Disclaimer: I don't intend to infringe on any copyright laws, I just want to exercise my freedom of speech.
…though hell should bar the way
Blaise refused to mention the Hogsmeade weekend, cutting him off whenever he mentioned Virginia. But when he went to the library she came with him. He had hoped she wouldn't; Virginia and he had a lot to figure out.
Blaise had slept with her hair in braids so that her hair now waved like a dark waterfall to her waist. A pair of amber clips he had given her for her birthday held her hair out of her eyes as she studied her assignment. Draco felt restless and kept looking at Ginny. She was alone, working like a good girl should, but he couldn't talk to her and so he forced his mind on homework. Glancing sideways one last time, he noticed the Triumphant Trio come up and take seats at the table: Potter beside her, Weasley across from her, and Granger next to Weasley. They had never sat with her before.
"Here they come to save the day…" he sang softly.
"What's that?"
"It's my rendition of the 'Mighty Mouse' theme song."
"'Mighty Mouse'? Oh you mean that Muggle cartoon you tried to watch when you were younger."
"It's not my fault that Muggles throw away perfectly functioning televisions."
"Television? Never mind, I'll have you going on for ages." She sighed and glanced at the table where the Gryfindors sat. Her eyes stayed.
"Draco?"
"Yeah."
"Y'know how I said there was no coming back from the Dark Side?" Her voice was breathy and her cheeks flushed.
"What about it?"
"I think I just came back." He followed her gaze which was locked on the Boy Who Lived. "I thought," She continued equally breathlessly, "that because I didn't like boys that I must like girls. But I think I like this boy. I think I like him a lot."
"Then I don't need to tell you about Virginia." Blaise didn't respond, entranced. He waved a hand in front of her eyes and she swatted it away.
"You can have her." Draco grinned.
"As if I needed your blessing." Blaise now had a dreamy look to her face, her eyes glassy, as if her memory had just been modified. He had always wondered what Blaise looked like when she was aroused. He looked back at Potter. He was making unsuccessful advances on Ginny, touching her hand and reading over her shoulder. Finally, Virginia arched an eyebrow, said something to him, and then returned to her work. Weasley and Granger exchanged a look and Potter didn't bother her again.
Draco sighed and went back to his work. An hour later (and halfway through his Potions assignment) he wondered what he should do next. Virginia was special. When she kissed him, she was special. When she touched him, she was special. When she talked to him, and when she was in his dreams, she was special. All the specialness made her dangerous to herself. She couldn't be so special; she'd attracted too much attention. And that was without mentioning her healing gift.
Deciding, Draco wrote a quick note and got up, telling Blaise that he was headed to the bathroom. He doubted she noticed, keeping busy between glances at the Boy Who Lived and her homework. As he walked between the tables, he knocked Ginny's book off the table. With a snide "Watch where you put your things, Weasley.", he slipped the note inside the sprawled pages, closed the book, and dropped it unceremoniously on the table top. As he left, he saw her discretely slip the note from the book to under her parchment and read it. Meet me in the Astronomy Tower at 10. Do not be late. I won't wait for you.
Draco went to his room earlier than usual. He had dragged an unwilling Blaise back to the common room and she now sat, perched on the edge of the bed, eyeing him like a bird of prey that had just had dinner snatched away by him.
"So, what are you going to do about her."
"I'm meeting her tonight."
"Really? That was fast…"
"I'm going to break it off."
"You know…if I pretended to date you and she pretended to date Harry, we could switch without anyone suspecting anything," Blaise fantasized, ignoring Draco's comment.
"There's a lot of things I don't understand about you Blaise. First, how could you think you were a lesbian for 3 years and suddenly discover that you're not? Second, haven't you seen Potter before, making him no new discovery? Third, why not me last year? And last, how the hell did you get on a first name basis with Potter without having talked to him." Blaise grinned wickedly.
"First, I already told you. I never actually had a crush on a girl, I just never had a crush on a boy and so I thought I must like girls. Second, seeing him up close brings him into a whole new light. His eyes are like emeralds in porcelain skin…but I have no knack for poetry so I'll stop. Third, I could never get over the creamy, white thighs that I saw in third year when I walked into the shower room at the wrong time. They were so scrawny! And last, there wasn't much time to talk when I was getting to know him."
"Damn the Bible and its innuendos." He groaned, banishing the thought from his mind.
"So where are you meeting her?"
