A/N: YAY!!! Lots of reviews… that makes me so very happy!!! Firstly, I would like to thank each and every one of you who has reviewed my story so far… your comments, compliments and suggestions have been great, encouraging and helpful. Secondly, I would really really like to thank those of you who have become loyal followers of this story (you know who you are… *smiles*). OHH!!! I'd like to give you all a heads up to be on the lookout for a new D/G (of course) fanfic of mine that I'll probably start posting in the near future… it's entitled "Phantasmagoria" (check out my Bios for more info on that, if you are interested). Lastly, I hope that you all like this chapter and of course I again 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 6: Flight from the Castle
"Good… Now, once everyone's left for Hogsmeade, that's when we'll make our getaway."
"What about Ron? He's going to wonder what's going on."
"Don't worry about him. It's not important. What is important is getting you to safety and right now Hogwarts is not the safest place for you."
Ginny frowned.
"If it's that important to you, I'll have my owl, Athena, give the weas- er Ron a message explaining your absence," he heaved a sigh. "I shouldn't tell him at all about what's going on…" he paused, "but you can rest assured that he will no longer worry about your absence."
Ginny smiled and hugged him tightly. Draco returned the hug. She has a power over me…
***
After an hour or so of waiting, Draco decided that it was time for them to leave.
"Wait here while I go to the Slytherin dorms and get some things… I won't be long, I promise."
And indeed he was not long. He left and after about 15 minutes, he returned, his bag and broom in hand as well as a dark cloak draped over his arm.
"Let's hurry to Gryffindor tower, we need to get you packed. Only take what you need."
The corridors were practically deserted with almost everyone having gone to Hogsmeade, with the exception of the first and second years.
As Draco and Ginny neared the hall leading to the portrait of the fat lady, Draco handed Ginny his invisibility cloak.
"Wear this. Everyone thinks you've gone to Hogsmeade. We don't need anyone seeing that you are actually here… that'll totally give us away."
Ginny nodded and took the cloak. As soon as she wrapped it around her body she vanished completely from sight. She smiled to herself as she remembered the night she bumped into Draco and he placed this very cloak around her to keep her warm. But at that time only her head was visible, unlike now where everything was hidden from sight. That night seemed so long ago. That was the night he, Draco Malfoy, warned her about Blaise Zabini. Does he have something to do with this?
Carefully, Ginny entered the Gryffindor common room and made her way up the spiraling staircase leading to her dorm room. Thankfully, her room was empty. She removed the cloak and threw a bunch of clothes and toiletries into a black bag. She whisked up her broom and her cloak and immediately placed Draco's invisibility cloak back on. Within minutes she was back in the corridors and back at Draco's side.
The two hurried through the corridors and Draco led the red-haired beauty down a hall she had never noticed before. Soon they stopped in front of a gargoyle statue.
"Effugio Serpens!" Draco whispered hoarsely
The gargoyle shifted, revealing a secret tunnel. Ginny looked over at Draco in mild shock as he entered the dark passageway, but she followed him regardless. Once inside the secret tunnel, Ginny removed Draco's invisibility cloak and handed it back to him.
Suddenly, Draco grasped Ginny's hand and they ran along the long, dark tunnel until they reached the end. Draco pushed open a small door allowing the daylight to filter in. He squinted due to the brightness of the light.
"Here, put this back on until I tell you to take it off again."
Ginny, again, placed the invisibility cloak back on as they made their way across the school grounds. However, Draco still held on to Ginny's hand. She did not object, for his touch comforted her. Her heart was racing from fear.
'What is going on? Why do I have to leave at all? And why do I trust him… has he given me reason to trust him? I'm so confused…' Ginny's mind raced, wildly, as the castle got smaller and smaller.
Draco smiled triumphantly to himself. As he saw the castle beginning to get smaller in the distance, he thought of the look on Zabini's face when he realized that Ginny was nowhere to be found. Safely away from his plots and schemes… his father's plots and schemes… and away from The Dark Lord himself. He knew, as he knew long ago that day in Diagon Alley, that he must protect this girl with his dying breath if need be. He just hoped that it would be enough.
Draco stopped abruptly, "Keep the cloak on," he told her. Ginny just stood there, hidden from sight. Draco whistled an interesting tune and within seconds a regal-looking owl swooped down and landed on his shoulder. "All right, let's keep moving… we have a ways to go before we're safe… and even then…" his voice trailed off.
***
The two walked for what seemed like hours.
"Can I take this blasted cloak off now?" Ginny asked, a slight annoyance in her voice.
Draco had been fairly quiet the entire time, only speaking when he told her to turn right or left or to duck down. "Shh… we're nearly there," he hissed.
After a few more minutes of walking, the two came upon a cave. Draco gestured for Ginny to enter. "You can take the cloak off now."
"'Bout time, I was beginning to wonder."
"It's for your protection."
"Protection from what… I don't understand. Everything has been so confusing since the day I returned to Hogwarts." Tears started to fill her eyes, but she held them back.
Draco sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder, "I know it has. I'll explain everything to you, I promise. First, I have to go get us some food and write a letter to your brother. I'll be back in an hour or two. In the meantime, why don't you start a fire. It'll be dark soon."
Ginny took out her wand and reluctantly nodded.
"I know this is difficult, you'll have your answers soon." He gently played with one of her tendrils of hair framing her face. "I won't be long."
Ginny watched Draco leave… a nervous feeling rising in her stomach. She was scared and for some strange reason she totally trusted the blond Slytherin, which scared her even more. She felt comforted when he was near, as though she were safe from all harm.
