A/N: I hope that this chapter conveys what a woman might feel and how she might react after going through such a tragic ordeal as was written in Chapter 3. I did my absolute best! Oh… and thanks to dragonprincess for the tips on possible reactions, etc. Again, I ask all who read this to remember that this is my first ever fanfic so please be kind! Read, review and most importantly… ENJOY!!
All things Harry Potter belong to the wonderful JK Rowling… :-)
Chapter 4: Yearning for Answers
"Oh Ginny dear…" Madame Pomfrey shrieked.
Tears streaked Ginny's bruised and bloody face.
"Come, let's get you cleaned up and then checked out. Right?"
Ginny nodded, feeling shameful.
Madame Pomfrey placed a hand gently on her shoulder, "It wasn't your fault, dear. Remember that, it wasn't your fault that this happened." The mediwitch's expression was that of great sympathy and concern.
Ginny took a long, hot shower desperately trying to remove the taint from her body. She scrubbed vigorously between her legs, causing the area to bleed even more than it already was… but she did not care, she wanted nothing of Goyle left in her body.
As she let the hot waters fall over her body, the tears began to stream once more. Suddenly, she found herself sitting on the shower floor, curled tightly up into a ball. She felt so dirty and so violated. She did not know what to do. If her parents or her brothers ever found out, they would immediately demand that she leave Hogwarts and never return. The thought sickened her. At that moment, she turned off the shower, grabbed a towel to wrap up in and ran toward the toilet where she vomited.
Once finished, she dried herself off and dressed in the clean nightgown that Madame Pomfrey provided her.
***
"Ready for your examination, dear?"
Ginny nodded reluctantly.
"Here, lie down so that I can examine you."
Madame Pomfrey checked over Ginny's entire body.
"Well, you have severely cut up your… your womanly areas… nothing a good Venusian Potion can't handle, thank goodness. And you have no broken bones or anything like that… just cuts and bruises. I'll give you another potion to help heal those up for you. You should be fine by the afternoon."
Ginny nodded.
"There's one more thing… I'll need to give you a special potion, dear… to prevent pregnancy. Here, drink this… all of it." She handed her a vial containing a bright pink liquid.
Ginny's face paled, but she downed the entire vile tasting potion. In no way whatsoever did she want to carry Goyle's child!
Madame Pomfrey sighed, "Now, do you know who did this to you?"
Tears immediately began to stream from Ginny's swollen eyes and down her bruised cheeks, but she did not speak. Instead, she sat there trembling in silence… head hanging in shame.
Madame Pomfrey frowned, "You know that you can trust me, dear."
Ginny still sat there silently. Her lips trembling.
The mediwitch frowned, "Well now, you were found in the dungeons… I must ask you why you were down in the dungeons at such an hour. It is after curfew."
Ginny blushed, "I was supposed to meet a… meet a friend of mine, but I was chased into the Potions classroom before I got the chance to meet up with… uh… my friend."
Madame Pomfrey managed a weak smile though it was obvious to Ginny that the mediwitch knew she was holding back bits of information. Regardless, Madame Pomfrey did not press the matter… much to Ginny's relief.
"Madame Pomfrey," Ginny began, her voice shaking. "Please, don't tell anyone about this… not even Professor Dumbledore! I beg of you!" Her brown eyes were suddenly frantic.
"Yes, dear… I know. I understand. Everything will remain confidential."
"And… I'll miss my morning classes. Is there a way to arrange that my assignments be sent to me without bringing my absence to anyone's attention? And is there a way to tell the teachers why I'm absent without them knowing that I…" her voice trailed off and the tears began to well in her eyes once again.
"Miss Weasley, I assure you. No one else will know about your circumstances unless you give consent, after all, you are sixteen. The teachers will be told that you suddenly became ill due to a bug bite… that you had an allergic reaction… and that you immediately headed to the Hospital Wing for aid as a result. Your brothers and parents will not be told of the incident either, unless you give consent. You are of the wizarding age and therefore must be treated as an adult."
Ginny sighed with relief. Suddenly thoughts of the cloaked figure who saved her began to run through her mind.
"The man who brought me here…? Who was it… did he tell you… did you see his face?"
Madame Pomfrey frowned, "I'm afraid that too must remain confidential. Get some sleep and drink up your potions."
***
The next morning, Draco made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast. He noticed that Ginny was not sitting at Gryffindor table as usual and he noticed that Ron, Harry and Hermione wore very worried expressions.
"Malfoy," drawled the voice of Blaise Zabini.
Draco nodded towards him in acknowledgment, but he did not speak.
"I noticed that my little 'project' is not sitting at her table this morning… whatever could be the problem?" the dark-haired boy smirked.
Draco glared icily into Blaise's dark eyes.
"What's the matter, Malfoy? Going soft…?" He shook his head, "Tsk… tsk… What would your father say?"
Draco stood up abruptly, "I have things to see to… things you would not even begin to comprehend, Zabini." With that, he stormed out of the Great Hall.
'You want war… you got war…' Zabini thought to himself as he watched Draco leave.
***
Draco aimlessly walked through the corridors and suddenly found himself near the Hospital Wing. While walking by, he noticed Ginny sleeping in one of the beds and decided to go and see her.