"The Astronomy Tower." Blaise grinned.
"You're already up to that level,
eh?"
"You don't know the half of
it." And she didn't. He hadn't told her about his encounter with Ginny under
the invisibility cloak.
"Tell me."
"Well, Once upon a time…" His fairy tale was interrupted by his owl, carrying a letter tied with a green ribbon and sealed with the Malfoy Crest. Hermes, his owl, was completely black with lamp-like yellow eyes. He flapped around Draco's head before settling on Draco's outstretched arm. After Draco untied the letter from Hermes' leg, Hermes flew away. Blaise waited patiently as he unrolled the letter.
Draco,
He does not wish to delay any longer. To ensure you are prepared, he will be initiating you into the circle a week after Christmas Day. You have been notified.
Lucius Malfoy
Draco cursed.
"What's wrong?" He tossed the letter at her.
"Oh dear."
"Exactly."
"Well, I think its time for bed," she said cheerfully, bouncing off the bed. He knew this to conceal distress, but he let her go, staring at the letter in his hand. He had no choice but to break it off tonight.
The Astronomy Tower was deserted. They would have three hours until the Astronomy Class began and he was glad for the peace and solace of the Tower. Moonlight glanced off gleaming telescopes and patterned the stone floor. The room took up the entire circumference of the tower, making it circular. In the center, on a platform was a giant telescope that poked through an opening in the roof. Around the platform, steps wound in a circle. It was on the lowest step Draco sat to wait.
She wasn't late, but a bit breathless when she came in.
"I had a close call with Filch."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you about the staircase behind the portrait of the wizard's dueling."
"It's ok. I wasn't caught."
"Well use it anyways. The password's Expelliarmus. Just be sure you're not holding your wand when you say it."
"Thanks." She sat next to him.
"Listen. The snog was great, and you're a really nice girl to talk to, but we can't do this anymore."
"Can't do what? Snog? I'd be ok with just being friends."
"No, we can't even do that."
"Then why bother being nice in the first place."
"Blaise asked me to find out if you were a lesbian."
"She's a lesbian? Wow. She's not bad looking either…"
"Was a
lesbian. She thinks she's straight because Potter turned her on." Ginny
grinned.
"Still, there's hope for me."
"Will you let me watch?" He asked hopefully.
"No." She stood and walked towards one of the telescopes. He couldn't prevent himself from watching her butt as she walked, fascinated by the alternating tensing and relaxing.
"Is there a hole in my robes?"
"No." He swallowed, trying to think of cold things so that his little man would stop saluting her. She bent over and looked in of the telescopes. The moonlight made her freckles stand out like stars against her skin like…like in his dream. She looked across the room at him and he walked over to her.
"I hate your father. He made me miss Astronomy Class." Catching the puzzled look on his face, she continued.
"He gave me diary in my first year. Not directly, he slipped it into my books at Flourish and Blotts." Draco remembered the diary. He also remembered his father telling him to stay away from the Weasley girl. Not that he would have come near her; she was muggle-loving filth. "It was so nice to have someone to tell everything to, a friend I could keep in my pocket. I spent hours writing in it: during class, after homework. I didn't make friends with the other girls in my year; I already had one who was better than they could ever be. The diary was enchanted, you see. It could talk back. I loved it. He said his name was Tom Riddle and he couldn't tell me secrets to anyone because I was the only one who knew about him.
"Then there were times that year when I couldn't remember anything. It was like someone had written down my memories and torn out the most recent ones, paragraph by paragraph, page by page. It scared me. All these awful things were happening, and I couldn't remember where I was or what I was doing when it happened. He possessed me to control me so that he could have a body to act on the world. Eventually I began to suspect myself and Tom overpowered me, forcing me to imprison myself in the Chamber of Secrets from which I had been releasing the basilisk that was petrifying all the muggle-borns. Slowly, he drained me of my life source, but the more he drained, the harder it became. He didn't know why, but it took longer than it should have. When Harry saved me my life had almost completely been transferred but the last bit clung to me. Tom didn't notice; he was too busy dealing with Harry. When Harry destroyed the diary, it all came back, shocking me back into living. I don't know why I survived, but I think it was the Ankh. Unknowlingly, Bill saved my life." Ginny was in his arms now, and he held her like he would never let her go. If he had his way, he never would. But he couldn't have his way.
"You told me a memory, shall I tell you one of mine?" She snuggled more deeply into him.
