(A.N.: I didn't intend to take you to the triplet's home until next year but this story just has a mind of it's own.)
Chapter 10
Draco's Warning
Harry knew he shouldn't be nervous. He'd asked Ginny to the dance several times before. This time shouldn't be any different.
Except it was. Because none of those times had he intended to admit his feelings to her during the dance.
He knew he shouldn't have waited so long to ask, but he just couldn't work up the nerve. But now the deed was done, and the carefully wrapped package was resting on her pillow with a meticulously scripted note.
He tried to calm his nerves as they all said goodnight and headed to their dorms. He waited impatiently. She was probably going to wait until she was sure all his dorm mates were asleep to answer him. Or worse, she might wait till morning. Sally hadn't had much to do with him lately, and she wasn't there now, which left him alone with his nerves.
There was a soft knock on the door a few hours later, once everybody else was asleep. Harry knew it was Ginny right away and practically jumped to answer. Ginny stood there with his package, unopened.
"Harry," she said, looking up. "I have to give this back to you. I read the note. I can't go with you to the dance this year. I'm sorry. I wanted to give this back."
"Why?" he asked, panicking. How could she say no?
Ginny looked down. "I'm sorry. Draco asked me last month and I said yes. I should have told you, I knew you would ask, but I was afraid of how you would react. Here." She tried to hand the gift back to him.
"But you didn't open it." His mind had shut down.
She shook her head. "I can't accept it. I can't go with you."
His brain suddenly turned back on. He pushed it back at her. "No, Petal, it's part of your Christmas present. Keep it." He forced himself to smile. He was the boy who lived, he had defeated Voldemort several times, and yet none of it was as hard as that one forced smile.
"Then give it to me at Christmas," she insisted.
He shook his head. "No, you're gonna want it before the dance."
She looked confused, but nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"Don't worry about it."
"Please don't tell Ron."
"I won't. Goodnight Rose."
"Goodnight, Harry." She turned and headed back to her dorm, package still in hand. Before Harry could close the door, Sally came in. Now he knew why she had been avoiding him. Neither of them moved until they were sure she was out of hearing.
He used Parseltongue so he could yell without waking the others. "Get out."
"I'm sorry, Harry, she swore me to secrecy."
"Get out, now."
"What was I supposed to do?"
"I refuse to believe, Sally, that you knew she was going to say no for a whole month. That you let me go through all that, and you knew. I can't believe you would do that to me! Get out. I don't want to talk to you."
Sally turned and left the room, and Harry slammed the door behind her. He felt the sudden urge to cry.
His mind was made up before he'd even really thought it through. It was a Friday, he didn't need to be here tomorrow, he didn't intend to be. He left a scribbled note to Ron that said he would be back, and grabbed his broom.
When he realized he had no idea where to go, he went to get Hedwig.
oooooo
Ginny returned to her dorm. Sally entered just as she was untying the string from around the package. Ginny said hello to her, but Sally didn't answer. She went under Ginny's bed without a word.
As soon as the string was undone the wrapping fell off. She gasped. Slowly, she ran her hand across the smooth black fabric. She didn't believe it. It was the dress. The one she had put on that day in Diagon Alley. The one she had loved but never even considered actually owning.
oooooo
Hedwig settled down on Harry's shoulder as he pushed the doorbell. There was a moment of tense silence, and it occurred to Harry that it was past midnight. But the door swung open and Harry found himself staring at somebody he didn't know. He panicked mentally. Had Hedwig gotten the wrong house? Then Chad walked up behind the man and he realized he did know him. It was Liam.
"Harry? Is something wrong?"
Harry suddenly felt very stupid. It was just a dance. Just a stupid dance. She was just a girl. She was just going with Draco Malfoy. He didn't realize he was crying until he felt a tear roll down his face.
Chad took him by the shoulder and led him inside. "Liam, go get Brad and Lad."
"No, don't wake them," Harry argued quickly. "It's stupid." He wiped the tear off. "I just, had to leave, and didn't know where to go."
