A/N: Sorry. I promise I'll update quicker. The next few chapters are already written, so it won't be hard. Just to clear things up, this story is AU because it was started before Order of the Phoenix came out.
Disclaimer: Everything you read here belongs to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury etc. except the plot and any of the characters you don't recognize, which are mine.
Chapter 8-
Treaty
Ginny had been thinking about who had told Professor Dumbledore about the curse all night long, and she was pretty sure that the culprit was Draco Malfoy. But why? He would love to see her die, of that she was sure. But, he had practically told her that he had dreams too, and from her research she had discovered that Wilfred Malfoy had been killed not long after Virginia. Malfoy must have been scared witless to go for advice to a man he hated. Draco must have done a fair amount of research beforehand though, because Dumbledore would've been his last resort. Come to think of it, Ginny thought excitedly, it was probably Malfoy who had been looking at Old Pureblood Families of Great Britain and Ireland before her! An idea began to form in her mind. It was quite ridiculous, and she was sure that Malfoy would refuse…but it couldn't hurt to try, could it?
That day, Ginny avoided her Gryffindor year mates like the plague and discreetly trailed Malfoy around the school. Finally, her chance came when Malfoy realised he had left his Transfiguration book in another classroom. He left his goons behind and veered down a deserted hallway. Ginny darted after him. The hallway was deserted and winding, the only light coming from torches attached to the stone walls. It scared her a bit, so she gathered her courage and called out, "Malfoy!"
The blonde in front of her whipped around quickly, his robes making a cracking sound and his wand pointed straight at her. He relaxed slightly when he saw it was only Ginny and his face twisted itself into his customary sneer. "Weasley, I trust you and Bertram had a good sleep last night?" he asked contemptuously.
Ginny flushed angrily as she remembered the secrets Sabine had told the entire school. Bertram was the teddy bear she slept with every night. "Shut up, Malfoy," she stammered.
"Ouch, that really stung, Weasley," He looked at her amusedly. "Is there a reason for this conversation or are you making a fool out of yourself for my enjoyment only?"
Ginny took a deep breath. God, how she hated Malfoy. But she needed his help desperately, and if she had to put up with his sarcastic remarks and sneers to save her life, then so be it. She decided to be blunt. "Malfoy, we're both under the effects of a deadly curse. I think that if we pooled our resources together, we'd have a better chance of defeating it. What do you say?" She looked at him nervously.
Malfoy stared at her for a moment, flabbergasted, but then recovered himself. "You, Ginny WEASLEY, want me, Draco MALFOY, to find an antidote for this curse?" He looked at her deridingly when she nodded slowly. "If you've done your research, you would have realised that it was a Malfoy and a Weasley who caused this mess."
"Then it makes sense that a Malfoy and a Weasley could cure it," Ginny said reasonably. Malfoy was silent and she sighed gustily, tiring of his attitude problem. "Listen, Malfoy. Would you rather die a painful death or work with me for a bit and live?"
"Weasley," Malfoy said nastily, "working with you would be every bit as painful as being cursed." He raised an eyebrow. "Now, has this torture session ended or will I have to listen to some more drivel?"
Ginny stared at the Head Boy in amazement. He was going to allow a feud to get in the way of saving his life?
"Hey, you two," Ginny and Malfoy turned to see Filch and Mrs Norris bearing down upon them. Filch's face was the picture of delight. "It's class time," he informed them gleefully, obviously looking forward to dealing out some punishment. Malfoy swore under his breath.
"It's all my fault, Mr Filch sir," Ginny said quickly, stepping in front. "I had to ask Malfoy about some homework, and we lost track of time."
Filch looked slightly suspicious and Ginny smiled angelically at the caretaker. "We're really sorry, sir," she said contritely.
"Twenty pints from Gryffindor then," Filch said gruffly. "And get to class!"
Ginny snatched her book bag from the floor and walked as quickly as she could towards he next class, She chanced a look back to see Malfoy staring at her, an odd lock on his face. She swiftly looked to the front again and ruffled in her bag for her timetable. She ran her eyes over it and groaned. She was meant to be in Potions now!
~~~~~
Ginny was the only person in the library that night. Hermione had been there for a few minutes, but had explained to Ginny (blushing profusely) that she needed to tutor Ron. Ginny had wondered how much tutoring would actually be getting done, but kept that question to herself. Books surrounded Ginny. They were stacked six high on either side of her, and there were even more piled in front. She had been through about four so far, and there was absolutely nothing relating to a curse that could make injuries on one person appear on another. She heard a scrape as the chair opposite her was pulled out and so she said. "Hey, Mione. How did the tutoring go?"
Someone cleared their throat and she looked up to meet the laughing eyes of Draco Malfoy. "Guess again, Weasley," he said with a grin. He reached out and pulled a book from the pile. "Have you looked in the Restricted Section?"
