A/N: you know it, only own the characters not recognised
The lyrics are from 'Haunted' by Evanescence
This is only half of one chapter, the next half will be up next but you may have to wait for it as I'm going on holiday for a week tomorrow.
In answer to your question no I don't have a beta = ( but if anyone wants to be it, its fine by me. The reason it's all mixed up is because I'm out during the day and when I type it up it's usual at about one thirty in the morning so I'm too tired to bother checking for mistakes. Basically my laziness is to blame.
Guess what people, I'm already planning my next fanfic, I was gonna do it as Ron and Hermione but it seemed to fit Draco and Ginny better. This always seems to happen if you hadn't noticed, I get halfway through a fic and find a better storyline to do and I have to write down the stuff that's in my head for it and by the time I'm done I can't think what to do for my old one, but I promise I'll finish this one before I start the next one!
Chapter Ten – Secrets Unveiled Part I
Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still cant find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside
I know your still there
Watching me wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you loving you
I wont let you pull me down
"Remind me why we're here again, in the middle of the night, with shovels?"
Ginny shushed Noah with her hands and directed her wand light higher so the small beam of light covered more of the ground.
"You know why, don't tell me you didn't feel that weird feeling in Care of Magical Creatures yesterday when Hagrid brought us round here."
Noah opened his mouth to reply then snapped it shut when he felt something pass by him and he shivered.
'What are you doing?'
Ginny jumped as though she had been electrocuted when she heard Blue's voice in her head and she punched him on the arm, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"Arsehole!"
She hissed, glaring at him and brandishing the shovel under his nose trying and failing to look threatening.
'Why are you out here in the middle of the night with shovels?'
Draco's voice joined Blue's in her head and she saw a shadow glide up besides Blue, figuring it was Draco she rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip.
"Well I was planning on putting the metal end in the ground, pushing it in and lifting some soil out with it."
She replied acidly, talking slowly and loudly as though they were children.
'Well I never would have guessed.'
Draco snapped sarcastically, making Ginny glower at him before stomping off in the direction of the lake.
'Why exactly are you digging the lawns up?'
The three boys followed, everyone besides Ginny talking telepathically, Ginny however didn't seem to care who heard her. Not that anyone would be on the grounds at eleven thirty on a Friday night, they were all inside doing god knows what with god knows who.
"Because, while we were down here for Care of Magical Creatures last lesson, I was nearly dragged into the lake by something in my head that told me what I'm looking for is nearby."
Blue looked at Noah who shrugged, looking utterly miserable at the prospect of digging in the middle of the night in the freezing cold when he could have been nice and warm in his dorm room. Ginny suddenly froze, her ears twitching slightly as her eyes swept the grounds, seemingly looking for something.
"Do you feel that?"
The three boys exchanged a surprised look before nodding, not that she had bothered turning around to check, she already knew they could feel the presence enveloping her brain.
'It's pushing us towards the lake.'
Noah thought, stating the obvious but too freaked out to care. He gaped at Ginny when she pulled off her shoes, cloak, socks, top and jeans until she was clad only in her bra and shorts underwear set. She didn't even look at the boys as she headed into the water, wading out until she was submerged up to her shoulders.
Draco and Blue shrugged before stripping down to their boxers and following her, Noah giving the castle a last longing look before following suit and joining them in the water.
"Now what genius?"
He ground out, his teeth chattering as he wrapped his arms around himself to try and keep some of his body heat in as protection against the frigid water.
"Is it just me or do you lot have the sudden urge to swim right down to the bottom of the lake in the direction of the Forbidden Forest?"
They all looked at Blue before turning to stare at Ginny.
"If that's what we have to do, let's do it."
The words had barely left her mouth before she had sucked in a long breath and flipped over into the water, her feet waving in front of their faces as she kicked her legs to take her down.
The boys swiftly joined her with their wands lit but she soon found she didn't need it, her eyes could see everything under the water even if it was slightly blurred. It was a strange thing, she could see but it was rather like looking through a stained glass window, everything was tinted an odd shade of blue and green and was slightly wavy like patterned glass.
All of them seemed to know exactly where they were going but it was Ginny that led the way, she had the feeling her pull was stronger than the others' for some reason and it unnerved her a little.
It was impossible to tell how long they had been under the water but surprisingly none of them felt the need for air and the closer to the bottom they got the darker it became but they could still see. If they could have made any noises Ginny would have screamed when the giant squid swam sedately by nearly giving her a heart attack and causing her to thrash backwards awkwardly, directly into Draco's arms. She relaxed for a second in his embrace before pulling herself together and setting off again.
About ten minutes later they approached what looked like the bottom half of a very old stone wall with a large opening at the very bottom, just about large enough for someone to crawl in. The four of them looked at each other before heading straight for it, Ginny still in the lead as they forced themselves into the hole.
'What exactly are we looking for?'
