Truth's Coldness
Finally, the house names will be revealed in context with the story, and also the mystery of the last chapter. This chapter includes the start of the first day at the new school *cheers loudly*. After all, it is my creation, and it's lots of fun to make up!
As soon as we attack the transport, kill the girl. Your father.
No matter how hard he tried, Draco could not banish the words from his head. They tortured him continually, jeering him cruelly. It was worse than being called a coward to his face.
It was night now, and Draco was trying desperately to fall asleep. With sleep, relief might come. But fate would not let him come off so easily.
Groaning, Draco turned over in his bed, which was still hovering close to the ceiling. The boys he shared the dormitory with were all fast asleep.
He sighed, going over everything in his head. After he had translated the brief note, the very first emotion he had felt was confusion. Attack the transport? Kill the girl? What on earth did it all mean?
But in the next second, realization had dawned on him. This letter was supposed to have been delivered to him- well, probably at Platform 9¾, or at least while he was getting into the Sedes Aeris. But for some mysterious reason, his eagle owl had not managed to reach him till a few hours ago.
Obviously, the shaking and the lights going out had meant the attack of the Death Eaters. And at that moment, they had wanted him to kill Ginny.
The very next feeling he had experienced had been, of all things, an immense relief. He had been relieved that the note had come too late, because THAT meant he had the perfect excuse for not having killed her.
He could imagine the situation perfectly, as if he was watching through the eyes of another person. The Sedes Aeris was shaking like mad, and the lights had gone out. The girl with the fiery red hair was screaming in a panicked way, but the tall blond boy was prepared. He yanked his wand out of his pocket and pointed it in the direction the screams were coming from. His grey eyes were clouded over, as if he didn't know what he was doing, and his mouth opened to say the fateful curse. But it did not come.
One could just see that a numbness had been residing over the boy, but suddenly a part of him -and Draco knew EXACTLY which part- thawed out, and was yelling desperately for him to spare the girl. The boy started trembling, his face contorted itself with the inner conflict he was fighting, and then his shaking hand dropped the wand. The warm part he had not known existed in him had won the battle. He knew it was hopeless. He could not kill her.
Draco stared into the dark. How could he go so much against everything he had been brought up to? As far as he could remember, the first lesson his father had taught him had been not to commit himself to emotions. And now he knew with deadly accuracy that the emotions he had committed himself to were so strong that he couldn't even obey one of his father's orders.
At first he had tried to reassure himself. After all, he had never killed anyone before, and it was natural to be a bit hesitant when it came to the first time. Besides, what possible good would killing Ginny do his father, or Voldemort? He had told himself that he was just flinching from it because he didn't even know the facts.
But now, lying awake at night, he knew he couldn't hide behind that lame excuse. So there were only two possible explanations for his passionate relief- and both of them were against the entire Malfoy tradition.
The first theory was that he was a coward. Draco was almost sick at that thought. He couldn't bear to see himself as a weak little fool who crept away as soon as he got some real responsibility- and was over the moon when it was taken from him in a way so he could not be blamed.
But the nausea that came with admitting he was a coward was nothing to the icy fear which gripped him when he thought of the only other explanation there was.
The second theory was that he cared enough for Ginny Weasley to do anything to prevent her death.
********************
There was a haze all around Ginny. But then, the haze floated off, leaving behind only darkness. She was leaning against somebody, and her head throbbed repeatedly.
The someone who was holding her suddenly held something warm and soft against her head, where she could feel the sticky moisture of blood trickling down.
Without thinking, she whispered the first thing that came into her head: 'Harry?'
The second after she had, she knew that couldn't be right. Even though having Harry Potter around had always made her feel protected, this sensation of tenderness was new.
'No', a voice replied curtly. She could hear annoyance in it, and recognized it before the person spoke again. 'It's Draco.'
Ginny smiled, feeling safe and cared for. It was Draco, who would never do anything to hurt her. She should have guessed.
Draco's fingers brushed her lips in a caressing way. It made her glow inside with the fire of a dragon. Well, that's what his name was, actually.
'Draco. Means dragon in Latin, doesn't it?' she mused, more to herself than anyone. His touch continued to send fire through her, and she relaxed, enjoying it.
'Yeah, it does.' Draco answered. 'My dad named me that because he wanted something that sounded imposing, and meant something like that in Latin, too.' His voice grew hard. 'Pity I never lived up to his expectations of me.'
A wave of compassion went through Ginny, and she tried to make Draco feel it too. The reason he didn't fulfil Lucius' expectations was because he wasn't a real Malfoy. he was so much more than that.
Suddenly, his fingers left her lips, which turned cold immediately. It was as though she could feel that Draco was mentally distancing himself from her, and in his place would come pain and insecurity. She tried to reach out to him, to touch his face, but it was too much effort in her weakened state.
'Don't leave me, Draco', Ginny groaned piteously. She needed him. How could she make him stay?
'Draco, you're-' she stopped, not finding the words to finish her sentence. A bit of warmth seeped into her as she felt Draco leaning over her, his eagerness apparent.
'Yes?'
But at that moment, there was a loud commotion, Draco got up quickly, and suddenly there were a lot of people in the room. One of them was at her side, and put a flask to her lips.
