Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. I've been very busy with the typical things that take up a student's life. Thank you for all your reviews. I'm afraid I was tempted to just give up on this fanfic, but a thanks to all of you who insisted that you liked my story and demanded that I continue writing. I have a very vague idea of where my story is going, and so since not everything is carefully planned out, some things may seem inconsistent with other parts of my stories or whatever. Also, I have no sense of time with this story. I haven't a clue how long Ginny and Draco have been together, which is causing me much mental anguish because I can't decide whether it's appropriate for them to fall in love yet or not. Please overlook the many minor errors and I hope you enjoy this chapter. ^_^ Oh! And don't forget to review. I hate sinking to the low levels of bribery, but I'm afraid it's true that the more you review, the more I write. ^_~
-Marigold
Chapter 9 Falling Apart
Ginny could feel the warm sunlight streaming past the windows, but she was too comfortable to get up. Instead, she tucked her head tighter into her pillow, determined to fall asleep again. Pillow! Ginny's mind froze with the realization. Normally, Ginny's pillow would be soft and fluffly, literally enveloping her head. This pillow, however, fit neither description. Ginny's eyes flew open. Sleek, black dress robes rather than her usual flowery pillowcase greeted Ginny's eyes. Ginny became acutely aware that she was sleeping against something (very human shaped), and a hand that did not belong to her rested comfortably on her hip. Draco.
"You're awake finally," a familiar voice drawled above her head.
Ginny turned her head towards the voice and found Draco's face hovering inches above hers. But instead of repulsion, she felt an inexplicable urge to brush aside a strand of air hanging in front of his eyes. She resisted the urge, barely.
"If you don't mind," Draco said, managing to sound sarcastic and tender at the same time (or maybe Ginny was just imagining the tenderness part). "I'd greatly appreciate if you got up because my leg has gone so numb, I think it's been amputated."
Ginny laughed and obligingly rose. She felt a little stiff herself after sleeping in the same propped up position all night; no doubt Draco felt a little more than just stiff.
Ginny frowned, remembering last night. "Er, we didn't do anything last night?" Ginny stuttered, feeling herself turning bright red. "N-nothing, inappropriate?"
Draco smirked. "You've still got your robes on haven't you?"
Ginny blushed again, realizing the stupidity of her question. Of course nothing happened. It wasn't as if they were drunk last night. All they shared was a little kiss and then went home tired and feel asleep on the couch. But if a kiss was all they shared, why did Ginny feel as if something more important had been exchanged?
Judging from the conflicting emotions and feelings that flickered in Draco's grey eyes, he evidently was thinking about the same thing. "Ginny," Draco broke the silence. "About last night—"
"It was nothing," Ginny finished hastily, relieved to know that Draco felt the same thing. "It's alright, I know, we were just trying to get Matilda to go away."
Draco frowned. "Nothing?" he echoed. "That kiss meant nothing to you?"
Confusion whirled around Ginny's mind. The intense look Draco was giving her made her feel pleased and afraid at the same time. "What do you mean?" Ginny demanded, hoping she wasn't trembling.
"I mean that I felt something," Draco said, looking at Ginny, refusing to let go of her eyes. "I feel different when we're together," he drew Ginny closer to him, "when we do this." And his lips bent down to brush Ginny's.
Ginny didn't think, but naturally pulled her arms around Draco's neck, bringing him closer to her. But already Draco was pulling away. Draco smiled into Ginny's confused face, a satisfied look in his eyes. "Apparently you feel something too."
Ginny didn't get a chance to respond. At that instant, the doorbell rang. "Hermione!" Ginny frowned. "What on earth is she doing here so early in the morning? I hope it's not something serious." She turned back to Draco. "You'd better go upstairs."
"What? You don't trust me?" Draco mocked, making his way upstairs, but there was a hint of seriousness beneath his tone.
"More complicated than that," Ginny muttered, opening the door. She gasped in shock.
