Author's Notes: Sorry about the huge delay in updating! I hope this exciting chapter will more than make up for it! Now, I know I may have said a few things about what will be happening, but there have been slight changes in my ideas since then, so please stick with me and enjoy the new tale. This is a continuation of the first 18 chapters, but, please remember, this chapter is fast-forwarded a few years.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed (and emailed) expressing their continued interest in this story! Please review! You know how I love them reviews…
Please note, that I do not own the characters Draco Malfoy or Ginny Weasley, or any other magical lingo.
This is a Draco/Ginny story.
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Even Better Than the Real Thing
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Chapter 19: Seven Nation Army
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Until that moment, the Burrow had seemed dead; the silence of the evening had been disturbing.
Until that moment, Virginia Weasley had been praying for some sort of distraction, wishing for an end to the desolate, dark night.
Until that moment, she'd been restlessly knitting a green sweater. Her chilled fingers were barely under her control. She'd clenched her teeth and kept knitting, waiting for something to happen.
The moment she heard the pounding on the front door she knew something was wrong. A gust of wind twisted the smoldering ashes in the fireplace. A quick glance at the family clock revealed that her hand, the only one that had been pointing to 'Home', was now pointing to 'Mortal Danger'.
She stood up, letting her knitting and her lap blanket fall to the floor. She silently picked up her wand from the table beside her and shakily pointed it at the door.
The pounding on the door sounded again, louder this time, and not ceasing.
Too frightened to use her voice to ask who it was, she inched toward the door, wondering at her own courage. The knocks echoed through the room and hammered in her ears.
Another gust swirled in the fireplace, this time producing a head that she vaguely recognized.
"Get out of there, Weasley. Now!"
Without wondering who's head that was, or he was directing her to leave, she apparated away.
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He was pacing by his fireplace. Draco Malfoy's head was pounding, his heart desperately thudding in his chest. He'd been able to warn her.
He managed to see her apparate away, not a moment before the front door blew open, letting in two shadows.
Severus had warned him about this. He'd said it hundreds of times.
The girl will be in danger. Leave her. Forget her.
Merlin, he left her. But he could never forget.
And now they knew. The remaining Death-Eaters.
When they caught him, he'd been more than prepared. He took their curses, welcomed their beatings. He'd laughed at them. Provoked them further. Taunted them by saying that he felt no pain.
But in his delirious state, they asked him many questions. About his father. About Severus. About Dumbledore. About Potter. He was able to resist leaking any information by keeping his mind fixated on something different, other than Severus or Potter.
Virginia Weasley had come to mind.
They were able to pull her name from his lips.
And now she would serve as the perfect tool to get Draco to talk.
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Ginny looked around frantically. The London flat that she had apparated into was silent.
"Ron?"
Her voice was screechy, and anxious, nearly a shriek.
"Ron? Harry?"
She walked toward the bedrooms, throwing open her brother's door. The room was empty. She found Harry's room was also empty.
"Ron?" she desperately continued to call, though she was fairly sure that he wasn't home. She walked shakily back to the front room, wondering where they were, and whether she should try to contact Hermione.
Before she could reach the fireplace, there was a knock at the front door. Not the polite knock of a visitor, or an urgent knock of distress. It was a furious pounding, much like the one at the Burrow, nearly crashing the door down. Again, without thinking twice, Ginny apparated away.
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He had not been here for a long time. Though it was no more than 3 years, it seemed an eternity had passed since he'd seen the Ministry of Magic. The towering statue of Dumbledore stood in the main foyer. Draco bowed his head silently as he passed the figure and continued on to the lifts.
Draco reached the level of the Aurors' offices. The lift doors opened slowly.
"Malfoy?"
Surprised, he found himself face-to-face with the one who single-handedly defeated Lord Voldemort. Harry Potter.
"Potter, what are you doing here? Where's Weasley?"
"He's down in his office. We both had late nights tonight, I'm on my way…What are you doing here?"
"Not that Weasley, the other one – "
"Which other one?"
"The…the girl…Virginia…hasn't…haven't you…?"
The confused look on Potter's face told him enough. They hadn't seen her. Where could she be? He had no idea where she'd flee to, but he'd suspected that she'd find her brother or Potter first and foremost.
"You'd better come with me, Potter," Draco said as he strode toward's Ronald Weasley's office.
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The winged boars on the open black gates were a very reassuring sign. She started jogging up the path, cursing the fact that she was wearing her carpet slippers and pajamas.
She needed to find Headmaster McGonagall.
Who would want her in mortal danger? And how did they know she'd flee to her brother's flat?
Voldemort was dead…but there were his followers. Could they be behind this? Until she got some answers, she wouldn't dare to go back to the Burrow alone.
Ginny climbed the front steps, panting hard. Shivering and feeling frozen solid, she pulled open the front doors. She closed the cold, dark night out behind her.
She started walking toward the Headmaster's office. She looked around herself in awe. It'd been over 3 years since she'd been here. Hogwarts. Home.
Before she reached the gargoyle, she heard a voice call her name – a voice she had never expected to hear again. She turned to greet him.
"Professor Snape."
She met his dark eyes evenly, and without flinching. He hated her. More than he hated Harry. And she had no idea why.
"Get out."
"You don't have the authority
to kick me out of this castle, Snape.
I'm here to see the Headmaster, not you."
She turned her back to him, purposely striding to the next corridor. She heard his heavy footsteps follow.
"I cannot allow strangers to illegally enter and prowl around!"
She wheeled around, furious to hear him say such a thing. His deep frown, which used to frighten her out of her wits in class, had little effect now.
"Strangers?! Strangers? You know very well who I am! And it's not illegal to enter this school in search of help! Keep your giant nose out of this and let me be," she roared, unable to control her fury. She stormed toward the gargoyle. He followed.
"Headmaster? Headmaster McGonagall!" She tried calling out to her. She didn't know the password to get into the office.
"Like that's going to work, silly girl," sneered the Potions Master. With a superior look on his face, he muttered, "Tartan."
The gargoyle sprang aside, revealing the moving staircase that would take her up to see the Headmaster.
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"She's not there. The place was trashed."
Draco hadn't expected any less. Weasley had insisted on apparating to the Burrow to see if she were there, or if there were any clues. And the second he'd left, Potter disapparated, too, without a word.
Out of breath, Weasley slumped into the seat behind his desk. Leaning his elbows on the table, he covered his face in his hands with a moan.
"I'm sure she's fine, Weasley, no need to worry just yet. She's probably at your flat."
As if on queue, Potter apparated in the doorway.
"She's not at the flat. The door was blown open, all the windows shattered, and Mrs. Oldman beat me with a broom for making such a racket," he said, massaging the back of his head, "And when she actually saw the mess, she fainted."
Draco couldn't help but snicker.
"Then where is she?!" Weasley stood up, franticly running his fingers through his hair. Potter shrugged.
Draco reached for the pot of Floo powder on the mantle. Throwing a pinch into the fire, he called out the name of Hermione Granger.
When her head appeared in the sparks of the fire, Draco pushed Potter forward.
"Er…Hermione, have you seen Ginny?"
"Harry, what's going on? I haven't seen Ginny since this weekend. Why?"
"We can't
find her…" he said, rather bluntly. "And
we think she may be in very great danger."
"I'll be right there, try
contacting Professor McGonagall. She'll
know what to do." Her head vanished from
the flames.
The three men looked at each other, each thinking the same thing. She must be at Hogwarts.
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U2 – Even Better Than the Real Thing
The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army