Then grey fog enveloped her again, and suddenly she knew that she was leaving Draco, but she could do nothing to stop it happening.
Ginny's eyes snapped open, and she lay in her bed, breathing heavily, and staring unseeingly into the darkness of her dormitory.
***********************
It was no use. He was definitely not going to get any sleep tonight, Draco thought wearily. Which meant he was going to be stupid and clumsy the next day- his first day at the new school.
He sat up and strained to make out the dark shapes that were the other beds in the dormitory. Maybe one of his room mates was still awake? After all, any company right now would be better than being forced to think about the day's horrible events.
When he caught sight of something glowing bright red in the direction of his trunk, he changed his mind. Not exactly ANY company.
Still, he couldn't ignore the persistent glow, so he reluctantly picked up his wand from the side of the hovering bed, and gently floated down. He could just make out his open trunk in the night's darkness.
Snatching up the portable Apparating Receiver his father had entrusted him with, a very powerful and illegal Dark artefact, Draco quickly sat down in one of the armchairs that the students used to move from room to room. In a second, the dormitory vanished in front of his eyes, and was replaced by a long, dimly lit room which Draco recognized as the one adjoining the Arx Aurea's Great Hall, which was, as before, littered with couches and chairs of all sizes.
Draco surveyed it critically. He wasn't sure if this was a safe place to receive his father- or even Voldemort, you could never know which one it was- but getting to another room might take too long. Most likely whoever wanted to see him was livid with impatience already.
After using a quick Sealing Charm, that would not hold long against a wizard, but would at least ensure that he could leave before anybody came in, he set the thin black disc from which the red light was coming on the tiled floor, and then switched the resistance off by muttering a counter spell.
Immediately, the forbidding figure of Lucius Malfoy appeared on the disc. His hard eyes took in the whole room at a glance; the suggestion of a sneer hung about his lips. Then he turned to his son.
'Well, Draco? Is it true your eagle owl was delayed, and you received the message too late?' he questioned in the tone of one baiting for information.
While his father had been looking around, Draco had used the opportunity to harden his face into a stone mask, so that NOTHING could betray him. Now he answered with characteristic Malfoy ease.
'Well, obviously. The Weasley is still alive, isn't she? Scipio came to me looking like a real wreck, sometime after we had arrived here. He must have gotten into some trouble,' he said carelessly.
Lucius snarled. 'I had hoped it was just a rumour,' he muttered to himself. 'My own son, unable to carry out a simple command.'
Draco, who had crossed his arms in front of him, drove his nails deeply into the folds of the cloak he had thrown over himself before leaving the room. That was exactly what he had thought of himself at first. But his father wasn't supposed to know that.
'Your incapable son,' he coolly interrupted Lucius' conversation with himself, 'unfortunately had no idea he was supposed to commit a murder for you. Ability had nothing to do with it.'
Then, as his father just stared coldly at him, Draco asked as harmlessly as he could: 'Why kill her, anyway?'
Watching closely out of the corner of his eye, while appearing very busy in rearranging his cloak around his shoulders, he saw Lucius' eyes flash dangerously.
'Because now someone knows you, and your reputation,' he informed him harshly. When Draco glanced quizzically at him, he slapped him across the face.
'Wake up, boy! Your Malfoy name instantly connects you to Lord Voldemort and the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. But here-' he waved a hand at the otherwise deserted room, 'nobody has ever heard the name Malfoy. They have no idea of your, and especially my position in things. So if you get any letters, or other things sent to you, nobody will be suspicious.' His face hardened. 'Nobody, except- little Ginny Weasley.'
Now Draco understood. Ginny might tell all the rumours that had been told about him to her new friends at the Arx Aurea, and since this was a 'strictly no Dark Arts' school, everybody would be watchful of him, and get suspicious when anything in the least out of the ordinary happened. But as just a new kid from the famous Hogwarts, nobody would see him as a threat. They seemed to be very lax about security here.
So Ginny had to be killed. But he could not kill her. The detest he felt for the part of him that refused to let him do it was so overwhelming he was afraid his father might notice. But Lucius Malfoy was brooding, his eyes fixed on a specific point in the distance.
Draco glanced at him impatiently, yearning for him to leave. His stone mask was cracking, and he wasn't sure how long it would still hold. He had never kept any big secret from his father before, and he wasn't used to hiding anything from his innate gaze.
'She must be destroyed. or threatened into not speaking,' Lucius Malfoy was talking to himself. 'But you can't kill any human in this school, most unfortunately. It would have been so convenient to do it in the transport.' he trailed off.
'Draco!' He snapped, turning on his son. 'Find out if you ever get to leave the grounds of this school. And until you do, try threatening the Weasley girl so she won't tell anyone of your reputation.'
Hopelessness struck him, and rendered him immobile for a second. How on earth was he supposed to keep out of Ginny's way, when he had this new instruction to threaten her? He was sure Lucius would be able to see his despair, so he quickly bent his head in a subservient way and answered steadily, his eyes staring holes into the floor: 'Yes, father.'
As soon as he sensed his father had left, Draco flung himself onto the cold floor, breathing raggedly and trying to control the twisting pain inside him. No matter how he tried to cover up the fact, sooner or later he would have to kill Ginny. And he knew he couldn't.