It was Hermione alright, but she looked awful! Her elegant dress robe was wrinkled and dirt-smeared. Her curly brown air was in a tangled mess and there was a haunted look in here eyes. And above all, Hermione looked exhausted.
"What happened?" Ginny exclaimed, guiding Hermione into a chair. "You weren't…attacked were you?"
"Look at this," Hermione said wearily, her voice sounding dead. She thrust the newspaper into Ginny's hands. AZKABAN NO LONGER read the bold headlines across the Daily Prophet.
"Last night while wizards and witches around the world celebrated Halloween Night," Ginny read aloud. "Abernthy Tachaen stood guarding Azkaban Prison, empty since the Ministry of Magic relocated all the prisoners. The Ministry's decision was made when suspicions rose of a potential Dark Lord was rising to take the place of You-Know-Who. These suspicious have now been confirmed. On Halloween Night, the Dark Lord made an appearance at Azkaban; experts assume to free all prisoners and recruit them as his followers. Finding the wizarding prison empty, this Dark Lord completely and utterly destroyed this prison, over a hundred centuries old—" Ginny broke off in shock. She stared at Hermione in disbelief.
"It's true," the older woman said. "I heard of this after the Ministry's Halloween Party and apparated to Azkaban with Harry, Ron, and about twenty other Ministry officials. All that stands is a pile of rubble."
"That's not possible," Ginny protested. "Azkaban is older than Hogwarts, and protected by ancient spells since the day of Godric Gryffindor! Nothing can destroy Azkaban."
"That's what scares me," Hermione said heavily. "Who could possibly be so powerful? And what more can they do? Read on. The article explains more."
"Abernathy Tchaen barely escaped the destruction with his life. Fortuanately, Tchaen had an emergency portkey with him. He escaped to Hogwarts where he is currently under intensive care and protection. Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, asked that Abernathy be left alone to rest until he is ready to share what happened. However, Professor Hagrid, who teaches Care of Magical Creatures, revealed that right before Abernathy fell unconscious, he "was muttering sumthin' about Lucius Malfoy and New Dark Lord."
"I've already talked to Professor Dumbledore," Hermione interrupted. "Apparently this new Dark Lord is indeed Lucius Malfoy."
"Lucius," Ginny repeated. "How on earth could he possibly destroy Azkaban. He was Voldemort's servant, and even Voldemort wasn't that strong."
"I don't know," Hermione groaned, slumping into her seat.
"Oh Hermione," Ginny exclaimed, feeling instantly guilty for interrogating when what Hermione really needed was comforting. She wrapped her arms around her friend in a warm hug. "It must have been awful for you having to apparate everywhere and seeing everything firsthand."
"And on top of it all, there were all these reporters and news people constantly demanding my attention and asking my opinion. As if I know what to think! And the last thing I wanted to do was go back and look after Crabbe!" Hermione broke off her ranting and leaned into the comfort her friend offered. "I'm just so tired and confused and frightened, Ginny. I'm absolutely terrified. It's like having Voldemort alive again, only this new Voldemort is stronger and more ruthless."
"Did you get a chance to even sleep at all last night or this morning?" Ginny wondered.
"I couldn't," Hermione protested. "I had to gather as much information as possible, and then report to the Minster. And I had to find someone to guard Crabbe for the next week because I don't have the time and need to be doing other stuff. And—"
"Hermione," Ginny broke in firmly. "You need to rest."
"But the Minister asked me to do some research—"
"Rest first, then you can research." Ginny half-dragged Hermione onto a couch. This time Hermione didn't protest. She had already fallen asleep, exhausted from the previous night's work.
Ginny sighed. Only several weeks ago, she had thought the life of an auror was boring! Now her best friend was worn exhausted on her couch, she was in danger of falling in love with an Azkaban prisoner also known as Draco Malfoy, and the father of Draco was apparently all-powerful and capable of destroying ancient, powerfully-protected prisons! Everything that made sense was falling apart.