"What happened?"
"I asked her to the dance. I know it's stupid. I know it's not that big of a deal. I'm sorry I woke you up."
"You didn't wake us, Harry, and it's not stupid. Sit down and tell me what happened."
"She's going with Malfoy! My worst enemy! I mean, sure recently we've come to an understanding. But I still can't stand him. And he's a Slytherin! And Sally knew about it! All month long! And she never told me! It's Draco Malfoy! He's been insulting her whole family for years!"
He broke down. Two whole months of being on nerve's end to be blasted by Malfoy of all people. He felt like such a baby, but he couldn't stop. He was glad it was Chad. Somehow he felt he could cry in front of Chad. With either of the other triplets, Tony, or even Tiffany he would have been embarrassed. But now it was okay.
He didn't really know what he was saying. He was just talking and Chad was listening. He didn't even know he had fallen asleep until he felt himself being shaken awake.
He was looking into a pair of dark green eyes. "Liam?"
The blonde smiled. "I didn't realize you knew me."
"I don't," Harry answered, stupid with sleep.
Liam chuckled under his breath. "Lad and Brad are awake. Chad and I need to know how much you want them to know about last night."
Harry blushed. "Nothing, please."
Liam nodded, as if he understood. "Abby and Natalie are waiting to meet you. Everybody is in the kitchen."
Harry stood up and tried to smooth down his clothes. He was wearing black slacks and a tee shirt which he only used for pajamas, but he tried to make it look as though he hadn't been sleeping in them. Running a hand through his hair and straightening his glasses, he followed Liam into the kitchen.
The moment he walked into the room he was picked up. "Potter's here!"
Brad sat him on his shoulder. Harry responded by ruffling Brad's red hair. Out of his team, he'd bonded closest to Brad and Chad. Tony was a bit too brash for Harry, Tiffany a bit too critical, not that he didn't love them both anyway. Lad had actually bonded better with Hermione, which based on Lad's interests made sense. Chuck just kept to himself.
Brad's favorite thing to do was broadcast the fact that he could lift Harry. The triplets were twenty three, which made them a good deal older then Harry. Though Harry wasn't small, he was lean, whereas the triplets were thicker set. However they're size didn't slow them on a broom. But any one of them could easily lift Harry in the air, as Brad loved to demonstrate.
"Harry. You've arrived at a good time. It's not often we have a full house. Abby is here, Natalie is here, Liam is here and so are the three of us."
Harry was able to tell right away which of the two females was Abby and which was Natalie. Abby he had seen in Brad's picture, though her hair had been blonde then. It was still now, he supposed, just with purple and pink streaked though it. Her eyes were a shocking blue. Natalie had the same strawberry blonde hair that the triplets did naturally. (Harry only knew they did by examining the roots.) She also had the same hazel eyes. She was, however, a few years older.
"Hello. I'm Harry," he said with a smile. Natalie smiled back at him while Abby flashed him a piece sign.
"So what brings you here Harry?" Brad asked, setting his teammate down in a chair.
"I need some advice, so I thought I'd come see you guys."
"Advice? From the triplets?" Abby asked skeptically. Harry shrugged.
"Is it about Ginny?" Lad asked.
"She has a date to the dance. My plan backfired. So now I don't know what to do."
"Harry," Brad said, kicking a chair out and falling into it. "Your plan has hardly changed at all. The dance was just a nice date to do it on. Whether or not you are her date to the dance changes nothing. You still have to tell her how you feel. You just wait until the moment it feels right. This other guy isn't a boyfriend or anything, right?"
Harry blinked. Brad was right. He knew that Ginny and Malfoy were just friends. He understood the complicated relationship between them. What day he told her had absolutely nothing to do with how he felt.
His eyes widened, and sick guilt filled his stomach. "I think I've made a big mistake."
"You didn't do anything rash, did you?" Abby asked, sitting down beside Brad.