**********************
The dream haunted Ginny through the rest of her sleepless night. She knew she was supposed to rest as much as possible before the big day tomorrow, but the vivid pictures that kept imprinting themselves on her mind wouldn't let her.
Over and over again, she felt Draco's fingers on her lips, the warmth of his body beside her, and the protecting ring that she had felt enclosing them both.
HOW? Ginny involuntarily touched the thin scar on her temple. Why had she not been alarmed to find herself in her enemy's arms? And how could it be merely a dream, when she had gone through the situation just a few hours before?
That was what haunted her most. She had never dreamed like this before. She remembered what had happened just before the dream, and just after it. It fit right in the time when she had been unconscious.
A shiver stole across her back. Had she really said those things? Had everything in the dream truly happened, when she had been not consciously there? Including- she felt her lips burn at the thought -including Draco's touch? And his reassurances?
While she was still trying to calm herself, a new, even more frightening question had struck her, with such force she felt dizzy for a moment.
How would she have finished the sentence she had started?
*******************************
Finally the morning sunlight bounded joyously into the dormitory through the huge windows. Draco was relieved to see it, but he still felt too drained and exhausted to get up. He had been dead tired for the last few hours before dawn, but sleep had still been out of the question, much as he had prayed for it.
He was even more relieved when another of the guys he was sharing the room with started to stir. Finally something to get his mind off everything that had happened.
The boy who sat up, looking tousled and sleepy, was the one Draco had sat next to in Great Hall. Not the little one with the straw-blond hair, he was pleased to see, but the tall dark-haired one.
He rubbed his eyes and caught sight of Draco, fully dressed, who was sitting on the bed opposite his. Draco raised one eyebrow in greeting.
'Hey,' the boy said warily. His dark eyes wandered over Draco in mild surprise. 'You in a hurry or something?'
Draco shrugged. This person didn't need to know that he had done everything he could think of to distract himself. 'What's your name?' he asked instead.
'Jason Asper,' the boy introduced himself. He threw his room mate a glance that could have been admiring. 'It's nothing as cool a name as yours,' he added.
Draco raised his eyebrow again. 'Do you even know Latin?'
Jason laughed rather bitterly. 'I may almost flunk every Latin exam we get, but I do know that draco is dragon.'
Now Draco was interested. 'You get Latin as a regular subject?' he asked, amazed. Maybe this school wasn't quite so bad after all.
Jason nodded glumly. All the time this conversation had been going on, he had been getting down from his bed in the air, and dressing in his school robes, which were identical to Draco's.
Draco, with the help of his wand, also floated down onto the carpeted floor. Jason seemed to be an OK guy. At least he didn't talk too much.
At that moment, a groan was heard, and another head popped up over the edge of the bed.
'Hi!' It said cheerfully. 'It' was a sleepy-eyed boy with a shock of red hair that reminded Draco uncannily of Ron Weasley's, except that it was lighter. He jumped out of bed and landed with surprising ease, considering the height.
'You're Draco Malfoy from Hogwarts, aren't you?' he asked nonchalantly.
Draco nodded briefly, already turning back to Jason. 'When do they serve breakfast here?' he asked, since he was ravenous.
'Right now,' Jason grinned. 'Come on, let's go.'
***********************
Ginny, who was admiring herself in the school robes in one of the dormitory's full-length mirror, caught a black look from Natasha Sarcer, who was just about to leave for breakfast.
'Hey, Rachel,' she called out, suddenly remembering something. 'Why did Natasha say I was supposed to be in Liberalitas, instead of Fortuna?'
Rachel, who was in the middle of a pillow fight with Vanessa, answered breathlessly: 'You shouldn't take anything Natasha says too seriously, she's just- Vanessa Leat! That was my stomach!'
Shaking her head, Ginny turned back to the mirror. Sometimes Rachel could be childish.
The girl who had introduced herself as Tiffany the night before joined her. She looked older than the other girls.
'Hi, Ginny. I heard you haven't ever had any Latin classes?' It was a question, not a statement.
'Well, we didn't have any Latin at Hogwarts, and I never learnt any at home,' Ginny told her, feeling worried. She didn't like the idea of working like crazy at a subject everybody else could do.
Tiffany smiled reassuringly. 'Don't worry about it. But I thought as much. You don't know what Liberalitas means in English, do you?'
And as Ginny shook her head, she added: 'OK, then I'll explain all the Latin house names for you. But first, we'd better go down and get breakfast.'
Ginny learned the names on their journey on a big golden armchair from the dormitory to the Intersection, as Tiffany called the room next to Great Hall.
'Now, first of all, there's Liberalitas. Everybody always starts with that one; probably because it's the top left section of the diamond. Liberalitas simply means kindness. Next is Forma, which is the Latin for beauty or figure. It's the top right part. Beneath it is Disciplina- that's lesson, or discipline, of course. And the bottom left is Fortitudo. Translated, it's strength or bravery. Last of all is Fortuna,' Tiffany said dramatically, while they were entering Great Hall.
'And what does Fortuna mean?' Ginny asked curiously. She wondered what would fit to both her and Draco Malfoy.
The other girl looked mysterious. She led Ginny over to the Fortuna table and sat down at one end of it.