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Lucius Malfoy sat brooding. He knew better than to destroy the whole world. It would be a waste of his power and end in the destruction of everything, including himself. Conquering the world wouldn't be easy, not even for him. And there were some very threatening wizards and witches that stood in his way, Dumbledore for one, Harry Potter for another, and, Lucius narrowed his eyes in hatred, the Weasleys. Who would have guessed the muggle-loving, poor, penniless Weasleys could hold so much magical potential. Of course they were some of the few wizarding families that could trace their pure-blooded heritage back fifty generations, but if they were so powerful, why did they live in such abject poverty. Lucius frowned, it wouldn't be easy rooting out the Weasleys; they were too spread apart. But, if one Weasley was killed, wouldn't it bring the rest of the Weasleys together to mourn?
Lucius bared his mouth in a viscous grin. "Agribit!" He snarled out.
"Yes master," a wizard appeared immediately at his side.
"Select three other Death Eaters beside yourself." Lucius's silver eyes gleamed with anticipation. "We're going to pay the Burrow a little visit, say hello to my old friends, the Weasleys."
.~^~._.~^~._.~^~._.~^~._ .~^~._.~^~._.~^~._.~^~._
It was five days since the Halloween Party and the night when Azkaban had been destroyed. Ginny sat lazily on the couch, leaning against Draco, absorbed in a copy of the Daily Prophet. If anyone had known about their close relationship, they would have been confused and doubtful. How could someone as good, pure, and sensible like Ginny fall for a purely evil Deatheater, particularly Draco? To be sure, Ginny wasn't entirely clear about her own feelings for Draco, and if Ginny was confused, Draco most certainly was. If anything, all Ginny and Draco knew was how they felt about each other, not what that feeling was or why. What neither fully realized was that Draco wasn't the same person he was a year ago. Six months in Azkaban had changed Draco like nothing else had. Six months, one hundred and eighty days, of screaming out of insanity, of having every happy feeling sucked out of you, and then suddenly, it's over. Instead of living among dementors, you're living with a human being, a pure, good (and very pretty) witch who is everything you've been deprived of for half a year. Of course Draco wasn't the same, of course he changed into a completely different person, and of course he didn't have a clue what was happening to him.
"Abernathy's woken up," Ginny murmured, looking up from the article. "He's talked to Dumbledore, but refuses to respond to any other interrogation. Madame Pomfrey has declared him well enough to meet people, but he's still staying in the hospital wing."
"That's good," Draco said absently. "Do you know what the Ministry is doing?"
"What about the Ministry?"
"Well, my father is running around, with the potential power to kill anybody and everybody." Ginny looked up in surprise at Draco, but his face was expressionless. "I would assume the magical community is a wreck. Surely the Ministry will be doing something."
Ginny turned around to look directly at Draco searchingly. He gazed back, knowing the doubts running through her mind. "What are you thinking?" Ginny asked, softly, but there was a sense of urgency in her voice. "What are you thinking about this? About Azkaban destroyed? About your father, doing all of this?"
"That I should be out there," Draco replied bluntly. "That I should be with my father, being a part of the terror, not the terrified. That I should, but I'm not." He looked down at Ginny. "And I don't think I want to be."
"If," Ginny hesitated, then plunged on, determined to find out. "If you could, if I let you go, would you trying to find your father, would you go back to Dark Magic?"
Draco smirked. "Why don't you let me go and find out?"
Ginny glared at him. Sighing, she flopped back down on the couch, her newspaper held up for her to read.
A moment later, "Don't you want to know the answer?"
"What answer?" Ginny demanded.
"Where's your wand?"
Instantly, Ginny sat up. Draco was sitting, fingering her wand, and looking at her with an amused smirk on her face. How he got it, Ginny had no idea. And she didn't care as long as she got it back!
