Title: Close Your Eyes
Author: Lady Arianth
Chapter 2: The Secret Window

It all happened so quickly. One day Draco was enjoying himself, discussing past times with his mother. Times full of love and happiness. And the next, Draco's father had returned from one of his 'meetings', with wonderful news for him at that.

Draco would never openly admit his dislike for the Dark Lord, especially in front of his father. He knew what was coming. He also knew that if he dared turn this offer down, there would be hell to pay. 'If father ever found out that I hate the Dark Lord, or worse, that I would rather die than bow down and worship him, he'd kill me.' Draco sighed. He knew what he was going to do, and honestly, he no longer cared if his father killed him. Just as long as he doesn't hurt her anymore. He figured if he was gone, his mother wouldn't have to protect him, and Lucius wouldn't bother with her anymore.

He rounded the corner into the study to see his worst fears confirmed. There he was,, beating the crap out of her as usual. Draco couldn't take it anymore. He didn't have his wand with him, but seeing as Lucius didn't notice him enter, he took this opportunity to get him from behind.

All those years as a Death Eater certainly paid off, for Lucius quickly dodged Draco, grabbed his wand, and within seconds, had him on the ground, withering in pain from the Cruciatus. "What the hell are you playing at boy?"

Draco bit his lip to keep from crying out. He had been through this a million times before, and he wasn't about to give Lucius the satisfaction of hearing him cry. His silence, however, just seemed to piss him off further. Draco soon felt the sharp pains coursing through his body multiply tenfold and heard the familiar cracking sounds of his ribs breaking as his father continued to kick.

"You're wasting your time boy." he spat out the last word. He never did call Draco by his name anymore. "You both have disobeyed my for the last time…and now she's paid for it." Lucius laughed at the shocked expression on the boy in front of him.

'no'

Draco suddenly felt his stomach turn with dread, his blood beginning to boil.

"NOOOO!!!"

Suddenly the curse was broken. "What the—"

Lucius was startled as he found himself looking into the cold, grey eyes of a very angry man. No. 'BOY!' He mentally kicked himself. This boy couldn't hurt him. He was a Death Eater. No one could hurt him.

"What…did you do…to her!" Draco spat out with some difficulty, but the hatred was evident.

"Let's just say, she won't be interfering any longer." Lucius replied. His eyes were, once again, cold and full of malice.

Draco would have retorted, but his eyes settled on the limp figure behind his father in the corner. He instantly felt like breaking down and crying. 'Hah! Malfoy's never cry.' His eyes widened with awe as he saw a small white orb floating lightly above her body

He stood rooted to the spot as he found himself staring back into soft, blue eyes, identical to his own.

"Mother," He choked out.

She just smiled sweetly at him and whispered for only him to hear—

'Close you eyes, Draco.' He obliged.

He heard at something fall to the floor and looked down to see his mothers wand roll towards his feet. He bent down to grab it, wincing in pain as he suddenly realized how much damage his father had caused.

He heard his father laugh at this. Apparently he had no idea what was happening, with his mother's apparition and the wand. 'He can't see it' Draco thought silently, everything beginning to fall in place.

As quickly as she had appeared, she vanished into thin air. Draco once again found himself staring into cold eyes. Draco smirked, knowing exactly what he had to do. And, oh, how much he would enjoy this.

He glared at his father and smirked. This seemed to catch Lucius off guard, for he just stood there, looking utterly confused at Draco for a moment, before—

"Goodbye, father," Draco spit out the last word as if it were poisonous.

"Avada Kadavra!"

Before Draco knew what was happening, the room was filled with cloaked figures.

Draco, once again, fell to the ground in pain. He closed his eyes, surprisingly calm. He could hear the muffled voices around him. The last thing he remembered was being able to breathe again, his ribs feeling normal, and suddenly, he felt the darkness take him.

Draco woke with a start, taking in his surroundings. He was back at Hogwarts, in his very own room. He let out a breath, thanking the goddess he wasn't back in that dank, cold dungeon this year. There were quite a few perks that came along with the roll of Head Boy. Draco smirked.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn't like the dungeons. Not one bit. Neither did he like any of his roommates, save for Blaise. Blaise had always been there for him; he was the only person Draco could trust.