Harry shook his head. "Nothing to her. But I got mad at Sally. Oh God, I've never yelled at her before. She's completely blocked off our bond. She's my familiar," he explained to those that looked confused. "She's a snake, I'm a Parselmouth. It's complicated."
"Why'd you yell at her?" Brad asked. The team had all met Sally on various occasions.
"She'd known that Ginny had a date for over a month and didn't tell me. I was so angry. But Ginny swore her to secrecy, she couldn't tell me. I shouldn't have gotten mad at her. I've got to go apologize." He stood up.
"So soon?" Natalie asked.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I just showed up like this."
"Don't worry about it Harry, you're welcome anytime," Chad said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks guys," he said, glancing significantly at Chad and Brad. "But I've got to go."
oooooo
"What do you mean he just left?" Ginny asked. Ron and Hermione looked up, immediately knowing that they were talking about Harry.
"We had a fight."
"Left? I thought he went to the chamber!" Ron hissed.
Ginny was ignoring him. "You had a fight? You and Harry never fight. What did you fight about?"
"I can't ssay."
"Sally, where did he go?"
"I don't know, okay!" Sally shouted. "I don't know where he went . He doessn't want to talk to me. He jusst left."
Ginny grabbed Sally and held her, rubbing her cheek against the snake's head. "Oh, Sal, don't be upset. I'm sure it will be alright. You're his familiar. I'm sure he's not really mad at you."
"He told me to get out. He ssaid he didn't want to talk to me."
"Oh, Sal."
Hermione turned to Ron. "Where would Harry go if he wanted to get away from Hogwarts?"
Ron looked puzzled. "I don't know. Hogwarts is his home. He's never just, left, before."
"Then all we can do is wait for him to come back."
There was a sudden thundering down the boy's stairs. Harry ran down so fast he hadn't even put down his broom. "Sal! Sal I'm sorry." He pulled her away from Ginny and held her close, whispering apoplectically to her in soft Parseltongue. Sally curled around Harry's neck right away. The two of them sat together, ignoring the others, immersing themselves in their bond and reestablishing a balance between them.
oooooo
Ginny stood in front of the mirror, smiling. She never regretted more saying yes to Draco then she did at this moment. To be wearing this dress, going to the dance with Harry, it would have all be surreal.
Meredith zipped up the dress in the back for her. "This dress is beautiful Ginny. Where did you get it?"
Ginny couldn't help but twirl slightly. It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever owned. "Harry was with me over the summer when I saw it. Do you know that little tiny shop in Diagon Alley with the spinning mannequins? I fell in love with it right away, and he made me try it on. I didn't think about it after that. But he used it to ask me to the dance." She smiled brightly at Meredith. She didn't think she could be more happy.
"But I thought Harry Potter was going alone," Samantha nearly shouted. Ginny hated the way she always added Harry's last name. As if he wasn't good enough as just Harry. He had to be Harry Potter.
"He is. I had to say no. I already had a date. I tried to give this back but he insisted it was part of my Christmas present."
"He really is an amazing friend to you," Meredith said warmly. Ginny was really growing to like her. The more Samantha was mean, the more Meredith was nice. It was a pleasant change to have somebody to talk to in her dorm.
Ginny twirled one more time. "I really wish I didn't have to say no."
"Who are you going with?"
"Draco."
"Draco? As in, Draco Malfoy? Harry Potter's worst enemy?"
Ginny usually just ignored Samantha when she talked. But not this time. "Harry's worst enemy would actually be Voldemort, and I'm not going with him. But Draco is my friend, and I agreed to go to the dance with him in November."
It was the first dance Ginny had actually prepared for on her own. She usually had Hermione help her, but Hermione and Ron had a date planned by the lake for even before the dance started. So she had helped Hermione earlier, but was now own her own.
There was a knock on the door. "What is it?" Marine called.