"Of course I have," Ginny said curtly, offended at his poor belief in her research skills.
"No need to be offended, Weasley," Malfoy raised his eyebrows slightly. "I was only asking. After all, you are a do-gooder of a Gryffindor."
Ginny decided to change the subject. "How much research have you done?"
"Not that much," Malfoy said distractedly, flipping through the pages. He looked up at her when Ginny gave a noise of disbelief and he adjusted his answer. "Well, I've done quite a lot, I suppose, but I didn't find much."
"I'm sure you searched really hard," Ginny said, annoyed.
"Pardon?" Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her. "What id you say?"
"Nothing, nothing," Ginny looked at Malfoy, a grin on her lips.
"Malfoy glared at her and turned back to his book. Ginny lowered her eyes to hers as well. She doubted there would be any information in this book; the author kept waffling on about Salivating Snortocks (whatever they were) and Jumping Jillywags. Although the book might be useful to Luna, it certainly wasn't to her. She picked up another book.
Finally, Ginny threw that one down on the desk and stretched her arms above her head. She looked at Malfoy. He was immersed in Curses for the Adept Wizard. Ginny felt a bit of misgiving go through her when she realised that she was probably helping Malfoy discover new ways of bullying the younger students. She ignored the thought and instead gazed at all the books they had gone through in despair. "Malfoy," she said loudly.
He looked up from his book. "Weasley?"
She looked down at he scarred table and said in little more than a whisper, "What…what if we can't find an antidote for the curse?" This was her biggest fear. Every book she looked at, every page she read, she hoped that the curse would be in there. In her heart of hearts though, Ginny knew there was only a very small chance of finding even a mention of it, let alone a cure.
Malfoy placed the book on the table and gave Ginny an impassive look. "Then we die, I suppose," he said bleakly.
"But I don't want to die!" Ginny said loudly. Madam Pince glared at Ginny and Malfoy from her desk and Ginny lowered her voice. "I mean, why us? My parents said that every generation there's a Virginia Weasley, so there must have been hundreds. Why couldn't one of them have died?"
Malfoy stared at her in sudden realisation. "Perhaps they did," he said softly. He got up and crossed to the Genealogy section. He ran the tips of his fingers down the spines until he found the one he wanted. He tossed the book to Ginny, who missed it. It crashed loudly to the floor.
"Mr Malfoy! Miss Weasley! Explain yourselves!" Madam Pince stepped around a bookcase and gave them a beady glare. She must have been waiting for something like this to happen, Ginny thought, irritated. When they didn't reply she raised a skinny arm and pointed towards the door. "Out! Out!" She screeched, before stalking back to her desk. Malfoy bent and picked up the book from the floor. "Get your stuff, Weasley," he said quietly to her. Ginny ran back to the desk and crammed her things in her book bag. After a moment's hesitation, she grabbed some of the most likely looking books and tucked them in the bag too. She pushed the chair in, hurried past Madam Pince's desk and into the hallway. She leaned against the wall. She'd just been evicted from the library. What was the curse doing to her?
She looked up as Malfoy slammed the library door hard. "Bitch," he muttered, giving it a vicious kick.
"Malfoy," Ginny stepped forward and motioned to her book bag when he looked at her. "I…I got some of the books we were reading." Oh my God, thought Ginny in horror as she realized what she'd done. Theft! Eviction from the library, theft…what would be next?
"Same here," said Malfoy, patting his cloak. "We need to find a classroom or something if we want to keep researching. It's approaching curfew and we can't be caught."
"Well," said Ginny, thinking. "There's a classroom on the fourth floor that no-one seems to go to…"
"Lead on, then, Weasley," Malfoy said amiably. They walked in silence. Ginny had found the classroom by accident while she was running from Vera in second year. As they turned the final corner, they bumped into someone. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where- Alistryna?" Ginny steadied the Welsh girl and looked at her.
"Ginny," Alistryna said with a slightly strained smile.
"How are you?" Ginny smiled warmly, releasing her. "I haven't seen you in ages. Are you better from the flu?"
"Quite."
Malfoy cleared his throat loudly, and Alistryna looked up, noticing him for the first time.
"Alistryna, this is Draco Malfoy. Malfoy, my buddy, Alistryna Rhydderch," Ginny said, introducing them. Alistryna had gone very pale. Her brown eyes were wide and she looked at Malfoy in absolute horror. Her eyes flicked to Ginny for a second before focussing on the Head Boy again.
"Alistryna, are you alright?" Ginny asked anxiously, frowning.
"I-I…" Alistryna stumbled. Malfoy stared at her, and moved closer to Ginny. "Is she... quite normal?" he asked in a whisper. Ginny ignored him and stepped closer to the first year. "Alistryna?"