Ginny turned to look at Blue and shrugged, certain they were meant to be looking for something but just as certain she had no idea what it was. Blue took the hint and rolled his eyes with great difficulty before turning sharply on Draco.
'I thought you were meant to be the One of bloody Water.'
Draco narrowed his eyes at him.
'Yeah so?'
Blue jabbed him in the chest with his finger.
'So, can't you do something about all this water? Just I dunno make it move or something cos I'm bored of all this swimming.'
Draco shrugged and closed his eyes, the three of them watching him curiously before darting back against the walls as where they were stood emptied of water. A huge bubble that seemed to be made of a thin layer of water surrounded them and they fell down onto its floor coughing and spluttering as the water surrounded the bubble.
"Bloody hell." Blue cursed, catching sight of his reflection in the bubble and trying to smooth down his hair that was now sticking up in all directions.
"Nice." Ginny approved, poking Draco so his eyes flickered open and he gazed smugly at the bubble.
"Yeah real good, how the hell are we supposed to move now?"
Draco shot Noah a filthy look before stepping forward towards the edge of the bubble which widened to accommodate him, shortening behind him and returning to its normal size.
Ginny jumped between them, preventing an oncoming argument and taking the lead once more, guiding them along the underwater passage. She could feel where to go, it was like somewhere she had once been often before and the path to it was becoming more familiar to her with every step. Not even hesitating when they came to a fork in the path she took the left one and no one questioned her.
After what seemed like hours walking along various tunnels that all looked the same to the boys they finally reached a blank stone wall at the end of a particularly long tunnel.
"Great going, now what?"
Blue asked sarcastically, becoming steadily more annoyed and irritable at the fact that he wasn't about to get hold of a brush any time soon to tame his wild locks. Ginny ignored him and stepped up to the wall, running her hand over it for a moment before kneeling down and pressing her hand against a mark the same as the one on her skin etched onto a rock that was slightly protruding from the ground.
"Original aren't they."
Ginny grinned at Draco as the wall before them faded into nothing and they stepped through the opening quickly, unsure of how long the door would stay open for. Stepping inside the door slammed shut behind them, somehow stopping the water from entering the room.
They found themselves in large water-tight room made of the same rough stone as the passageways with a high ceiling lost in watery shadows. The bubble disappeared from around them and the cold air hit their wet skin and made goose bumps jump up all over Ginny's body as she shivered.
Her hair had come loose from its tie in the water and hung down her back dripping water at her feet as she stepped into the centre of the room where a huge pillar connected the floor and the ceiling. The boys split up and wandered the room, running their hands over the walls trying to find something that would explain the pull they had felt.
Ginny ignored them and circled the pillar, her hands never leaving its surface until she found the chink in the stone she seemed to have been looking for. She raised her hand and cut into her palm, letting the blood spread over her hand before pushing it into the gap and pressing down.
A bright light shot out from under fingers making her turn her head away as the boys threw their hands up in front of their faces to shield their eyes. The pillar begin moving, the top half above Ginny's now trapped hand spinning around slowly with a loud grinding noise as the bottom rotated in the opposite direction.
A loud cracking noise ripped through the air as the spinning sections of the pillar ground to a halt with the long vertical indentation running its entire length perfectly straight. The same light shone from the split in the rock and Ginny yanked her hand back as the pressure keeping it in place released.
"Are you alright?"
Ginny nodded as Draco put a hand on her arm and his tight grip released slightly so blood started flowing back into her numbed hand. She opened her clenched fist to glance down at what was lying in her bloody palm; it was a long chain with the Mark of the Six in delicate silver. She was about to put it on when Draco gripped her arm once more.
"Don't!"
She turned to stare at him and he indicated the necklace glittering in her palm;
"It's glowing which means there's a spell on it."
Ginny looked down at the necklace thoughtfully, her heart was telling her to put it on but her head was telling to find out what spell was on it first.
"At least wait until we get back to the castle and we can do an Identification Charm on it."
Ginny agreed reluctantly and wrapped the chain around her fingers so she wouldn't lose it in the water and headed back to the door. She ran her hands over it searching for a release block like the one outside but couldn't find one.
"Fan-fucking-tastic, now what?"
Blue snarled, banging on the wall with his foot before turning green and hopping around on one leg with it cradled in his hand.
"We could Apparate."
Noah suggested, shrugging and propping his arm on Ginny's wet shoulder as she watched Blue rubbing his toes.
"You can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds."
Ginny turned to look at Draco curiously;
"You've read Hogwarts: A History?"
He shrugged defensively, ignoring Blue and Noah who were watching him with almost identical smirks on their faces.
"So?"
Ginny narrowed her eyes at him and huddled closer to Noah for warmth, it was getting colder than ever in the cave.
"Did I say there was anything wrong with it?" She snapped before turning to Noah.
"Why do you think you can Apparate, you know you can't on the grounds Hermione never stops repeating it."