"I'm here to pick up a flower," came a smooth voice, and Ginny's jaw nearly dropped. She rushed to the door and threw it open. "A very beautiful flower, it seems," he observed, looking her up and down. Draco was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, the epitome of suave. Draco looked startlingly sexy. Robes did nothing for his amazing ass.
"What are you doing here? How did you get in?"
Draco smirked, and Ginny knew she would have melted on the spot if her heart wasn't captured by another. Her doom mates behind her were dead silent. "All that required was a dash of Malfoy charm. I had been hoping for more of a challenge. You Gryffindors are just too naive."
Ginny giggled. "Draco, you are so bad."
"That is what they tell me, and would presumably vindicate my choice of house."
"I need another minute. Do you want to come in?"
Draco peered around her. "If it does not inconvenience your room mates."
"We don't mind," Meredith answered, knowing that Samantha and Marine would be too taken with Draco to actually answer either way.
Ginny moved away to let him inside, and he shut the door behind him. He looked around curiously.
"So how different is this then your dorm?" Ginny asked, opening her trunk to dig out her jewelry box.
"It is very different in the fact that we each have our own rooms. It wouldn't do well to make two Slytherins sleep together unwillingly. One may not wake."
Ginny had located the box, and looked into it for the pair of earrings she wanted. "You might scare them, Draco, but you don't scare me. I don't believe that all Slytherins are evil."
He caught her eyes in the mirror. "Then it is best you are not in that house. Be it true or not, if you do not believe it, those that are will take advantage of you for it."
Finally locating the second earring she sat the box down to put them in. Draco walked up behind her and looked at her in the mirror. He looked down at her necklace, then reached around her shoulder to pick it up. "You are never without this charm. Does it hold some significance?"
Her pulse fluttered when his hand touched her chest. He sure knew how to be smooth. "Harry gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday. It glows when he is near me."
"I should have surmised," he said, running the pad of his thumb across the ruby, "that something so close to your heart would be from Potter."
oooooo
Harry had a seat next to the wall. It didn't quite have his name on it, but it had his snake on it. Sally, feeling guilty about the fact that Harry had no date, had agreed to guard his seat all night so he would always have a place to go.
He was early, he knew, but he had to get away from the Gryffindor common. He couldn't be there when Malfoy arrived to escort Ginny downstairs. Ron and Hermione were early too, having come back from a picnic by the lake. They were celebrating an anniversary.
The hall wasn't nearly as nice as it had been last year. But Remus had admitted that he had no idea what dances were like, but had done it anyway just for him. He'd thanked Remus a hundred times.
It had to be a masochistic streak that caused him to stare relentlessly at the door. He didn't want to see her walk in with him. Yet he couldn't wait to see her.
Somehow Draco had managed to discover that the accent color of the dress was gold, which had decided the color of the shirt he was wearing. Ginny looked beyond amazing. Her hair had grown a lot since last year, and now reached to a point just below her shoulder blades. It cascaded around her bare shoulders in soft waves. The dress fit perfectly. It looked as if it had been made specifically for her.
The two of them looked good together, a fact Harry had to admit but did not have to like. He wanted nothing more to walk up there and push Draco out of the way. But Sally had warned that this would be less then gentlemanly. With a mental sigh he resigned to sitting, and having Colin Creevey take a picture of her.
oooooo
Ron and Hermione were already on the dance floor, when Harry had assured them that he didn't mind. "Ron, promise me that you won't let anything ruin this dance," Hermione said quickly when she saw Draco and Ginny walk into the room. "Promise that tonight is just for me."
Ron smiled. "A year ago today we had our first kiss. I promise not to let anything ruin tonight."
"Okay, well then you should know that Ginny's date is Malfoy, but don't get mad!" Hermione warned as Ron's ears turned red. "You promised."
"Malfoy? Why would she come with Malfoy?"
"Because they're friends, Ron. You promised."
"She and Harry are friends. She and Malfoy and pleasant acquaintances at the most."
"Ron, you promised me."