Alistryna's breath was coming in shallow gasps. "Alistryna?" Ginny reached out a hand and checked the girl's temperature. It was normal, but Ginny wasn't going to take any chances. She returned around quickly and motioned to Malfoy. "Go and get Madam Pom-" A noise from behind her made Ginny whirl in time to see Alistryna running as fast as she could down the hallway.
"Alistryna!" Ginny began to run towards the girl but it was too late. Alistryna had disappeared behind a corner and by the time Ginny had sprinted to the end of the corridor, she was nowhere in sight.
"Insane," Malfoy's voice said, and Ginny looked to see the Slytherin standing behind her, his hands in his pockets. "AN di thought my buddy was weird." He paused reflectively then shrugged. "So, where's this classroom?" He asked, the problem of Alistryna forgotten.
Ginny gave a last look down the empty hallway and turned back to Malfoy. "Down here," she started walking again. "You don't know Alistryna?" she asked, trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
"Never seen her before in my life," he said cheerfully, and stopped at a door. "This it?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah." Maybe Alistryna had been scared of Malfoy because of all the rumours about him. Some of them were pretty awful, she reasoned, but she doubted any of them were true. Malfoy held the door open for her as she went through. "Thanks, Malfoy," she said, surprised at his gentlemanly gesture.
Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Unlike your family, Weasley, ours prides ourselves on our good breeding and manners."
"Funny. You've never shown them before," Ginny said, grinning. She bent down and retrieved her library books from her bag. "Alright. I've got Creative Curses, Curses, Hexes and more for the Everyday-"
"Whatever, Weasley," Malfoy dismissed her with a hand. "My guess is what we're suffering from isn't even a curse." Ginny looked blank, so he explained. "Alright. Say I'm Weasley, God forbid," he gave a shudder, "and I'm angry because my daughter's been murdered. I try to curse you," Malfoy nodded at Ginny, "you're Malfoy by the way, but something happens; the curse goes wrong, it affects both families instead of just yours." He looked at Ginny. "With me so far?"
She nodded.
"Good then. You see, it's not the same curse anymore. It's changed, become something different. Weasley invented a new curse."
"That makes sense," Ginny said slowly, then widened her eyes when she realised what it meant. "You mean, there's no antidote?" She looked at Malfoy, horrified.
Malfoy nodded. "What you said before, about why us? It gave me an idea," he reached into his cloak and pulled out some books. "These are our family histories. If something like this had happened before, it'll be in here." He threw her the Weasley book and this time she caught it.
She pulled out a chair and began to read. After about twenty pages, her eyes began to close. It was almost midnight and she wasn't used to staying up so late. Ginny chanced a look at Malfoy only to see him engrossed in his book. She turned back to her own. The words were starting to blur. Ginny slowly laid her head on the book and closed her eyes. She would only rest for a minute, she promised herself.
Within seconds she was asleep.
Ginny opened her eyes to find herself standing next to Virginia Weasley. Virginia was dressed in only her underthings, and about seven women were bustling about her. Some were holding up pieces of fabric, others were measuring her, and others were busily sewing, darning, and embroidering.
"Methinks the fawn suits thee best, lady," a woman said, comparing two pieces of fabric in front of Virginia. She nodded absently.
"Th 'art to meet Wilfred Malfoy at eleven of the clock tomorrow morn," a maid said from Virginia's left. "Art thou looking forward to it?"
Virginia shrugged her shoulders slightly and did not answer. Ginny thought she looked like she was about to burst into tears. After a moment she got herself under control and answered, "I am in two minds," she said at last. "My life will begin anew once I am married, and I do not think that I will enjoy it overly."
The maid laughed. "Do not fret, lady. Every bride feels like thee."
Ginny doubted it. The maid finished what she was doing and moved away. A woman Ginny recognized as Tabbita stepped up to Virginia and smiled sympathetically. "Lady," she said, and did a curtsy. "I hope thou art in good health."
Virginia nodded at the old woman. "I wish to present to thee my granddaughter, who hast come this noon to assist I." Tabbita beckoned forward a girl, who gave Virginia a curtsy. She looked about eleven. Her clothes were of poor quality and her dull brown hair was in a simple plait. The girl straightened up and Ginny moved forward to see her face. Ginny's own face went slack and no words seemed to able to come from her mouth.
The girl was Alistryna.
~~~~~
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Thankyous from last chapter go to; Willow, happigolucki616, storm079, meena2, Evangeline DeSoto, zelphire, Lady in white, SamiJo, dragon dreamer3, brown-sugar3, Cactuskitty, Flav0ftheweek (does that satisfy your curiosity^_^) gilt trip, purple aurora lights, sun-and-wind, karen1 (you'll have to wait and see:) Luna Writer (Sorry, I just stopped reviewing. I'll start again though:) Sorry if I forgot anyone, tell me if I did.