Noah shrugged and waved a hand at Ginny's exposed Mark and she grinned.
"So, Earth boy what do you plan on doing?"
Draco growled, his narrowed eyes taking in the closeness between Noah and Ginny.
"It's simple, I control all nature close around me, so I just shift it slightly and it knocks all the spells out of wack for a few seconds."
Ginny shrugged and turned to look at the two Slytherins, Blue looking slightly impressed and Draco still fighting to control his jealous urge to rip out Noah's spinal cord and strangle him with it.
"Let's do it."
Noah backed away from Ginny slightly and closed his eyes, his brow furrowing with concentration as the ceiling started to shake, depositing what must have been hundreds of years of dust on their heads.
"I think we've got about three seconds."
No one heard Noah speak as they disappeared into thin air with several loud cracking noises, appearing a split second later in Hogsmeade.
"What the fuck are we doing here?!"
Ginny hopped up and down from one foot to the other with her arms wrapped around herself as Blue and Draco turned on Noah complaining bitterly.
"I told you we only had a few seconds, while we were Apparating the wards went back up so now we're as close to Hogwarts as we could get."
Blue sounded as though he was being strangled as he hobbled over the rocky path leading towards the school;
"Close?! It's going to take us at least an hour to get back to fucking school and if you haven't noticed we are in our goddamn bastard underwear!"
Ginny would have laughed if she hadn't been busy chewing her bottom lip in half with chattering teeth.
"Can we walk instead of arguing please? I really am not in the mood for catching pneumonia right now."
The boys increased their pace with Ginny sandwiched in between them as they trekked up the winding path and onto the grounds, racing over to their clothes and pulling them on with fast-numbing fingers.
No one spoke as they crept into the school and up towards Griffindor Tower.
"Oh it's you Mr Malfoy." The fat lady said skittishly, curtseying awkwardly at them when Draco nodded at her and she swung the portrait open without asking for the password.
"What was that about?"
Draco shrugged and shot Ginny a sly look that made her watch him suspiciously.
"My great great grandfather is in a portrait down the hall and he visits her sometimes."
There was a suggestive note in his voice that made Ginny feel quite sick and she shook unwanted images out of her head.
"Are you serious?"
He nodded and went off on an explanation of how the subjects of the paintings are still real just not flesh and blood.
"Stop!" Ginny pleaded, feeling more revolted by the second as they followed her up to the top of the tower to her room. "Do you want me to be in therapy for the rest of my life?!"
He chuckled and dropped down onto her bed with Noah and Blue on the floor at his feet using their wands to dry their hair and clothes. Blue snatched Ginny's brush off her bedside table gratefully and set about sorting his hair out as Ginny wandered out of the bathroom rubbing her hair with a towel in a new change of clothes.
She had pulled on a short white denim skirt with shimmering black handprints on her arse and hips and a black halter-necked crop top with sleeves long sleeves attached under her armpits and; 'I Have PMS and a Wand. Do We Have A Problem?' across the front in white glitter letters, the letters occasionally dashing around before rearranging into the same sentence.
"Help yourself." She muttered sarcastically at Blue who was using most of her hair products to tame his hair.
She dropped onto the bed next to Draco and pulled on her high-heeled knee- high black leather boots as she examined the necklace.
"Going somewhere nice?" He asked, eyeing her outfit in amusement.
She shot him a dirty look before moving to put the necklace, Draco grabbed her arm before she had even lifted it to her head with his Seeker enhanced reflexes.
"Hey! What did we say?"
She glowered at him and tried to wrench her wrist away, only succeeding in making him grip her tighter and subtly draw her closer to him at the same time.
"I didn't say anything; you're the one too afraid to take the chance." She taunted, watching his eyes narrow at her.
"Fine, if it kills you, you're problem."
Ginny rolled her eyes and mumbled something about acting like her overreacting brothers which Draco found downright offensive.
"No! This is a very bad idea."
Ginny rolled her eyes at Noah and proceeded to slip the chain over her head.
"What's happening?" Draco asked nervously, his eyes on Ginny as she looked down at the necklace now around her neck.
"It's getting warmer; I think it's got a Transporting Spell on it."
Ginny just had time to grab hold of Draco's outstretched hand when the spell kicked in and the world turned upside down and began spinning.
Blue turned from the empty bed to Noah who was gazing with his mouth open at where his friends had been split seconds before.
"Where are they?"
He didn't realise he had asked out loud until Blue answered him, his usual calm demeanour gone.
"I have no idea; if they can't get back...we're fucked."
The two exchanged another look before turning to stare back at the bed with nothing left to do but wait.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The spinning ceased abruptly depositing Ginny onto a hard gravely floor with a nasty sounding crack. She sat up slowly and held a hand up to her head where a small cut was bleeding profusely into her hair, blending in with her locks and making it stick to her head.
