Phoenix and the Dragon

By: babykelyse

A/N: Once again, I'm so sorry for these long waits for chapters. School has been dominating my life so I haven't had time to update regularly. So as an appeasement (hopefully! lol) I'll be making this chapter twice as long :) Thank you to all my readers who haven't given up on me. So, without further ado on with the next chapter.

Author Responses: I'll be responding to these in my next chapter. I promise it won't be a month lol

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter...although Draco would be nice ;)

Chapter 12

Family Reactions

Ron sat numbed by the news Dumbledore has just told him and the rest of the Weasely clan. He couldn't, no wouldn't believe what he'd just heard. He looked around the cluttered room as he tried to block out the sounds of his mother's wails and the low murmur of the conversation between Dumbledore and his father. He'd always known that Ginny was a bit...different from the rest of the family. But definitely not this bloody different. He tried not to look in the direction where Malfoy stood. Ever since he and his family had been called into Dumbledore's office, the rat hadn't said a word. Just stood there in a stony silence, his face impassive. Every so often though, he saw a muscle tick in Malfoy's jaw when Dumbledore mentioned Ginny's name.

"Are you going to tell them the rest of it?"

Ron was snapped out of his reverie as Draco finally decided to speak. He looked over to Dumbledore, who had gone quiet at the question shot at him. What the bloody hell else could they drop on them? Ginny having phoenix powers and being kidnapped by some psycho had been enough. Ron had a sinking feeling in his stomach, signaling that the next thing that would be dropped on them would be much worse than Dumbledore was letting on. He turned to Draco and inaudibly gasped. His appearance had...changed to say the least. Gone were the stormy liquid mercury eyes and platinum blonde hair. In their place, dark blue and black locks grazed Malfoy's shoulders and electric black eyes glaring at Dumbledore. Ron shivered as the air in the room suddenly dropped a few degrees.

"I was just getting to that Mr. Malfoy, thank you. I'm afraid there is more news concerning your daughter Arthur. She not only has powers of the phoenix, but also she is the reincarnation of a young woman by the name of Genevieve. Young Mr. Malfoy here is a reincarnation of a young man by the name of Drake as well. Genevieve and Drake...were lovers and they fought together to bring down an evil lord by the name of Vittorio. He is the one that has Miss Weasely at this very moment."

The room was utterly silent as the impact of Dumbledore's words hit every person in the room. Ron could literally hear the jaws dropping from his parents and his siblings. Ginny, his little baby sister was a reincarnation, and worse, a reincarnation that had been lovers with Draco's reincarnation. Ron looked over to Malfoy who had resumed his stony silence. His eyes were virtually impossible to read as well as his face. He stood in the corner stiff, hands crossed over his chest, feet slightly apart, as if he were waiting for an attack.

"What can we do to help Professor Dumbledore?"

Professor Dumbledore looked over in surprise to Ron. Gone was the merry twinkle in his eye, and in its place a sort of sadness, as if he expected the worse to happen. Ron felt his heart sink in his chest, but held firm to his question.

"Professor?"

"I'm afraid there's nothing that you or your family can do to help Miss Weasely. It is solely in the hands of Mr. Malfoy here."

Ron felt his begin to boil. They couldn't help Ginny, but that...that Deatheather could. Knowing Malfoy, he'd probably kill Ginny just for the pleasure of it, and then come back to kill them all. He couldn't allow that to happen. He didn't trust Malfoy no matter how much Ginny cared for him.

"NO! He's a...a Deatheater! You can't allow him to go after Ginny. He'll kill her and then try and pretend that he'd done all he could. He's probably in a league with that...freak!"

Ron was so caught up in his rant he missed the pale blur that moved over to where he was sitting. Strong hands grabbed him around the throat and threw him against the wall. He felt himself being lifted once again

as he struggled to keep conscious.

"You listen to me, you insignificant little shit. You've never cared for Virginia, none of you have. You've looked over her, ignored her, and made her feel as if she were nothing in the world. And now...now that she's in danger all of you assholes want to pretend that you actually care for her. I'll be damned if I'm going to let you bloody hypocrites go and try and play the hero. You treated that bloody Potter and mudblood bitch Granger more like family than your own! I'm going to save Ginny and I want none of your help. And just for the record Weasel, I'm not a bloody Deatheather."

With that, Draco stormed back over to where he first was standing and resumed his stiff stance. Ron rubbed his sore throat and pushed himself against the wall. He looked over to his family as the words of Malfoy washed over him. Malfoy was right, none of them had ever cared for Ginny. His mum was sniffling quietly as the rest of his family hung their heads down in shame. Ron vowed to himself that if...no not if, but when Malfoy got his sister back, he'd be on his knees begging for her forgiveness and making up for bloody lost time.

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Ginny welcomed the blissful numbness that hid her from the pain she'd experience in the past few hours. She tried to move her arms, but as her exposed skin touched the vines holding her, she drew back sharply in pain.

Venissura, she thought to herself. She'd read many books about the poisonous leaf that could kill her kind. It would feed off of her powers until she slowly became drained and then it would begin to inject the poison that would essentially lead to her death. Ginny felt hot tears roll down her cheeks as she thought of Draco, and how she'd never told him how she felt about him. She thought of her family, and how much she'd miss them no matter how they'd never paid any attention to her or her feelings. A noise from her left had her looking up quickly.

"How sssweet. The little phoenix is crying over her lossst lover and family. I ssshall ssson lessen your pain little flame. Ssshall I tell you how? I sssee your head sshaking, but I'll tell you anyhow. I'm going to make you watch your dark prince die. I'm going to make you watch as I torture him until he begsss me to take his life. And then, I'm going to kill you ssslowly. I'm going to pay you back for that knife would ssso long ago."

"Shut up, you bloody bastard! You'll do no such thing because Draco will kill you. He'll tear your apart piece by bloody piece until you beg him to grant you death."

Vittorio laughed and walked slowly over to her. Ginny flinched as his cold fingers brushed across her cheek. She tried to move her legs to kick him, but only screamed in pain as the Venissura touched her bare skin. He laughed again and motioned to two figures in a dark corner. Ginny closed her eyes in defeat as she saw the weapons they held in their hands. Her screams bounced off the dark walls, but no one could hear her.

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Draco watched as the last of the Weasely family was ushered out of Dumbledore's office. His earlier outburst at Ginny's stupid git of a brother had been justified. Of all the nerve to even insinuate that he would ever lift a finger to harm Ginny.

But, they don't know how you truly feel about her, he thought to himself. As he'd been doing for the last few hours, Draco mentally degraded himself for never telling Ginny his true feelings for her. He'd known after that kiss they'd almost had, that there were strong feelings for her inside his heart. He'd been surprised initially since he grew up in a household devoid of any sort of emotion except for intense hatred for towards his father. He loved his mother, as she'd often tended to him after many of Lucius's outbursts, but she was a reserved woman.

And no wonder, he thought, that bastard did everything he could to break Mother. Draco was ripped out of his thoughts as he heard the door close and Dumbledore turned to face him. He kept his face impassive as he looked at the old man. He looked worn out, his eyes no longer held the twinkle usually in them.

"Are you ready, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I am."

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A/N: Okay, that's it for this chapter, and I promise that it won't be a month before the next update lol Thanksgiving break is coming up soon, so I'll have time to get these chapters out quicker. :) Okay, so you all know the drill. Read, review, and always enjoy :)