then closed it softly without going through it. Maybe if she thought he wasn't here…
Ginny drew her knees up to her chest and kept watching the door; he could tell by the way she kept oh-so-still that she was also listening for his footsteps. He slowed his breathing to the point that it was inaudible, and stayed absolutely silent and unmoving.
Finally the girl sighed and hugged her knees, resting her chin on them. "Merlin, Merlin, why him? And why…" she trailed off in mid thought and shuddered as Draco cursed silently- and quite fluently- in multiple languages. It was me in her dream, but why is she so afraid? And what happened that didn't in my dream?
Draco was forced to stay absolutely quiet over by the door as Ginny laid down again in the hospital cot. Eventually, after what seemed to him an agonizingly long wait, her breathing slowed somewhat and she turned over so she wasn't facing the door. He held back his sigh of relief and slowly, silently- begging the doors not to squeak- opened the doors just enough so he could slip out into the hallway and close them softly behind him. He turned to look at the door once more, then shook his head and padded back to his dormitory to sleep.
**** You know the drill, if you want quicker updates, review!! *****