"Alright fine." He pulled Hermione closer to him. "I'll try not to think about it."
"Thank you," she said, kissing his cheek.
Ron grinned and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of mistletoe and held it above her. She only had a moment to look at it before he leaned down and caught her lips in his.
oooooo
As soon as the music started Draco led Ginny out onto the dance floor. They enjoyed several quiet dances before Draco spoke. "Potter couldn't possibly glare more daggers at me," he remarked.
"Ron will manage to outdo him, I'm sure."
"It would be appreciated if I was not maimed by any of your siblings at this affair."
"If you can keep your house from killing me, I can keep my family from killing you."
"It is my family killing you that I am most concerned about," Draco said softly. He pulled her a bit closer.
"What?" she asked.
"There is a plot, Rose. A stupid, pointless, low, underhanded plot. And my father is aiding it."
"That doesn't surprise me."
He leaned down, his mouth beside her ear. "I was so relieved when I discovered you had survived the attack this summer. I had no way to warn you."
Ginny's feet stopped cold. She would have stopped dancing if Draco's hands on her waist had not practically done the moving for her. "You knew about that?"
"That rat has a uncanny ability to escape, Rose. This time he escaped not only you and Potter, but his master as well. Voldemort will kill him upon sight. And he blames this demotion on you."
"Voldemort wants to kill him because he wasn't following orders. How is that my fault?"
"His mind is absent. He is targeting you, Rose, for revenge. And my father is aiding him. Using him to his advantage, despite the Dark Lord's hatred of him."
"What should I do?"
"There is a plan, Rose, to use your family against you."
Ginny leaned against Draco, not trusting herself to stand. It had been the one thing she feared. "How, where? Who?"
"Hush," he instructed. "They will take whoever they can. But there are several places that are untouchable. Father is unable to penetrate your home. Your elder brother in Spain is under Ministry protection, which is most likely even safer. And then there is here," his voice faltered.
"What? What is wrong with here?"
"Hogwarts should be safe. No sane body would attempt an attack on the school. Yet the rat is less then sane, and my father intends to let him commit his suicide and use it to his advantage. He's willing to gamble his place as one of the Dark Lord's highest ranked followers in order to get Dumbledore thrown out of the school."
"What should we do?" Ginny asked, trying not to cry and holding onto Draco as if her life depended on it.
"You must get your family together. Make them stay together at your home. You must warn Potter and be ready, for the attack is scheduled for just before Easter."
"How will he attack? With what army?"
Draco shook his head. "I don't know what kind of support he has. The only person I ever see him with is my father."
"So all we can do is be ready?"
The songs changed, but Ginny hardly noticed. She couldn't hear the music anymore. Her mind was spinning off in hundreds of directions, attempting to figure out how she was going to get her whole family to safety.
"The attack will come near the Easter holiday. I've told you all I know. But you have to promise me something, Rose."
"Anything, Draco." After saving her family, he could probably have asked for anything in the world and she would have given it to him without question.
"I doubt he will come with Wormtail when he attacks the school. But if by some chance my father is here, you must promise me you will allow him to escape."
"But, I thought you hated you father," she whispered.
"I do. More then anything. But I need him. I'm heading to be the Dark Lord's second in command. Without my father I can't take over his position. If he's not there, I can't overthrow him. If he helps with this attack and the attack fails, the Dark Lord will not look kindly on it and it could be my chance to step up."
Ginny felt slightly sick inside. "Draco, are you helping us because you want to work for our side, or because you want to overthrow your father?"
"Mind if I cut in?" asked a tall sixth year who's name Ginny didn't know.
"No, not at all," Draco said, graciously backing away. He nodded at Ginny, leaving her question unanswered. Over her new dance partner's shoulder, Ginny watched him walk out of the hall.
After the dance had finished Ginny gave the boy a smile, then fled to the other side of the room.
Harry was chatting with Sally about his visit to the Bowl household three days before. It had been a touchy subject for a while, so he hadn't gotten to tell her about meeting Liam, Abby, and Natalie.
