Chapter 23

Ginny followed the crowd as closely as she could, but occasionally lost sight of them over a hill. She was hard put to keep as close a distance to them as she was, really. While they could take an old, dirt path, she had to move through the forest beside them, having to take great caution to see without being seen, especially when trees thinned as they went farther up the mountain.

Where are they taking him? Ginny wondered unceasingly, her mind running through the various possibilities. Would they simply throw him off a cliff? Would they beat him again? Would they-No! Ginny almost shouted at loud to herself. She couldn't let her mind dwell on things like that. She had to concentrate.

She was so consumed with her own thoughts that she almost walked right into the open where the group was. The trees had ended abruptly. Realizing her mistake, Ginny ducked back behind a tree, praying that they hadn't seen her. The lack of movement or sound around her was reassuring.

Quietly, and slowly, she peeked her head around the side, watching to see what they would do next. They had stopped walking, and now seemed to be clustered around something. Or someone. A long, slow chant began, growing louder and louder until the hills rang with it. Then, nothing.

In the silence, Ginny tensed, ready for anything. Was this it? Were they fixing to kill him? Ginny had almost made up her mind to jump out of cover and run towards the crowd, no matter what the consequences, when the sound of feet moving and voices talking gaily reached her ears.

The villagers were leaving. All of them. They were headed back down the hill, back the way they'd come, back to their village.

Draco was not with them.

Ginny's eyes scanned the crowd, searching for his face, but he wasn't there. Then, the lone figure on top of the hill caught her eye. He seemed to be standing there, leaning against a tall wooden pole, relaxed and comfortable, but even from this distance Ginny could just make out the ties that bound him. They had left him there, on top of that hill. For what terrible purpose Ginny couldn't even guess at.

Heart pounding so loudly she thought for sure it would give her hiding place away, Ginny waited for the villagers to pass by and go out of sight. She longed to run up that hill…but she forced herself to be patient. It was the most agonizing thing she'd ever done, waiting those long, nerve-wracking minutes until she was absolutely sure they wouldn't come back.

Then, she let herself go free, and raced up the hill with a sudden burst of energy she didn't know she was capable of. She almost tackled him and the pole, she was so grateful to see the soft rising and falling of his chest as she came closer.

He was alive. He was alive.

The thought sent shivers of happiness racing through her. Then Draco moaned softly, and the sound struck her heart.

"Draco?" she asked gently, a lump in her throat as the stood before him. Gently, she reached up and brushed a lock of hair from his face, at the same time taking in the bruises and swelling of his eyes, his cheeks, his mouth. "What have they done to you?"

He didn't answer, and Ginny knew she needed to get him untied as quickly as possible. The ropes were hurting him. They'd been tied to tight, with hands that had been very less-than-gentle. Anger burned inside her, and for a moment, she found herself wishing for her wand so that she could run back down the hillside and curse the villagers. She wanted to make them pay, each and every one of them.

But there was no time for vengeance now, Draco needed help. And fast. Ginny tugged at the ropes, but couldn't get them untied. Carefully, she searched the pockets of Draco's robe, hoping he'd somehow managed to stash her wand there, but drew back in disappointment when she realized it wasn't.

Ginny wanted to cry. All her determination, and all her effort seemed wasted. She didn't even have the strength to break Draco's ropes and get him out of here. This should have been the easiest part. Hell, she'd practically been handed Draco on a golden platter, left alone on a top of a deserted hill as he had been. It was like someone had been yelling at her, "Take him! Take him!" and she couldn't.

She couldn't, but someone else could.

A low whisper filled the silence, and Ginny felt the push of air against her back. Turning, she finally realized what the villagers had meant to do.

Low in the sky, and coming lower, a brilliant red shape was racing towards them. Flying towards them.

Ginny gasped in surprise as she made out the outline of wings against the darkening sky, and saw the smooth scales as it came closer. A dragon.

A Liondragon- or…or…well, she couldn't think of it's real name- if the golden spikes around it's face and the eyes were anything to go by. It was beautiful. Amazingly, unbelievably, breathtakingly beautiful.

But what was it doing here? They weren't even from this country.

But what was that that Charlie had said, back when she'd saw him in Romania? Be careful Gin, keep on the lookout. I've heard stories that the Chinese Fireball -that was it!- has begun migrating that way. There's no way of actually telling how many yet, but the Fireball has been known to attack humans. Some of them anyway. I met one once, a very nice- but you just need to keep an eye out, alright?

Ginny had quickly assured him that she would, even though she'd really been quite skeptical. Come on, what were the chances of her running into a dragon?

Now she knew. Very likely to definite!

And now she knew what the villagers had meant too. An "offering to the new gods" they had said. Apparently they'd meant the dragons that were beginning to invade their territory. Perfect.

She turned away from the spectacular sight of the dragon swooping and soaring overhead, and concentrated all her effort on breaking or untying Draco's bonds. If she didn't get him out of here quickly, they would both be dragons bait.

And while Ginny knew there was still the chance that they would be able to negotiate there way out of this, she really wasn't too hopeful.

I don't have anything to offer it. Not one knut. And you always have to have something to negotiate with a dragon.

The thought lent her no confidence.

The dragon flew back and forth overhead now, watching, waiting. Maybe it was taunting them, daring them to try to escape. Well she was definitely trying.