"I walked down a deserted corridor, cloaked in my brand new invisibility cloak. I was on my way to meet someone here for a fucking when I tripped on a foot, can you imagine whose foot it was? " She didn't respond. "I decided to have a little fun and scare the person. I did and then went on my way. The evening seemed to be a good one. I got here, and found out that my date has gone. I was 15 minutes late. So I went back and terrorized the poor creature again. I ended up taking away her virginity and she my sanity. She never saw me, I made sure by placing a blinding charm on her. Do you know who the person was now?" She looked up at him and he released her. She backed away.
"It was you." She had a bemused sort of grin on her face. He nodded solemnly. "I…I'm so happy it's you, although I have to admit that at times I did suspect…" His head shot up.
"You're not angry?" He was bewildered. He had practically forced himself on her.
"That was one of the best moments of my life." He stepped farther from her.
"Draco, I'm pregnant."
"No." He was shocked. It had only been once.
"Yes, I am." She stretched the shirt tight across her middle and turned sideways. He could see a lump beginning to form.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I just did. Besides I only figured it out this morning."
"How could you have not noticed that you hadn't had your menstrual cycle in three months?"
"It's irregular, and it wasn't until I noticed my middle growing that I actually thought about it." She patted her tummy. "Why are you mad at me? It's not like I intended to sleep with you."
"Because carrying my child puts you in more danger than before. We have to get rid of it."
"Is that what you want?" she asked tearfully. He stopped. No, it wasn't what he wanted. It was nice to think a part of him was inside her, and had been inside her for three months. It was nice to think that the child would be theirs, something he could share with her for their entire lives.
"Yes," he lied.
"Well too bad, I'm not getting rid of it."
"Ginny…"
"I thought you said you didn't like that name."
"I do – don't – do. I just…look." He passed her the letter his father had sent to him. She read it in silence and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry." There, he thought, I won.
"What does this have to do with us?"
"What do you mean? I'm going to be a Death Eater. I'm going to kill people, and eat babies for breakfast, and have a permanent, ugly snake tattooed on my arm. I'm going to have bloodstains on my hands where you have inkstains. I'm going to be evil." She looked like she was about to laugh.
"You don't really mean that, do you?"
"I meant every word."
"Then tell me, oh vile one, why do you seem so willing to get an ugly tattoo."
"I never said anything about being willing."
"That's true." She was smiling, showering him with radiance.
"What is it?"
"I think I have a way out."
"No, there's no way out."
"Draco…"
"Fuck it, Ginny. Rape your fucking idea to death, throw it in the well to drown it and make sure it's dead, then fill in the well. I will not put you in danger." He swept into cloak and vanished into the scenery. Ginny, rushed at the place he had been, but met empty air. Across the room the door opened. She ran to it, hearing echoing steps in the hall.
"I love you, Draco." The steps stopped. Surely she hadn't said it that loudly. Desperately, she tried to keep his attention. "I love you. It can't help you, and it sure as hell can't help me, but I can't do anything about it. I can't make you richer. I can't make you stronger. I'm not prettier to look at nor am I as graceful as some women. I won't clean your house for you or sew graceful, embroidered pillows. I can't do what you expect me to do, and I won't do what you tell me to do. I can't see any way that I can help you as our union will destroy our hatred bond and our families will feel we've betrayed them. But I can love you – I do love you – and maybe that will make you better."
"I didn't need your pity and I don't need your love." His voice flew with the anger in his words. Tears pricked her eyes.
"You do need my pity and my love, as much as I need yours and I need yours a great deal. You need me, and need you, and we need each other and that's what makes us work. That's why there should be an 'us'." He didn't respond, but the light pitter-patter of his feet told her he was leaving. She didn't follow him. He didn't want her to.
Tears streamed down her face as returned to the spot where she had last seen him and she sank to the ground, curling into a ball. In the moonlight lay a dark green ribbon. She picked it up.
Draco entered the Potions classroom and took his usual seat. Snape approached him.
"The Headmaster would like to speak with you. I am to take you up straight away." Draco hadn't unpacked his things so he shouldered his bag and stood. Snape led him through the drafty castle to a giant gargoyle.
"Chocolate Frogs!" Snape said and the gargoyle leapt aside. "Up. The stairs will take you to the Headmaster's office." Snape spoke truth, for the stairs stopped at a plain, oak door with the 'Headmaster' written in gold. He knocked.