"What are you playing at?" Ginny demanded. "Give me back my wand." She made a reach for her wand but froze when Draco pointed the wand to her throat. "What are you doing?" Ginny tried to sound calm but she was so torn with fear and anger she felt close to exploding.
Draco pulled his face close to Ginny's. "Don't you trust me?" he whispered, and then his lips were pressed against Ginny's. When they broke apart, Ginny was gasping, and Draco was sauntering his way up to his room. Confused, Ginny slipped her hand into her robe pocket, and felt her wand curled inside her fingers. Don't you trust me? Draco's words echoed inside her head.
"Irritating little…blagh!" Ginny muttered. She yanked open the door, eager to get away as far as possible from the one person who was causing her so much mental trauma.
"Ahh!"
"Ginny! Calm down, it's just me."
"Hermione! Phoenixes, you scared me," Standing at the doorway, hand poised to knock, stood Hermione. Ginny leaned against the doorframe, still recovering from the fright. "What on earth are you doing here anyway?" Ginny demanded. She looked at Hermione closely, wondering what could be going wrong now. There were still tired bags under her eyes, but Hermione looked nowhere as tired as she had the morning after Halloween. Ginny was relieved to see her friend looking better.
"I've got good news," Hermione grinned. She handed Ginny a slip of paper.
"What's this?" Ginny wondered.
"The Ministry has decided to give each Azkaban prisoner a trial. If the Ministry is convinced that each prisoner has repented of their past criminal ways and pledges allegiance to the Ministry cause, they will be released from their imprisonment. If not," Hermione paused, "they'll be given the Dementor's Kiss."
Ginny paled. "The Dementor's Kiss! That's so harsh."
Hermione nodded, her eyes darkening. "I know, but these are harsh times. With someone like Lucius Malfoy running around with his kind of power, the Ministry isn't taking any chances. If there's even a possibility that one of the prisoners will turn to Dark Magic, we want to make sure they get the Kiss first." Ginny bit her lip, frowning in thought. "Cheer up Gin, I thought you'd be happy. You won't have to deal with Malfoy anymore. Aren't you glad?"
Ginny smiled feebly. "It just doesn't seem right for them to get the Dementor's Kiss. What if there's a chance that they can become good, they just need time?" Ginny's thoughts flickered back to Draco.
"The judges will see to that," Hermione said. "We're not going to randomly send the prisoners to the Dementor's. They'll have a trial first."
Ginny looked down at the slip of paper Hermione had handed her. "Draco's trial will be next week, November 12," she said, reading from the paper.
"You better prepare your case soon then," Hermione commented. "You'll be witnessing."
Ginny looked up in surprise. "Me? What am I suppose to say?"
"You've been living with him for more than a month," Hermione pointed out. "You know him better than anyone else currently."
"I—" Ginny broke off. There was no use denying the truth in Hermione's words. And she knew, better than anyone else, just how true Hermione's words really were. She sighed. "Doesn't this put a lot of pressure on me? Literally, Draco's life is in my hands. What I say could determine whether he gets the Dementor's kiss or not, right?"
"You could look at it that way," Hermione shrugged. "It's not really a matter of whether Draco's getting the dementor's kiss or not. It's about whether he's a threat to the magical community anymore. You just need to share the facts."
Ginny sighed, her thoughts and emotions in turmoil. Of all the things she could be thinking of right now, she could only remember how tender, how right it had felt every time Draco had kissed her. Ginny shook her head, clearing away the memory. "Thanks Hermione. I guess I better go let Draco know."
"Bye Gin." Hermione disapparated.
Author's Note: Yeah yeah, crummy ending, I know. I don't think I could stomach writing another fluffy ending. I'm afraid this chapter could still use some more polishing up, but that would probably take another month or so and I figured that I made you guys wait long enough for this chapter. So I hoped you liked this chapter. Please review. I hope the next chapter won't take as long to come out, but who knows.