She pulled at the rope again, and felt Draco stir beside her. His eyes opened a fraction of an inch.

"Gin?" His voice was groggy, confused.

"Shhhh," Ginny ordered gently, putting her finger to his lips. "Don't talk now."

And for God's sake don't open your eyes any wider and see what's about to happen, she pleaded with him silently.

But he opened them anyway, and struggled to stand up straight. She heard the hiss of air between his teeth as he gasped in pain. But he did it.

Draco struggled to move, but realized he couldn't. His arms were bound to his sides. Where was he? His vision was still slightly foggy, but was coming clearer, and he could hear Ginny's soft breathing beside him.

Ginny!

His eyes flew open wide, and he jerked fully awake, ignoring the pain that seemed to come from all over his body. She wasn't supposed to be here, she was supposed to be safe! Why-

Wait a second, where was here anyway? It hurt too much to be death, and the wind that blew past was bitterly cold. He glanced around, struggling to take in his surroundings. They were on top of a hill, he deduced. And that was about it. He had no more insight than that, except that they were no longer in a village, and that Ginny stood unhurt beside him. That was good.

They seemed to be relatively safe and sound, except for these ropes…

Grimacing he looked down at the three ropes that kept him pressed up against a wood pole of sorts. Just what was he doing here?

"Gin-?" he started to ask, but stopped abruptly at the look on her face. She was watching something, her eyes focused on an object far above his head. Something he couldn't see.

There was no fear in her eyes, only a kind of quiet acceptance and awe, mixed with a look of such fierce determination as Draco had never seen before.

We've come too far and been through too much for Draco to die at the hands of a dragon now. I'll find a way to get us out of this, I will!

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers, you're fantastic. I especially like all of you who keep telling me how great this story is, mostly because when I was writing these last chapters I thought they would turn out horribly and that no one would like them. So keep up the great reviews everyone!

HeatherWeasley-lover: Hi! Yes, I got your email. Did I not reply to it? I could have sworn I did…I probably had to put it in my drafts box and forgot about it, I hate it when I do that! Lol. Anyway, I haven't had time to check out that second chapter of yours, but I will get to it. Have you posted it one the site yet?

SkysTheLimit: Thanks. I'm glad you liked the title. When I picked it out, I kind of had something a little different in mind for the story, but I think it turned out better this way. And now, with a dragon appearing and all, it kind of takes on another meaning too…

Kneh13: Thanks. I'm glad you reviewed again, you've been with me pretty much from the beginning.

Bunny/Sailor Moon: Wow, you read through all 22 chapters in one go? You were sitting for a while, weren't you? *grins* Thanks.

Draco~Gin*girl: Yeah, well, the undying love part doesn't really come until the last chapter, and even then it's not nearly so dramatic as some of my other stories-but I won't go into any more details about that. You'll have to wait and see.

Allie*: Hi! Thanks for reviewing again. I'm sorry to have disappointed you with the sharing-the-bed thing, but I really couldn't see them doing anything like that yet. And they probably won't be doing anything other than kissing even at the end of the story. Hope you're not horribly let down, but I just couldn't write anything like that. To tell you the truth I don't really know how, and I don't think I would be good at it. So I guess it's just the sweet, innocent kind of romances for me. But I love your story! You can write that stuff and get away with it.

dragonsprincess: Oh, thanks! And I wish I could torture the evil man, but he moved out of the story pretty quickly. I really didn't want him as a big character, just sort of as a means to an end, you know. *shudders* He wasn't very nice.

Moonlight and Midnight: Yeah, don't you just love HeroicDraco? *grins* He's so cute!

x0firefly0x: Did this chapter answer your question about the gods? *snickers* Me, as good as JKR? Not even. But I appreciate the thought. It gives me a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

Aidenfire: Yeah, one of my best reviewers is back! That's great. As to your questions, I'm not sure what was up with the limping man, he was just…weird or something. We can pretend that he was told really bad, scary stories about witches as a kid, can't we? *grins* And as for the voice, that was who I was referring to. That man. Will Draco and Ginny be alright? It seems like they've just got themselves into a bigger mess. But Ginny has a little trick up her sleeve…

SwaummyJS06: Ooh, very good questions. First: no, I'm not really going to go into more depth about who these people are. I don't really consider it as important. They were just a way to get Draco and Ginny where I wanted them, lol. Second: While the other students and teachers are probably very worried, I'm not really concerned about concentrating on them. I want to keep the focus mostly on Draco and Ginny. Hope those answers were what you were looking for.

Hpdancer: Well there was a contradictory review if I ever saw one. So was it good or bad? No, JK, I knew what you meant. Thanks.

Aibi: You're right; she probably would have alerted Dumbledore immediately. But in my little world, let's just say that he was away on business somewhere and she couldn't reach him…*grins* How's that?

Tulzdavampslayer: Hey! If my memory serves me right it's been awhile since I've heard from you. How are your stories coming? I haven't had time to check up on any of them in awhile. Yes, the chapter was short. And I seem to like putting my characters into dire situations, what can I say…?

Turtlerabbit: Ha! You and probably ever other person out there who's reading this story. But I just didn't want to make them any longer. It's weird, but I kind of feel that they fit the way I wanted to write this story, so that's how they must stay, I'm afraid, lol.