"Come in." Draco had never been in the Headmaster's office before. The walls were filled with sleeping portraits of Headmasters of yesteryear and the tables lined with odd gadgets. Where there were not portraits, there were bookshelves filled with books. In the middle of the room, Dumbledore sat, writing a letter. He looked at Draco with kind eyes when he entered. "I have been expecting you." Draco did not know what to say. "Come, sit down. You are undoubtedly wondering why you have been called here." Draco sat in one of the comfortable chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore was either very messy or very involved in something; pieces of parchment littered the tabletop except for a few places where there was another metal whatsit. Dumbledore put down his quill and folded his hands on the desk.
"I have it from a good source that you do not like where you are headed. I can help." Draco's mouth was dry.
"No, you cannot."
"You are right, of course," Dumbledore sighed. Bewildered, Draco glanced at the light-blue eyes behind the half-moon spectacles for a hint at Dumbledore's intent. He found none. "I can not ensure that you will have no involvement in the war. But none of us can avoid that. But you can help stop the war, maybe even help prevent it." Draco's ears sharpened on the words. "It all depends, of course, on what you want." Draco knew what he wanted, and he was pretty sure it involved Ginny chasing after a blond-haired child that had been the product of many hours of lovemaking. But he knew from experience all it took was one try.
"I know what I want."
"Good." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and his hand went into his pocket to withdraw a tin. "Lemon Drop?" he offered, and Draco accepted, feeling very odd taking candy from the headmaster. Dumbledore's hands were wrinkled, with heavily protruding veins. Unusually, there were no sunspots. The sweet had no particular magical effect, just a simple enticement of lemon. Draco avoided Dumbledore's wise gaze by staring at a point just over his left shoulder. "I wish to know, in your own words, what is the situation you are in?"
"I am to be initiated into the Dark Lord's closest circle a week after Christmas."
"So soon?" Dumbledore frowned as he plopped another lemon drop in his mouth. "Then we do not have much time."
"Sir?"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy."
"How exactly will I be…saved, as it were."
"You won't be. You'll become a spy." Draco nearly swallowed his lemon drop. "Welcome," Dumbledore said, extending his hand, "to the Order of the Pheonix."
~~~~~
The title is from "The Highway Man" by Alfred Noyes. You might notice it completes the line, which is intentional because the 'incident' came up again. I have already put the full poem in the first chapter. About the dream in Hogsmeade, not starting from a memory, I'll say this: it sort of did. She tickled him earlier that day and the dream started off with tickling. All the previous dreams have had the scenery stay the same and the actions differ. This time, the scenery changed and the actions mimicked those of his memory.
DreamofTF: "Masterpiece theater is like Wishbone for adults." Lol, my boyfriend said that. Thanks for complimenting me so.
Anime10473: I think if Draco and Ginny were incarnations, Draco would be Nefertiti, not Ginny, lol. Thanks for the long review, it's very nice not to just get one-liners all the time. I'll think about the 19th century portrait thing…it may have some importance. And I'm glad you picked up on the glowing/radiance of her. It'll be important. About it not staring from a memory; (I said this above) it sort of did. She tickled him earlier that day and the dream started off with tickling. All the previous dreams have had the scenery stay the same and the actions differ. This time, the scenery changed and the actions mimicked those of his memory.
Dru Sharpeye: Mmph ::can't talk because jaws are cemented shut with Nutella.
Adie: ::cheere:: NC-17 ROCKS! (or makes squishy penis' into long hard throbbing rock-hard members). And you forget all about those shadows or you won't sleep well and we can't have that not can we?
TrulyLovly: Thanks for you flattery. You make me feel truly lovely ::chuckles::
Gwuinivyre: Isn't he? It's a pity he's fictional. ::sigh:: we'll just have to make due with Tom Felton.
Changeling: thank you for the worship. You are now blessed.
Ennui: It's good I'm not wasting away my summer holidays, yes? I love figuring these things out.
Bliss: So sorry, for my characterization flaw. Ah, well, I couldn't make him a big bully when he's just a sweet little damson pie in his heart. Well, maybe a raspberry pie.
SicDreamsInc: It's been down, all right. I couldn't post this chapter because of it. Kisses are great fun, don't you think? Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer. And since the next chapter's half done, I doubt you'll have to wait long…
Thank you for reviews. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like I just drank hot chocolate. Speaking of which…::slurp::…yum…