She suddenly realised Draco wasn't besides her and her hand flew out, scrabbling over the rocks reaching for him. Panic bubbled up inside her chest when she couldn't see him anywhere and she clambered to her feet so fast she nearly collapsed as the blood rushed to her head.
"Draco!"
She spun around and around, her eyes sweeping all over surrounding space but she couldn't see him. Eventually she slumped onto a nearby rock to take in her surroundings; she was in the middle of what seemed to be the ruins of a very large, very old building. The rock she was sat on was part of a wall in the very centre of what looked like two rooms, a stairway faded into nothing to her left behind several more half-walls and a pair of huge, rotted wooden doors lay in charred pieces to her right.
"Ginny?"
Ginny screamed and gripped the hand of whoever was grabbing her shoulder and she flung them over onto the floor. Seeing a flash of white-blond hair and angry grey eyes she threw herself onto the figure sprawled on the floor.
"Draco!"
Any other time he would have been pleased she had thrown herself onto him but right then he was pretty sure a few of his ribs were broken and she was squeezing them painfully.
"Easy."
He gasped, lifting her off him and raising himself up on his elbows so he could see her when she sat back looking at him. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood seeping through his shirt and he grimaced, making to get up but she pushed him back, her knees cushioning his head.
"Lie still."
She eased, smoothing his hair back from his face and stroking it slightly making it almost impossible for him to think straight which was hard enough as it was through the haze of pain clouding his brain. She glanced fretfully at the sweat beading his forehead as he paled at her slightest touch and she winced as he grunted in pain.
'What are you doing?'
He didn't seem to have the energy to speak as his voice rang out in her head and she sliced open her hand once again, re-opening the already sealed cut from earlier in the lake.
"Ssh."
She murmured, stroking his forehead as she lifted his blood-soaked shirt and placed her bleeding hand over the slight hole in his chest where one of his ribs had punctured through his skin. She fought down a wave of nausea and looked down into his eyes instead of the wound her hand was covering.
"Vampire blood heals doesn't it?"
He nodded and she smiled slightly, her face still a little green from the feel of his torn skin beneath her fingers.
"Well if we mix my vampire blood with yours, it will heal faster. And since I have no idea where we are although it looks familiar, I say the quicker we get going the better."
He nodded as the pain eased in his chest, he glanced down to see his skin rebuilding itself, the edges knitting together and he gave a painful laugh when he saw Ginny with her eyes closed and her mouth clamped shut in case she threw up.
"It worked."
She opened her eyes and removed her hand gratefully, vanishing the blood with a flick of her wand. He sat up slowly, testing the pain in his ribs and glad the remaining ache was small enough to ignore. Getting to his feet he held a hand out for her to take, pulling her to her feet and scanning their surroundings.
"Where in hell are we?"
He caught Ginny as she slipped, his arm shooting around her waist and steadying her as the blood loss got to her head making her dizzy.
"I'm alright."
She didn't say it but she was glad when he left his hand on the small of her back, the warmth of his skin seeping into hers.
"Hey!"
Both of them spun around when a voice sliced through the air, startling them and making Ginny accidentally create a ball of fire that exploded right in front of the figure speaking to them. When the smoke cleared both Draco and Ginny gaped at the girl stood before them.
"Ginny?"
Ginny made a noise at the back of her throat but didn't look at Draco, her gaze fixed on the girl and it wasn't hard to see why they were stunned. The pair of them were looking at the image of Ginny, probably about the same age as she was now only this girl had pale skin only slightly darker than Draco's, a faint sprinkling of freckles on her nose and shoulders and long white-blonde hair just past her bra-strap that contrasted beautifully with her huge glittering grey almond-shaped eyes that seemed to shine in the light and change to a lighter colour.
"Draco, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
She whispered, her hand unconsciously gripping his wrist as he nodded, his normal cool blank face for once open to emotion, his eyes widened and his mouth slightly open.
"If you're referring to what appears to be our teenage daughter stood right in front of us then yeah, not much point in denying it."
The girl stared at them through narrowed eyes, no emotion in her face or eyes but every muscle in her body was coiled beneath her skin as though she expected them to attack her at any second.
"What are you staring at?"
There was no denying Ginny's soft voice with underlying tones of Draco's sharp arrogance and Ginny felt her heart join her stomach at the sound of it.
'Think we should tell her?'
Draco made a derisive noise in the back of his throat and Ginny turned to look at him slightly.
'And say what? Hi, you don't know us but we have a feeling you might be the result of one-too-many Wizard Shots and a frisky encounter some time in our future?!'
For once Ginny agreed with him and she let her hand drop from his wrist, not even noticing she had left a red handprint on his pale skin where she had gripped him.
"Do you know where we are?"
The girl shrugged, still not moving or taking her huge dark eyes off them as she spoke, her grip tightening on the sword in her right hand.
"Sure, this is what's left of Hogwarts."