'That one's kind of a mystery. Normally, when you look it up in a dictionary or ask a teacher, they say the definition is fate or fortune. But somehow, everybody always refers to the Fortuna students as 'the chosen ones'. I think that's its real meaning- 'chosen'. But anyhow,' she added in a more cheerful tone, 'every house also has its own colour, which is shown in the lining of the school robes.'
'So Fortuna's colour is silver,' Ginny prompted. 'What about the others?'
'Oh, Liberalitas is yellow, Forma is red, Disciplina is purple -most of the guys are so embarrassed about that- and Fortitudo is blue. Breakfast!' she exclaimed, gazing delightedly at the huge platter of what to Ginny was unmistakably pancakes with butter and syrup.
While they were busy eating, Rachel came to their table. At first, Ginny didn't even notice, for close behind her was a dark-haired, serious- looking guy and- Draco.
Just the sight of him made her painfully aware of how cold her lips were, and for a second she yearned to have the dream she had dismissed as a nightmare back. But only for a second. After that, the ugly feeling of disloyalty to her family and tradition churned in her stomach, and she dropped her gaze quickly.
'Ginny! Hey, Ginny?' Rachel had to shake her shoulder to get her attention.
Ginny breathed in quickly, hoping nobody had seen her looking at Draco. THAT would have been too hard to explain.
'Sorry, Rachel, what is it?' she asked, feeling that the flush that had been born of the unlawful dream and her anger was very apparent.
'Your timetable.' Rachel tossed back her blond curls and handed her the scrap of parchment.
'Oh! Thanks,' Ginny said, eagerly picking it up. She couldn't wait to see her subjects.
'Today's Tuesday, so we get. Flying first!' she exclaimed, examining the timetable carefully.
'Yeah. we'll probably be auditioning for the Quidditch team.' Rachel remarked, sighing obviously. 'I always hope I'll get in, but that would be like a miracle. You any good at it?'
Ginny shook her head. Although all her brothers were ultimate Quidditch fans, and she really enjoyed flying, she couldn't say she possessed any particular talent for it.
Tiffany snorted. 'Well, you have to be really pretty top at it if you want to be picked for the team. They go in for international competitions, so they can't afford to have any player who isn't one of the best.'
Suddenly Amy, who had been talking to another girl, leaned across the table and grinned mischievously at Ginny.
'How about Draco Malfoy?' Her voice rang clearly across the table, and even at the other end, heads turned. But Amy's eyes were innocent as a lamb's.
Ginny could feel the blood rushing in her head. She was positive that a certain, good-looking guy with silver-blond hair and an annoying smirk had heard her, and was waiting, probably amused, for her answer. But what could she say?
'Well, he was on his house team at Hogwarts,' she said carefully, not wanting to say anything that could be used against her.
'But how good is he? Tell me,' Amy demanded, twisting her lips into a smile.
Infuriated by this, Ginny answered without thinking: 'Not as good as Harry Potter, you can count on that.'
The second the angry words had left her lips she regretted them. Draco would be furious, because if one thing mattered to him, then it was his pride. And what she had said would cut his pride deeply.
Not wanting to look into Amy's satisfied face, she turned her head away quickly to one side, gazing unblinkingly down the length of the table.
One pair of eyes connected with hers. And when Ginny saw the dark loathing in them, she felt sick with shame. Her head swam, tears began to glaze up her wide brown eyes, and her body felt on fire. The only thing she could see was what had happened in her dream, over and over again.
Then, blackness crashed over her pounding head and she let herself slip to the floor, losing more of her consciousness all the time. This time, she welcomed it, for it allowed her to escape truth's coldness, even if it was just for a short while.
But it could not last, and she knew that.
************************
Definitely a weird place to stop. I know, all of you are going to complain about the fact that Ginny's always fainting. It's to do with something in the story that will be shown fully way later. probably at the end. So, don't think she's totally weak or anything, it's just something else happening to her. And I know Draco's being pretty emotional in here. but the problem is that he's never had emotions like this, so he doesn't know how to deal with them. Sorry if he's too soft. (S.J.: Draco! Toughen up! You're making me look bad!) Also, about the Latin words: the definitions may vary from book to book. This is the way they're in my Latin book, so that's how I'm putting them down. And Fortuna doesn't really mean chosen, but it's important for the story.
Positive (or even negative) criticism would be very much appreciated. Thanks to all these who have given their opinion:
Shiann- Oh, glad you like my school. You wouldn't believe how much fun it is to make up!
Sneef22- well, this came out so late, you probably don't know it exists anymore
Cloudzi- yea, I'm really sorry about that. I've put in the house names, but update faster and make the chapters longer is pretty much impossible in my situation. thanx for reviewing!
Gin the Gemini- yup, Draco's too soft for my taste, too, I like him really tough. Hm, that's an interesting question. No, I don't think guys usually talk about that kind of stuff. God, I don't know what the food REALLY is. Some health food, probably. *g*
Mage of Fire- Honestly? *looks around, scared* Oooops, I hadn't noticed. I can see what you mean though. I'll try to put some ugly people in, k?
AmethystClown- Well, I just take everything crazy I ever thought of and mix it all up, and the result is the Arx Aurea. Thanks for the compliments, btw!
elen- I love Draco too. I mean, who doesn't?
Nikki- *gulp* please forgive me for not updating quickly. I had no idea somebody actually would consider putting me on their fave list. I'm really honoured!