He slowly got out of bed and went over to his closet, throwing on his best over robe and walking out into the common room. He was hoping to sneak out without drawing any attention from Granger. But as fate would have it, she was still up.

'Wait,' Draco thought suddenly, looking to the clock. It was 3 in the bloody morning, what on earth was she doing out of bed? He sighed. His talk with dear, old Dumbledore would have to wait until morning. The sarcasm was evident only in his thoughts.

"Granger?" he tried.

With no response, he walked around the couch to the fireplace where she was sitting.

"GRANGER!" he yelled. The girl must have been crazy! She was sleeping directly in front of the fire…sitting up, like a zombie, no less.

Suddenly she jerked out of whatever trance she was in and, seeing Draco, leapt from the floor. A little too quickly it seemed, for her shocked eyes suddenly took on a look of exhaustion as she fell back towards the ground. Draco caught her in one swift movement, and wondered what on earth he was going to do. Digging his wand out of his pocket, he levitated her and quickly made his way towards the infirmary.

Ginny couldn't sleep, however hard she tried. She kept hearing Dumbledore's speech, over and over in her mind.

'And so begins a new age. One of trials and dangers beyond your imagination. I can only hope that I've taught you well.'

'Trials and dangers...Voldemort has risen, once again…Tom…she would see her beloved Tom again'

She sat straight up, tears visible in her amber eyes, kicking herself for her own stupidity. Tom was the last person she wanted to see. She gave him trust, and what did he do? He tore it apart. Everything she'd ever known, ripped to shreds in an instant. She hated him! He stole every bit of her, leaving only the hollow, empty body she'd been damned to.

She remembered the vow she made to herself, long ago. Never to trust again. Never to love, or be loved. She swallowed all the pride she could muster, determined to keep that vow. Within seconds, she had darted from her dorm room, hoping she hadn't awakened one of her roommates in the process. As quiet as possible, she snuck into the seventh year boy's dormitory, in search of Harry's trunk. He must have been onto her, or someone, for it wasn't in its usual place this year. She mentally cursed herself as her foot hit something very hard and heavy, earning a glance from a half asleep Neville.

"W-What's going on? Who's there?" he mumbled tiredly.

"No one, Neville. It's just me," she mimicked her brother, hoping he was too far gone to realize. "Go back to sleep."

He seemed to have bought it, for the next thing she knew, she heard a gigantic snore coming from his bed. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed, bending down and retrieving the invisibility cloak from Harry's trunk, glaring at it all the while as her foot throbbed in pain.

She ran hastily from Gryffindor tower, earning some rather odd stares from the portraits who hadn't dozed off yet. They we're dumb, after all. Wouldn't you find it rather odd, hearing quick little footsteps but not being able to see the owner?

After a fair amount of time spent avoiding Filch and then hiding from Snape behind a statue for a good ten minutes, she finally made her way to the very top of the North Tower. Climbing her way through the tiny passage she found her second year at Hogwarts, she came upon her favourite nook. The alcove that hide the window. Her window, she claimed to herself. Her secret window, where no one would ever find her. Not that she was worth looking for, after all. After hours of gazing at the stars and breathing the crisp, fall air, she closed the window and settled back, finally able to sleep…

End of Chapter 2

Whimsical Firefly- Thank you for informing me! I'm afraid I'm not very up to date on those things, lol. And thank you for being my first review! :hugs:

LunarianPrincess- Thank you for the lovely comment! The first chapter didn't exactly turn out as I expected, but I'm glad it's still good. .

darkangel1- I love dark, emotional fics as well! Lol, I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't. . To be quite honest, everything I write ends up that way. Ah well, as long as people enjoy it, right? Thank you for the review!

So, there goes it for the second chapter! This chapter hasn't been beta'd either, but I'll repost it when it is. I just wanted to get it up as soon as possible. That was pretty quick, I think. I'm sorry to say this won't always be updated every day, but I'll try to do it at least twice a week. So keep an eye out!

-Arianth