...
The lyrics are from 'Haunted' by Evanescence
This is only half of one chapter, the next half will be up next but you may have to wait for it as I'm going on holiday for a week tomorrow.
In answer to your question no I don't have a beta = ( but if anyone wants to be it, its fine by me. The reason it's all mixed up is because I'm out during the day and when I type it up it's usual at about one thirty in the morning so I'm too tired to bother checking for mistakes. Basically my laziness is to blame.
Guess what people, I'm already planning my next fanfic, I was gonna do it as Ron and Hermione but it seemed to fit Draco and Ginny better. This always seems to happen if you hadn't noticed, I get halfway through a fic and find a better storyline to do and I have to write down the stuff that's in my head for it and by the time I'm done I can't think what to do for my old one, but I promise I'll finish this one before I start the next one!
Chapter Ten – Secrets Unveiled Part I
Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still cant find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside
I know your still there
Watching me wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you loving you
I wont let you pull me down
"Remind me why we're here again, in the middle of the night, with shovels?"
Ginny shushed Noah with her hands and directed her wand light higher so the small beam of light covered more of the ground.
"You know why, don't tell me you didn't feel that weird feeling in Care of Magical Creatures yesterday when Hagrid brought us round here."
Noah opened his mouth to reply then snapped it shut when he felt something pass by him and he shivered.
'What are you doing?'
Ginny jumped as though she had been electrocuted when she heard Blue's voice in her head and she punched him on the arm, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"Arsehole!"
She hissed, glaring at him and brandishing the shovel under his nose trying and failing to look threatening.
'Why are you out here in the middle of the night with shovels?'
Draco's voice joined Blue's in her head and she saw a shadow glide up besides Blue, figuring it was Draco she rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip.
"Well I was planning on putting the metal end in the ground, pushing it in and lifting some soil out with it."
She replied acidly, talking slowly and loudly as though they were children.
'Well I never would have guessed.'
Draco snapped sarcastically, making Ginny glower at him before stomping off in the direction of the lake.
'Why exactly are you digging the lawns up?'
The three boys followed, everyone besides Ginny talking telepathically, Ginny however didn't seem to care who heard her. Not that anyone would be on the grounds at eleven thirty on a Friday night, they were all inside doing god knows what with god knows who.
"Because, while we were down here for Care of Magical Creatures last lesson, I was nearly dragged into the lake by something in my head that told me what I'm looking for is nearby."
Blue looked at Noah who shrugged, looking utterly miserable at the prospect of digging in the middle of the night in the freezing cold when he could have been nice and warm in his dorm room. Ginny suddenly froze, her ears twitching slightly as her eyes swept the grounds, seemingly looking for something.
"Do you feel that?"
The three boys exchanged a surprised look before nodding, not that she had bothered turning around to check, she already knew they could feel the presence enveloping her brain.
'It's pushing us towards the lake.'
Noah thought, stating the obvious but too freaked out to care. He gaped at Ginny when she pulled off her shoes, cloak, socks, top and jeans until she was clad only in her bra and shorts underwear set. She didn't even look at the boys as she headed into the water, wading out until she was submerged up to her shoulders.
Draco and Blue shrugged before stripping down to their boxers and following her, Noah giving the castle a last longing look before following suit and joining them in the water.
"Now what genius?"
He ground out, his teeth chattering as he wrapped his arms around himself to try and keep some of his body heat in as protection against the frigid water.
"Is it just me or do you lot have the sudden urge to swim right down to the bottom of the lake in the direction of the Forbidden Forest?"
They all looked at Blue before turning to stare at Ginny.
"If that's what we have to do, let's do it."
The words had barely left her mouth before she had sucked in a long breath and flipped over into the water, her feet waving in front of their faces as she kicked her legs to take her down.
The boys swiftly joined her with their wands lit but she soon found she didn't need it, her eyes could see everything under the water even if it was slightly blurred. It was a strange thing, she could see but it was rather like looking through a stained glass window, everything was tinted an odd shade of blue and green and was slightly wavy like patterned glass.
All of them seemed to know exactly where they were going but it was Ginny that led the way, she had the feeling her pull was stronger than the others' for some reason and it unnerved her a little.
It was impossible to tell how long they had been under the water but surprisingly none of them felt the need for air and the closer to the bottom they got the darker it became but they could still see. If they could have made any noises Ginny would have screamed when the giant squid swam sedately by nearly giving her a heart attack and causing her to thrash backwards awkwardly, directly into Draco's arms. She relaxed for a second in his embrace before pulling herself together and setting off again.
About ten minutes later they approached what looked like the bottom half of a very old stone wall with a large opening at the very bottom, just about large enough for someone to crawl in. The four of them looked at each other before heading straight for it, Ginny still in the lead as they forced themselves into the hole.
'What exactly are we looking for?'