As Ginny was walking to him he knew something was wrong, even without Sally's observation to confirm it. "Rose, what is it?"
She didn't hesitate to walk right into his arms. "Harry, Draco's told me something awful. I have to talk to you, and Ron. We have to go home on the train tomorrow. I have to warn my family." She said this all very quickly, clinging to him.
"Calm down Rose. We'll all go home tomorrow. We'll go pack now. And while we're packing you can tell us what's going on."
"What are we going to tell Ron and Hermione? They can't know Draco's helping, Harry. We can't tell Dumbledore either."
Harry realized there was no way they could continue talking about what ever it was where they were. He still had no idea exactly what the problem was. Taking her hand, he led her out of the hall and back to his dorm.
"I'll start packing, you explain," he instructed, as he started to get together all the things he would need to spend Christmas away from school. Ginny felt slightly touched that he hadn't even questioned the fact that they needed to go home. She said they did, and he started to pack before he even knew why. It felt wonderful that he trusted her that much.
Ginny repeated everything that Draco had told her, and finally the tears she had been resisting caught up with her. Harry paused in his packing and went to her, wrapping her in his arms. He wanted nothing more then to protect her from it all. He wanted to make it all go away for her. He was used to being the target. He wasn't used to his friends actually being the goal.
"It will be alright Rose. As soon as Hermione and Ron get back here we'll tell them that Sirius discovered all of it. Then we'll write to Sirius and tell him we have an inside source, but we're giving him the credit." He wiped a tear away from her cheek, and pulled her into a tighter hug. "Sirius won't ask questions, so he will cover for Draco. We'll all go back to the burrow for Christmas. Is your whole family going to be there?"
She nodded, sniffling. "All but Percy and Penelope, but Draco said they were safe already."
"Okay. While we're there, we'll tell them what they need to know. Put it on me, Rose. They're not going to question me. We'll just tell them that I had people investigating to attack to make sure Voldemort wasn't involved, and that I found out your family is being targeted. We'll tell them they're safe if they all stay in the burrow. We don't have to tell Dumbledore. We'll be ready for him. We'll have Sirius there, and he'll be ready too."
"Are you sure we shouldn't tell him?"
Harry nodded. "Rose, if we tell them there's going to be an attack on the school, not only will they demand to know how we know, they'll fortify the school. Wormtail won't be able to attack. But if he does, and we catch him,"
"Then Sirius will be cleared," she finished for him, her eyes widening.
"We need him to attack, Rose. He needs to be caught and put to justice for all he's done to your family and mine." Harry's eyes glowed with a passionate fire that Ginny hadn't seen in him since last year. "But I promise Rose, I won't let anything happen to you."
Ginny smiled, though her face was still streaked with tears, she wasn't crying anymore. "I wasn't afraid for me, Harry. I know you would never let anything happen to me. You tried to die for me last year."
Unable to resist, Harry pulled her into a hug again. "I promise, Petal. We'll get him. He'll pay for what he did you your mother and to Sirius and to my parents."
oooooo
Ron and Hermione accepted Harry and Ginny's news with grim but determined faces. They both set to packing furiously. Harry went down to make sure they're names were taken off the list of students staying. McGonagall was not pleased with such a last minute change, but Harry had explained that Charlie's wife Sandy was pregnant and suddenly requesting their company. McGonagall excepted the explanation and Harry was pleased it wasn't a complete lie. Charlie had wanted Ginny to come home, but she hadn't wanted to leave them all behind.
Once packed, Ron was out like a light. He could only assume that Hermione and Ginny would be the same way. Harry, however, was awake, fighting what had been a nightly battle at the Burrow. The desire to see his rose petal sleep, to see her face cleansed of worry or doubt.
(A/N: Wow. Wow. I just... Wow. The next chapter is the biggie, guys. The one we've been waiting four years for. I'm gonna start it this afternoon.)