She looked like an angel… so peaceful and beautiful. He noticed that she had a few cuts and bruises on her face, but they did not look too bad… he had indeed seen worse before.
Ginny began to rustle and slowly opened her eyes and she found herself staring up into Draco's face.
The girl's brown eyes widened, "What are you doing here?"
"Calm down, I just wanted to know how you were doing… just curious is all," he was totally caught off guard by Ginny's reaction to seeing him. Quickly, he regained his composure and smirked.
Ginny sat up and hung her head in shame, "Don't look at me like that. Please." Her voice sounded like she was pleading, begging.
Draco's face suddenly went expressionless, "Something tells me that you suffered more than a mere bug bite."
Ginny snapped her head up towards the blond boy, "Bug bite? How'd you know about that…?"
Draco cleared his throat and then rolled his eyes, "It's been rumoured that you were bitten by quite the nasty little bug causing you to have an allergic reaction," he paused. "I assume you will not be attending morning classes?"
Ginny nodded.
"I see. Well, you do need to wait for those to completely heal up." Draco gently brushed his hand against her cheek.
Tingling chills riveted through Ginny's body at his touch. It felt so familiar.
"I'll be by to visit you after morning classes," Draco replied and he suddenly left.
Ginny touched the spot where Draco had just caressed her cheek. Her thoughts were soon interrupted when she heard a familiar voice call her name.
"Ginny… there you are."
"Hi Blaise, sorry about not meeting up with you last night."
"It's quite all right. I see that you are recovering quite well," he stated quite hesitantly. "May I ask what happened?"
Ginny sighed; she did not know whether she should trust the Slytherin. However, she decided to partially tell him what happened. After all, she did owe him some sort of explanation as to why she did not meet him when she had said that she would.
"Well, I had a run-in with some very unfriendly Slytherins. I tried to get away, but I couldn't. Thankfully, I was saved before things got too out of hand."
Blaise's eyes widened for a moment, "Sorry about them. I'm glad that I was able to get rid of them for you."
"It was you?" Ginny shrieked. "You are the one who saved my life?"
Blaise smiled, "Of course it was. Who else did you think would save you from Crabbe and Goyle."
Ginny smiled and hugged the dark-haired Slytherin, "Oh gods, thank you… I thought that I was going to die."
Blaise patted the red-haired girl's back, "There… there…" he said, trying desperately to sound comforting.
'This project is turning out to be a more difficult task than I had anticipated… no matter…' Blaise thought to himself as he hugged Ginny. Suddenly, he grinned evilly. She will be mine!
***
The rest of the morning went by rather quickly for Ginny considering the fact that she had been cooped up all morning in the Hospital Wing. And as Draco Malfoy had promised, he did indeed show up promptly after his morning classes were over.
"You look much better, considering you are a Weasley."
Ginny looked down at the floor, "Yeah ok." Her voice was quiet.
Draco arched an eyebrow. What happened to that confident woman I saw on the train to Hogwarts?
The girl, face completely healed, looked up into Draco's cold gray eyes, "Malfoy… I've had a rough night. Please, save the remarks for another day. Why not wait until I'm dead… then I won't have to listen to them at all," she paused just then. "You'd probably like that…"
Draco felt himself shudder for a brief moment and his stomach lurched. Something was terribly wrong.
His expression softened and he brushed Ginny's cheek with his hand. Instinctually, Ginny raised her hand up to meet his and pressed it firmly against her skin, "You know, you can talk to me about what happened," he replied in almost a whisper.
A single tear streamed down Ginny's cheek and fell onto Draco's hand.
"I won't force you though. It's your decision as to whether or not you want to tell me… just know that I am here for you if you need to talk."
Ginny smiled and whispered, "Thanks. Perhaps I will one day…" She hesitated and then added, "And then maybe you can tell me your secrets too."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Portia ~ Many thanks for the writing tips!!! And I'm glad that you like the concept of my plot… This is my first story so obviously I need to refine my writing skills (see what happens when an engineer tries to be creative! *smiles*)… anyway, hopefully I'll improve with each story that I write and I'll try my best to incorporate your suggestions.
Nikkie ~ I'm so glad that you like my story!!!
Cole-Lover ~ An extra special thanks to you!! I'm so happy and honoured that you added me to your "favorite authors" list!! (*many hugs*)
dragonprincess ~ I've noted your suggestions… I hope I did them justice. Also, I'm glad that you are liking my story so far!
blinkemaggie25 ~ Hmmm… Blaise or Draco… you'll just have to read on to find out!
Greeny (used to be Indy) ~ Hey there Rachel! I hope that my story continues to stay one of your favorites! Please keep reading and reviewing!!
sweetstar3 ~ Yeah… I'm a sappy romantic… couldn't help but have an anonymous rescuer… *sigh*
ToEatTheseApplesFromYourEyes ~ YAY! I'm thrilled to know that you like my portrayal of both Draco and Ginny! I was afraid that they'd be so OOC that it would be unbelievable. As for who saved Ginny… keep on reading!!
Again I'd like to re-iterate… I hope that everyone will continue to enjoy what I write… and don't forget to leave me nice long reviews! :-)