Ginny turned to look at Blue and shrugged, certain they were meant to be looking for something but just as certain she had no idea what it was. Blue took the hint and rolled his eyes with great difficulty before turning sharply on Draco.
'I thought you were meant to be the One of bloody Water.'
Draco narrowed his eyes at him.
'Yeah so?'
Blue jabbed him in the chest with his finger.
'So, can't you do something about all this water? Just I dunno make it move or something cos I'm bored of all this swimming.'
Draco shrugged and closed his eyes, the three of them watching him curiously before darting back against the walls as where they were stood emptied of water. A huge bubble that seemed to be made of a thin layer of water surrounded them and they fell down onto its floor coughing and spluttering as the water surrounded the bubble.
"Bloody hell." Blue cursed, catching sight of his reflection in the bubble and trying to smooth down his hair that was now sticking up in all directions.
"Nice." Ginny approved, poking Draco so his eyes flickered open and he gazed smugly at the bubble.
"Yeah real good, how the hell are we supposed to move now?"
Draco shot Noah a filthy look before stepping forward towards the edge of the bubble which widened to accommodate him, shortening behind him and returning to its normal size.
Ginny jumped between them, preventing an oncoming argument and taking the lead once more, guiding them along the underwater passage. She could feel where to go, it was like somewhere she had once been often before and the path to it was becoming more familiar to her with every step. Not even hesitating when they came to a fork in the path she took the left one and no one questioned her.
After what seemed like hours walking along various tunnels that all looked the same to the boys they finally reached a blank stone wall at the end of a particularly long tunnel.
"Great going, now what?"
Blue asked sarcastically, becoming steadily more annoyed and irritable at the fact that he wasn't about to get hold of a brush any time soon to tame his wild locks. Ginny ignored him and stepped up to the wall, running her hand over it for a moment before kneeling down and pressing her hand against a mark the same as the one on her skin etched onto a rock that was slightly protruding from the ground.
"Original aren't they."
Ginny grinned at Draco as the wall before them faded into nothing and they stepped through the opening quickly, unsure of how long the door would stay open for. Stepping inside the door slammed shut behind them, somehow stopping the water from entering the room.
They found themselves in large water-tight room made of the same rough stone as the passageways with a high ceiling lost in watery shadows. The bubble disappeared from around them and the cold air hit their wet skin and made goose bumps jump up all over Ginny's body as she shivered.
Her hair had come loose from its tie in the water and hung down her back dripping water at her feet as she stepped into the centre of the room where a huge pillar connected the floor and the ceiling. The boys split up and wandered the room, running their hands over the walls trying to find something that would explain the pull they had felt.
Ginny ignored them and circled the pillar, her hands never leaving its surface until she found the chink in the stone she seemed to have been looking for. She raised her hand and cut into her palm, letting the blood spread over her hand before pushing it into the gap and pressing down.
A bright light shot out from under fingers making her turn her head away as the boys threw their hands up in front of their faces to shield their eyes. The pillar begin moving, the top half above Ginny's now trapped hand spinning around slowly with a loud grinding noise as the bottom rotated in the opposite direction.
A loud cracking noise ripped through the air as the spinning sections of the pillar ground to a halt with the long vertical indentation running its entire length perfectly straight. The same light shone from the split in the rock and Ginny yanked her hand back as the pressure keeping it in place released.
"Are you alright?"
Ginny nodded as Draco put a hand on her arm and his tight grip released slightly so blood started flowing back into her numbed hand. She opened her clenched fist to glance down at what was lying in her bloody palm; it was a long chain with the Mark of the Six in delicate silver. She was about to put it on when Draco gripped her arm once more.
"Don't!"
She turned to stare at him and he indicated the necklace glittering in her palm;
"It's glowing which means there's a spell on it."
Ginny looked down at the necklace thoughtfully, her heart was telling her to put it on but her head was telling to find out what spell was on it first.
"At least wait until we get back to the castle and we can do an Identification Charm on it."
Ginny agreed reluctantly and wrapped the chain around her fingers so she wouldn't lose it in the water and headed back to the door. She ran her hands over it searching for a release block like the one outside but couldn't find one.
"Fan-fucking-tastic, now what?"
Blue snarled, banging on the wall with his foot before turning green and hopping around on one leg with it cradled in his hand.
"We could Apparate."
Noah suggested, shrugging and propping his arm on Ginny's wet shoulder as she watched Blue rubbing his toes.
"You can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds."
Ginny turned to look at Draco curiously;
"You've read Hogwarts: A History?"
He shrugged defensively, ignoring Blue and Noah who were watching him with almost identical smirks on their faces.
"So?"
Ginny narrowed her eyes at him and huddled closer to Noah for warmth, it was getting colder than ever in the cave.
"Did I say there was anything wrong with it?" She snapped before turning to Noah.
"Why do you think you can Apparate, you know you can't on the grounds Hermione never stops repeating it."