A13TAT- this wasn't a cliffie, right? And don't say you suck, cuz you know it's not true. Nobody really does. (except me, maybe)
The Dark Lady Adrienne- yeah, you're lucky there! If I need help, I'll definitely call on you! And thanx for the compliments.
jenn- YES! I explained! Right?
Arafel- I wouldn't call this soon. but thanks for reviewing twice!
Rachel- You like my cliffhanger? Wow, that's something new! Nearly everybody is ready to kill me for it. And, yup, sooner or later it will come out why they're both in the same house.
depth- no fair! Don't be so nice to me, I'll get conceited!
Now, I wonder what cuty-cat's opinion is. Hm, maybe I don't want to know. Anyway, thanks for reading this and pointing out mistakes, stupid things, etc. I O U!
Shooting Jewel
Finally, the house names will be revealed in context with the story, and also the mystery of the last chapter. This chapter includes the start of the first day at the new school *cheers loudly*. After all, it is my creation, and it's lots of fun to make up!
As soon as we attack the transport, kill the girl. Your father.
No matter how hard he tried, Draco could not banish the words from his head. They tortured him continually, jeering him cruelly. It was worse than being called a coward to his face.
It was night now, and Draco was trying desperately to fall asleep. With sleep, relief might come. But fate would not let him come off so easily.
Groaning, Draco turned over in his bed, which was still hovering close to the ceiling. The boys he shared the dormitory with were all fast asleep.
He sighed, going over everything in his head. After he had translated the brief note, the very first emotion he had felt was confusion. Attack the transport? Kill the girl? What on earth did it all mean?
But in the next second, realization had dawned on him. This letter was supposed to have been delivered to him- well, probably at Platform 9¾, or at least while he was getting into the Sedes Aeris. But for some mysterious reason, his eagle owl had not managed to reach him till a few hours ago.
Obviously, the shaking and the lights going out had meant the attack of the Death Eaters. And at that moment, they had wanted him to kill Ginny.
The very next feeling he had experienced had been, of all things, an immense relief. He had been relieved that the note had come too late, because THAT meant he had the perfect excuse for not having killed her.
He could imagine the situation perfectly, as if he was watching through the eyes of another person. The Sedes Aeris was shaking like mad, and the lights had gone out. The girl with the fiery red hair was screaming in a panicked way, but the tall blond boy was prepared. He yanked his wand out of his pocket and pointed it in the direction the screams were coming from. His grey eyes were clouded over, as if he didn't know what he was doing, and his mouth opened to say the fateful curse. But it did not come.
One could just see that a numbness had been residing over the boy, but suddenly a part of him -and Draco knew EXACTLY which part- thawed out, and was yelling desperately for him to spare the girl. The boy started trembling, his face contorted itself with the inner conflict he was fighting, and then his shaking hand dropped the wand. The warm part he had not known existed in him had won the battle. He knew it was hopeless. He could not kill her.
Draco stared into the dark. How could he go so much against everything he had been brought up to? As far as he could remember, the first lesson his father had taught him had been not to commit himself to emotions. And now he knew with deadly accuracy that the emotions he had committed himself to were so strong that he couldn't even obey one of his father's orders.
At first he had tried to reassure himself. After all, he had never killed anyone before, and it was natural to be a bit hesitant when it came to the first time. Besides, what possible good would killing Ginny do his father, or Voldemort? He had told himself that he was just flinching from it because he didn't even know the facts.
But now, lying awake at night, he knew he couldn't hide behind that lame excuse. So there were only two possible explanations for his passionate relief- and both of them were against the entire Malfoy tradition.
The first theory was that he was a coward. Draco was almost sick at that thought. He couldn't bear to see himself as a weak little fool who crept away as soon as he got some real responsibility- and was over the moon when it was taken from him in a way so he could not be blamed.
But the nausea that came with admitting he was a coward was nothing to the icy fear which gripped him when he thought of the only other explanation there was.
The second theory was that he cared enough for Ginny Weasley to do anything to prevent her death.
********************
There was a haze all around Ginny. But then, the haze floated off, leaving behind only darkness. She was leaning against somebody, and her head throbbed repeatedly.
The someone who was holding her suddenly held something warm and soft against her head, where she could feel the sticky moisture of blood trickling down.
Without thinking, she whispered the first thing that came into her head: 'Harry?'
The second after she had, she knew that couldn't be right. Even though having Harry Potter around had always made her feel protected, this sensation of tenderness was new.
'No', a voice replied curtly. She could hear annoyance in it, and recognized it before the person spoke again. 'It's Draco.'
Ginny smiled, feeling safe and cared for. It was Draco, who would never do anything to hurt her. She should have guessed.
Draco's fingers brushed her lips in a caressing way. It made her glow inside with the fire of a dragon. Well, that's what his name was, actually.
'Draco. Means dragon in Latin, doesn't it?' she mused, more to herself than anyone. His touch continued to send fire through her, and she relaxed, enjoying it.
'Yeah, it does.' Draco answered. 'My dad named me that because he wanted something that sounded imposing, and meant something like that in Latin, too.' His voice grew hard. 'Pity I never lived up to his expectations of me.'