The red-head used her wand and created a nice little fire not too far from the entrance of the cave. It was close enough to the entrance to ward away strange creatures, but far enough inside so as to not attract unwanted stalkers.
Stalkers. Suddenly, flashes of that dark night in the dungeons crept into her mind. She soon found herself curled tightly up into a ball sobbing. She felt dirty and ashamed even though the incident happened a month ago. This was not the first time these horrible thoughts invaded her mind. She really needed to talk about it… let someone know, besides Madame Pomfrey, as to what actually happened that night.
All of a sudden, a dark figure wearing a black hooded cloak entered the cave.
'Oh gods!' Ginny thought to herself. 'My rescuer! How'd he know I was here? Draco said to be wary of Blaise Zabini! Oh no!!'
The young man silently walked over to the trembling Ginny. He gently brushed her cheek. Silent tears streamed down her face as she tried to look at him. Again, he prevented her from doing so. Suddenly, Ginny found herself reaching up for his hand. She pressed his hand firmly against her cheek and without even realizing it, she kissed his strong hand.
The young man paused and quickly took back his hand. Ginny's expression was suddenly one of hurt. At that moment, the dark figure reached his hand out towards her once again. Without hesitation, Ginny took hold of it and found herself swept up into his arms. She buried her face into his shoulder. Is this really Blaise Zabini?! Then, why do I trust this anonymous man?!
He carried her towards the back of the cave and gently set her down. She continued to stare at him, desperately trying to get a glimpse of his face. No matter how hard she tried, she could not see who he was.
The cloaked figure sat there in silence while Ginny stared. The shadows cast by the fire danced over his form. She sighed.
Suddenly, the figure reached up and played with one of the tendrils framing her beautiful face. She closed her eyes and found that her breath had caught in her throat. He caressed her jaw line and firmly placed his hand on her cheek.
Ginny swallowed and rather than reaching up for his hand, she extended her arm towards the hood of his cloak. She expected him to object and pull away, but he did not. It was as if he knew that she wanted to know who he was and that he wanted her to know as well. He just sat there, allowing her to continue her movements.
She hesitated for a moment when she finally grabbed a hold of the black hood. Finally, she gathered up as much courage as she could and she gently pushed the hood back, revealing the face of the man she knew to be her rescuer… her saviour.
Ginny gasped when her dark eyes locked with silver.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hmmm… so who was that hooded rescuer!!! HAHA!! I'm sure that most of you had already guessed this anyway… especially after the last chapter! :-) Anyway… explanations will start to get more detailed in the next chapter… and the sexual tension between our favorite people will start to build as well! Things are just starting to heat up!! So please bear with me a little bit more… I promise that we'll get to the umm 'good stuff' soon!
Greeny ~ Hey Rachel! I'm so glad that you like the way things are going so far… I hope that I continue to keep you on the edge or your seat, etc. as the story goes on! Yeah, I've also read stories where Blaise is a girl and I usually have a really hard time with it… though one of the best 'Blaise as girl' stories you will read is "Serpent's Bride" by reiko… very good! Anyway, I'm digressing (tend to do that)… as I was saying, your compliments are encouraging and I thank you for them!!! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter too!!!
dragonsprincess ~ Hey there! I'm glad that you are still liking my story… and yep, you were right about Draco. I made it a bit predictable in that last chapter, huh. Oh well… that's how it goes… no matter though, right? :-) Anyhow, keep on reading and reviewing! I always look forward to what you have to say!
Raven ~ I'm thrilled to pieces that you like my story!! Keep reading and reviewing!!
dracomio ~ Thanks for the compliment concerning my writing style…! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as well! Continue to read and review!!
Ang3l666 ~ A special thanks to you for adding me to your "favorite authors" list!! I'm so very flattered (*many hugs*)!!! And I'm glad that you like the way I portrayed Ginny considering everything she went through… Keep on reading and reviewing!!!
Limery ~ Yeah… Blaise is pretty evil, huh!!! :-)
A-LiA12 ~ YAY!!! My story is one of your favorites!! I hope that you liked this last chapter and will continue to like the chapters to come! Please continue to read and review!!!
Professura_Dumbledora ~ It's great to know that my story is not boring… that makes me feel really good! And thanks for all of your compliments… very encouraging! Please keep on reading and of course reviewing!
jeannette ~ I'm so glad that you like my story… keep on reading and reviewing!!!
Bladefanatic ~ Yes… Blaise is pretty evil! I'm trying very hard to portray him that way… so far, it seems like I'm succeeding. I hope that I continue to do so! About Malfoy and the dark mark… more of that will get explained in the following chapters so be sure to keep on reading! Don't forget to review!!! :-)
polly ~ I'm glad you like…! Blaise's fate…? Hmmm… Continue to read and review!!
Harry-Potter5972 ~ I'm happy to know that my story seems to encompass many different genres of writing… oh and don't worry… the romance (heeheehee) it's coming soon… and when it does… it'll be with full force!!! I just hope that it turns out ok! Keep on reading and reviewing!!
sweetstar3 ~ My fellow 'romantic'!!! Yeah… Blaise is pretty evil…! I hope that this posting was quick enough! When I get lots of reviews quickly, I have a tendency to post right away because I get so excited that people are enjoying my story (of course I have it all practically written anyway… just tweaking, incorporating suggestions, etc… which makes it even easier to post quickly)! Please continue to read and review!!
A special thanks is extended to Ang3l666, divajen03 and FyreFaerieGinny for adding me to their "favorite authors" list (*many hugs to you all*)!
Again I'd like to re-iterate… I hope that everyone will continue to enjoy what I write… Also remember that more and longer reviews means that I'll be more likely to post another chapter quickly!!! :-)