Noah shrugged and waved a hand at Ginny's exposed Mark and she grinned.
"So, Earth boy what do you plan on doing?"
Draco growled, his narrowed eyes taking in the closeness between Noah and Ginny.
"It's simple, I control all nature close around me, so I just shift it slightly and it knocks all the spells out of wack for a few seconds."
Ginny shrugged and turned to look at the two Slytherins, Blue looking slightly impressed and Draco still fighting to control his jealous urge to rip out Noah's spinal cord and strangle him with it.
"Let's do it."
Noah backed away from Ginny slightly and closed his eyes, his brow furrowing with concentration as the ceiling started to shake, depositing what must have been hundreds of years of dust on their heads.
"I think we've got about three seconds."
No one heard Noah speak as they disappeared into thin air with several loud cracking noises, appearing a split second later in Hogsmeade.
"What the fuck are we doing here?!"
Ginny hopped up and down from one foot to the other with her arms wrapped around herself as Blue and Draco turned on Noah complaining bitterly.
"I told you we only had a few seconds, while we were Apparating the wards went back up so now we're as close to Hogwarts as we could get."
Blue sounded as though he was being strangled as he hobbled over the rocky path leading towards the school;
"Close?! It's going to take us at least an hour to get back to fucking school and if you haven't noticed we are in our goddamn bastard underwear!"
Ginny would have laughed if she hadn't been busy chewing her bottom lip in half with chattering teeth.
"Can we walk instead of arguing please? I really am not in the mood for catching pneumonia right now."
The boys increased their pace with Ginny sandwiched in between them as they trekked up the winding path and onto the grounds, racing over to their clothes and pulling them on with fast-numbing fingers.
No one spoke as they crept into the school and up towards Griffindor Tower.
"Oh it's you Mr Malfoy." The fat lady said skittishly, curtseying awkwardly at them when Draco nodded at her and she swung the portrait open without asking for the password.
"What was that about?"
Draco shrugged and shot Ginny a sly look that made her watch him suspiciously.
"My great great grandfather is in a portrait down the hall and he visits her sometimes."
There was a suggestive note in his voice that made Ginny feel quite sick and she shook unwanted images out of her head.
"Are you serious?"
He nodded and went off on an explanation of how the subjects of the paintings are still real just not flesh and blood.
"Stop!" Ginny pleaded, feeling more revolted by the second as they followed her up to the top of the tower to her room. "Do you want me to be in therapy for the rest of my life?!"
He chuckled and dropped down onto her bed with Noah and Blue on the floor at his feet using their wands to dry their hair and clothes. Blue snatched Ginny's brush off her bedside table gratefully and set about sorting his hair out as Ginny wandered out of the bathroom rubbing her hair with a towel in a new change of clothes.
She had pulled on a short white denim skirt with shimmering black handprints on her arse and hips and a black halter-necked crop top with sleeves long sleeves attached under her armpits and; 'I Have PMS and a Wand. Do We Have A Problem?' across the front in white glitter letters, the letters occasionally dashing around before rearranging into the same sentence.
"Help yourself." She muttered sarcastically at Blue who was using most of her hair products to tame his hair.
She dropped onto the bed next to Draco and pulled on her high-heeled knee- high black leather boots as she examined the necklace.
"Going somewhere nice?" He asked, eyeing her outfit in amusement.
She shot him a dirty look before moving to put the necklace, Draco grabbed her arm before she had even lifted it to her head with his Seeker enhanced reflexes.
"Hey! What did we say?"
She glowered at him and tried to wrench her wrist away, only succeeding in making him grip her tighter and subtly draw her closer to him at the same time.
"I didn't say anything; you're the one too afraid to take the chance." She taunted, watching his eyes narrow at her.
"Fine, if it kills you, you're problem."
Ginny rolled her eyes and mumbled something about acting like her overreacting brothers which Draco found downright offensive.
"No! This is a very bad idea."
Ginny rolled her eyes at Noah and proceeded to slip the chain over her head.
"What's happening?" Draco asked nervously, his eyes on Ginny as she looked down at the necklace now around her neck.
"It's getting warmer; I think it's got a Transporting Spell on it."
Ginny just had time to grab hold of Draco's outstretched hand when the spell kicked in and the world turned upside down and began spinning.
Blue turned from the empty bed to Noah who was gazing with his mouth open at where his friends had been split seconds before.
"Where are they?"
He didn't realise he had asked out loud until Blue answered him, his usual calm demeanour gone.
"I have no idea; if they can't get back...we're fucked."
The two exchanged another look before turning to stare back at the bed with nothing left to do but wait.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The spinning ceased abruptly depositing Ginny onto a hard gravely floor with a nasty sounding crack. She sat up slowly and held a hand up to her head where a small cut was bleeding profusely into her hair, blending in with her locks and making it stick to her head.