A wave of compassion went through Ginny, and she tried to make Draco feel it too. The reason he didn't fulfil Lucius' expectations was because he wasn't a real Malfoy. he was so much more than that.
Suddenly, his fingers left her lips, which turned cold immediately. It was as though she could feel that Draco was mentally distancing himself from her, and in his place would come pain and insecurity. She tried to reach out to him, to touch his face, but it was too much effort in her weakened state.
'Don't leave me, Draco', Ginny groaned piteously. She needed him. How could she make him stay?
'Draco, you're-' she stopped, not finding the words to finish her sentence. A bit of warmth seeped into her as she felt Draco leaning over her, his eagerness apparent.
'Yes?'
But at that moment, there was a loud commotion, Draco got up quickly, and suddenly there were a lot of people in the room. One of them was at her side, and put a flask to her lips.
Then grey fog enveloped her again, and suddenly she knew that she was leaving Draco, but she could do nothing to stop it happening.
Ginny's eyes snapped open, and she lay in her bed, breathing heavily, and staring unseeingly into the darkness of her dormitory.
***********************
It was no use. He was definitely not going to get any sleep tonight, Draco thought wearily. Which meant he was going to be stupid and clumsy the next day- his first day at the new school.
He sat up and strained to make out the dark shapes that were the other beds in the dormitory. Maybe one of his room mates was still awake? After all, any company right now would be better than being forced to think about the day's horrible events.
When he caught sight of something glowing bright red in the direction of his trunk, he changed his mind. Not exactly ANY company.
Still, he couldn't ignore the persistent glow, so he reluctantly picked up his wand from the side of the hovering bed, and gently floated down. He could just make out his open trunk in the night's darkness.
Snatching up the portable Apparating Receiver his father had entrusted him with, a very powerful and illegal Dark artefact, Draco quickly sat down in one of the armchairs that the students used to move from room to room. In a second, the dormitory vanished in front of his eyes, and was replaced by a long, dimly lit room which Draco recognized as the one adjoining the Arx Aurea's Great Hall, which was, as before, littered with couches and chairs of all sizes.
Draco surveyed it critically. He wasn't sure if this was a safe place to receive his father- or even Voldemort, you could never know which one it was- but getting to another room might take too long. Most likely whoever wanted to see him was livid with impatience already.
After using a quick Sealing Charm, that would not hold long against a wizard, but would at least ensure that he could leave before anybody came in, he set the thin black disc from which the red light was coming on the tiled floor, and then switched the resistance off by muttering a counter spell.
Immediately, the forbidding figure of Lucius Malfoy appeared on the disc. His hard eyes took in the whole room at a glance; the suggestion of a sneer hung about his lips. Then he turned to his son.
'Well, Draco? Is it true your eagle owl was delayed, and you received the message too late?' he questioned in the tone of one baiting for information.
While his father had been looking around, Draco had used the opportunity to harden his face into a stone mask, so that NOTHING could betray him. Now he answered with characteristic Malfoy ease.
'Well, obviously. The Weasley is still alive, isn't she? Scipio came to me looking like a real wreck, sometime after we had arrived here. He must have gotten into some trouble,' he said carelessly.
Lucius snarled. 'I had hoped it was just a rumour,' he muttered to himself. 'My own son, unable to carry out a simple command.'
Draco, who had crossed his arms in front of him, drove his nails deeply into the folds of the cloak he had thrown over himself before leaving the room. That was exactly what he had thought of himself at first. But his father wasn't supposed to know that.
'Your incapable son,' he coolly interrupted Lucius' conversation with himself, 'unfortunately had no idea he was supposed to commit a murder for you. Ability had nothing to do with it.'
Then, as his father just stared coldly at him, Draco asked as harmlessly as he could: 'Why kill her, anyway?'
Watching closely out of the corner of his eye, while appearing very busy in rearranging his cloak around his shoulders, he saw Lucius' eyes flash dangerously.
'Because now someone knows you, and your reputation,' he informed him harshly. When Draco glanced quizzically at him, he slapped him across the face.
'Wake up, boy! Your Malfoy name instantly connects you to Lord Voldemort and the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. But here-' he waved a hand at the otherwise deserted room, 'nobody has ever heard the name Malfoy. They have no idea of your, and especially my position in things. So if you get any letters, or other things sent to you, nobody will be suspicious.' His face hardened. 'Nobody, except- little Ginny Weasley.'
Now Draco understood. Ginny might tell all the rumours that had been told about him to her new friends at the Arx Aurea, and since this was a 'strictly no Dark Arts' school, everybody would be watchful of him, and get suspicious when anything in the least out of the ordinary happened. But as just a new kid from the famous Hogwarts, nobody would see him as a threat. They seemed to be very lax about security here.
So Ginny had to be killed. But he could not kill her. The detest he felt for the part of him that refused to let him do it was so overwhelming he was afraid his father might notice. But Lucius Malfoy was brooding, his eyes fixed on a specific point in the distance.
Draco glanced at him impatiently, yearning for him to leave. His stone mask was cracking, and he wasn't sure how long it would still hold. He had never kept any big secret from his father before, and he wasn't used to hiding anything from his innate gaze.
'She must be destroyed. or threatened into not speaking,' Lucius Malfoy was talking to himself. 'But you can't kill any human in this school, most unfortunately. It would have been so convenient to do it in the transport.' he trailed off.