She suddenly realised Draco wasn't besides her and her hand flew out, scrabbling over the rocks reaching for him. Panic bubbled up inside her chest when she couldn't see him anywhere and she clambered to her feet so fast she nearly collapsed as the blood rushed to her head.
"Draco!"
She spun around and around, her eyes sweeping all over surrounding space but she couldn't see him. Eventually she slumped onto a nearby rock to take in her surroundings; she was in the middle of what seemed to be the ruins of a very large, very old building. The rock she was sat on was part of a wall in the very centre of what looked like two rooms, a stairway faded into nothing to her left behind several more half-walls and a pair of huge, rotted wooden doors lay in charred pieces to her right.
"Ginny?"
Ginny screamed and gripped the hand of whoever was grabbing her shoulder and she flung them over onto the floor. Seeing a flash of white-blond hair and angry grey eyes she threw herself onto the figure sprawled on the floor.
"Draco!"
Any other time he would have been pleased she had thrown herself onto him but right then he was pretty sure a few of his ribs were broken and she was squeezing them painfully.
"Easy."
He gasped, lifting her off him and raising himself up on his elbows so he could see her when she sat back looking at him. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood seeping through his shirt and he grimaced, making to get up but she pushed him back, her knees cushioning his head.
"Lie still."
She eased, smoothing his hair back from his face and stroking it slightly making it almost impossible for him to think straight which was hard enough as it was through the haze of pain clouding his brain. She glanced fretfully at the sweat beading his forehead as he paled at her slightest touch and she winced as he grunted in pain.
'What are you doing?'
He didn't seem to have the energy to speak as his voice rang out in her head and she sliced open her hand once again, re-opening the already sealed cut from earlier in the lake.
"Ssh."
She murmured, stroking his forehead as she lifted his blood-soaked shirt and placed her bleeding hand over the slight hole in his chest where one of his ribs had punctured through his skin. She fought down a wave of nausea and looked down into his eyes instead of the wound her hand was covering.
"Vampire blood heals doesn't it?"
He nodded and she smiled slightly, her face still a little green from the feel of his torn skin beneath her fingers.
"Well if we mix my vampire blood with yours, it will heal faster. And since I have no idea where we are although it looks familiar, I say the quicker we get going the better."
He nodded as the pain eased in his chest, he glanced down to see his skin rebuilding itself, the edges knitting together and he gave a painful laugh when he saw Ginny with her eyes closed and her mouth clamped shut in case she threw up.
"It worked."
She opened her eyes and removed her hand gratefully, vanishing the blood with a flick of her wand. He sat up slowly, testing the pain in his ribs and glad the remaining ache was small enough to ignore. Getting to his feet he held a hand out for her to take, pulling her to her feet and scanning their surroundings.
"Where in hell are we?"
He caught Ginny as she slipped, his arm shooting around her waist and steadying her as the blood loss got to her head making her dizzy.
"I'm alright."
She didn't say it but she was glad when he left his hand on the small of her back, the warmth of his skin seeping into hers.
"Hey!"
Both of them spun around when a voice sliced through the air, startling them and making Ginny accidentally create a ball of fire that exploded right in front of the figure speaking to them. When the smoke cleared both Draco and Ginny gaped at the girl stood before them.
"Ginny?"
Ginny made a noise at the back of her throat but didn't look at Draco, her gaze fixed on the girl and it wasn't hard to see why they were stunned. The pair of them were looking at the image of Ginny, probably about the same age as she was now only this girl had pale skin only slightly darker than Draco's, a faint sprinkling of freckles on her nose and shoulders and long white-blonde hair just past her bra-strap that contrasted beautifully with her huge glittering grey almond-shaped eyes that seemed to shine in the light and change to a lighter colour.
"Draco, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
She whispered, her hand unconsciously gripping his wrist as he nodded, his normal cool blank face for once open to emotion, his eyes widened and his mouth slightly open.
"If you're referring to what appears to be our teenage daughter stood right in front of us then yeah, not much point in denying it."
The girl stared at them through narrowed eyes, no emotion in her face or eyes but every muscle in her body was coiled beneath her skin as though she expected them to attack her at any second.
"What are you staring at?"
There was no denying Ginny's soft voice with underlying tones of Draco's sharp arrogance and Ginny felt her heart join her stomach at the sound of it.
'Think we should tell her?'
Draco made a derisive noise in the back of his throat and Ginny turned to look at him slightly.
'And say what? Hi, you don't know us but we have a feeling you might be the result of one-too-many Wizard Shots and a frisky encounter some time in our future?!'
For once Ginny agreed with him and she let her hand drop from his wrist, not even noticing she had left a red handprint on his pale skin where she had gripped him.
"Do you know where we are?"
The girl shrugged, still not moving or taking her huge dark eyes off them as she spoke, her grip tightening on the sword in her right hand.
"Sure, this is what's left of Hogwarts."
...