'Draco!' He snapped, turning on his son. 'Find out if you ever get to leave the grounds of this school. And until you do, try threatening the Weasley girl so she won't tell anyone of your reputation.'
Hopelessness struck him, and rendered him immobile for a second. How on earth was he supposed to keep out of Ginny's way, when he had this new instruction to threaten her? He was sure Lucius would be able to see his despair, so he quickly bent his head in a subservient way and answered steadily, his eyes staring holes into the floor: 'Yes, father.'
As soon as he sensed his father had left, Draco flung himself onto the cold floor, breathing raggedly and trying to control the twisting pain inside him. No matter how he tried to cover up the fact, sooner or later he would have to kill Ginny. And he knew he couldn't.
**********************
The dream haunted Ginny through the rest of her sleepless night. She knew she was supposed to rest as much as possible before the big day tomorrow, but the vivid pictures that kept imprinting themselves on her mind wouldn't let her.
Over and over again, she felt Draco's fingers on her lips, the warmth of his body beside her, and the protecting ring that she had felt enclosing them both.
HOW? Ginny involuntarily touched the thin scar on her temple. Why had she not been alarmed to find herself in her enemy's arms? And how could it be merely a dream, when she had gone through the situation just a few hours before?
That was what haunted her most. She had never dreamed like this before. She remembered what had happened just before the dream, and just after it. It fit right in the time when she had been unconscious.
A shiver stole across her back. Had she really said those things? Had everything in the dream truly happened, when she had been not consciously there? Including- she felt her lips burn at the thought -including Draco's touch? And his reassurances?
While she was still trying to calm herself, a new, even more frightening question had struck her, with such force she felt dizzy for a moment.
How would she have finished the sentence she had started?
*******************************
Finally the morning sunlight bounded joyously into the dormitory through the huge windows. Draco was relieved to see it, but he still felt too drained and exhausted to get up. He had been dead tired for the last few hours before dawn, but sleep had still been out of the question, much as he had prayed for it.
He was even more relieved when another of the guys he was sharing the room with started to stir. Finally something to get his mind off everything that had happened.
The boy who sat up, looking tousled and sleepy, was the one Draco had sat next to in Great Hall. Not the little one with the straw-blond hair, he was pleased to see, but the tall dark-haired one.
He rubbed his eyes and caught sight of Draco, fully dressed, who was sitting on the bed opposite his. Draco raised one eyebrow in greeting.
'Hey,' the boy said warily. His dark eyes wandered over Draco in mild surprise. 'You in a hurry or something?'
Draco shrugged. This person didn't need to know that he had done everything he could think of to distract himself. 'What's your name?' he asked instead.
'Jason Asper,' the boy introduced himself. He threw his room mate a glance that could have been admiring. 'It's nothing as cool a name as yours,' he added.
Draco raised his eyebrow again. 'Do you even know Latin?'
Jason laughed rather bitterly. 'I may almost flunk every Latin exam we get, but I do know that draco is dragon.'
Now Draco was interested. 'You get Latin as a regular subject?' he asked, amazed. Maybe this school wasn't quite so bad after all.
Jason nodded glumly. All the time this conversation had been going on, he had been getting down from his bed in the air, and dressing in his school robes, which were identical to Draco's.
Draco, with the help of his wand, also floated down onto the carpeted floor. Jason seemed to be an OK guy. At least he didn't talk too much.
At that moment, a groan was heard, and another head popped up over the edge of the bed.
'Hi!' It said cheerfully. 'It' was a sleepy-eyed boy with a shock of red hair that reminded Draco uncannily of Ron Weasley's, except that it was lighter. He jumped out of bed and landed with surprising ease, considering the height.
'You're Draco Malfoy from Hogwarts, aren't you?' he asked nonchalantly.
Draco nodded briefly, already turning back to Jason. 'When do they serve breakfast here?' he asked, since he was ravenous.
'Right now,' Jason grinned. 'Come on, let's go.'
***********************
Ginny, who was admiring herself in the school robes in one of the dormitory's full-length mirror, caught a black look from Natasha Sarcer, who was just about to leave for breakfast.
'Hey, Rachel,' she called out, suddenly remembering something. 'Why did Natasha say I was supposed to be in Liberalitas, instead of Fortuna?'
Rachel, who was in the middle of a pillow fight with Vanessa, answered breathlessly: 'You shouldn't take anything Natasha says too seriously, she's just- Vanessa Leat! That was my stomach!'
Shaking her head, Ginny turned back to the mirror. Sometimes Rachel could be childish.
The girl who had introduced herself as Tiffany the night before joined her. She looked older than the other girls.
'Hi, Ginny. I heard you haven't ever had any Latin classes?' It was a question, not a statement.
'Well, we didn't have any Latin at Hogwarts, and I never learnt any at home,' Ginny told her, feeling worried. She didn't like the idea of working like crazy at a subject everybody else could do.
Tiffany smiled reassuringly. 'Don't worry about it. But I thought as much. You don't know what Liberalitas means in English, do you?'
And as Ginny shook her head, she added: 'OK, then I'll explain all the Latin house names for you. But first, we'd better go down and get breakfast.'
Ginny learned the names on their journey on a big golden armchair from the dormitory to the Intersection, as Tiffany called the room next to Great Hall.
'Now, first of all, there's Liberalitas. Everybody always starts with that one; probably because it's the top left section of the diamond. Liberalitas simply means kindness. Next is Forma, which is the Latin for beauty or figure. It's the top right part. Beneath it is Disciplina- that's lesson, or discipline, of course. And the bottom left is Fortitudo. Translated, it's strength or bravery. Last of all is Fortuna,' Tiffany said dramatically, while they were entering Great Hall.
'And what does Fortuna mean?' Ginny asked curiously. She wondered what would fit to both her and Draco Malfoy.
The other girl looked mysterious. She led Ginny over to the Fortuna table and sat down at one end of it.
'That one's kind of a mystery. Normally, when you look it up in a dictionary or ask a teacher, they say the definition is fate or fortune. But somehow, everybody always refers to the Fortuna students as 'the chosen ones'. I think that's its real meaning- 'chosen'. But anyhow,' she added in a more cheerful tone, 'every house also has its own colour, which is shown in the lining of the school robes.'
'So Fortuna's colour is silver,' Ginny prompted. 'What about the others?'
'Oh, Liberalitas is yellow, Forma is red, Disciplina is purple -most of the guys are so embarrassed about that- and Fortitudo is blue. Breakfast!' she exclaimed, gazing delightedly at the huge platter of what to Ginny was unmistakably pancakes with butter and syrup.
While they were busy eating, Rachel came to their table. At first, Ginny didn't even notice, for close behind her was a dark-haired, serious- looking guy and- Draco.
Just the sight of him made her painfully aware of how cold her lips were, and for a second she yearned to have the dream she had dismissed as a nightmare back. But only for a second. After that, the ugly feeling of disloyalty to her family and tradition churned in her stomach, and she dropped her gaze quickly.
'Ginny! Hey, Ginny?' Rachel had to shake her shoulder to get her attention.
Ginny breathed in quickly, hoping nobody had seen her looking at Draco. THAT would have been too hard to explain.
'Sorry, Rachel, what is it?' she asked, feeling that the flush that had been born of the unlawful dream and her anger was very apparent.
'Your timetable.' Rachel tossed back her blond curls and handed her the scrap of parchment.
'Oh! Thanks,' Ginny said, eagerly picking it up. She couldn't wait to see her subjects.
'Today's Tuesday, so we get. Flying first!' she exclaimed, examining the timetable carefully.
'Yeah. we'll probably be auditioning for the Quidditch team.' Rachel remarked, sighing obviously. 'I always hope I'll get in, but that would be like a miracle. You any good at it?'
Ginny shook her head. Although all her brothers were ultimate Quidditch fans, and she really enjoyed flying, she couldn't say she possessed any particular talent for it.
Tiffany snorted. 'Well, you have to be really pretty top at it if you want to be picked for the team. They go in for international competitions, so they can't afford to have any player who isn't one of the best.'
Suddenly Amy, who had been talking to another girl, leaned across the table and grinned mischievously at Ginny.
'How about Draco Malfoy?' Her voice rang clearly across the table, and even at the other end, heads turned. But Amy's eyes were innocent as a lamb's.
Ginny could feel the blood rushing in her head. She was positive that a certain, good-looking guy with silver-blond hair and an annoying smirk had heard her, and was waiting, probably amused, for her answer. But what could she say?
'Well, he was on his house team at Hogwarts,' she said carefully, not wanting to say anything that could be used against her.
'But how good is he? Tell me,' Amy demanded, twisting her lips into a smile.
Infuriated by this, Ginny answered without thinking: 'Not as good as Harry Potter, you can count on that.'
The second the angry words had left her lips she regretted them. Draco would be furious, because if one thing mattered to him, then it was his pride. And what she had said would cut his pride deeply.
Not wanting to look into Amy's satisfied face, she turned her head away quickly to one side, gazing unblinkingly down the length of the table.
One pair of eyes connected with hers. And when Ginny saw the dark loathing in them, she felt sick with shame. Her head swam, tears began to glaze up her wide brown eyes, and her body felt on fire. The only thing she could see was what had happened in her dream, over and over again.
Then, blackness crashed over her pounding head and she let herself slip to the floor, losing more of her consciousness all the time. This time, she welcomed it, for it allowed her to escape truth's coldness, even if it was just for a short while.
But it could not last, and she knew that.
************************
Definitely a weird place to stop. I know, all of you are going to complain about the fact that Ginny's always fainting. It's to do with something in the story that will be shown fully way later. probably at the end. So, don't think she's totally weak or anything, it's just something else happening to her. And I know Draco's being pretty emotional in here. but the problem is that he's never had emotions like this, so he doesn't know how to deal with them. Sorry if he's too soft. (S.J.: Draco! Toughen up! You're making me look bad!) Also, about the Latin words: the definitions may vary from book to book. This is the way they're in my Latin book, so that's how I'm putting them down. And Fortuna doesn't really mean chosen, but it's important for the story.
Positive (or even negative) criticism would be very much appreciated. Thanks to all these who have given their opinion:
Shiann- Oh, glad you like my school. You wouldn't believe how much fun it is to make up!
Sneef22- well, this came out so late, you probably don't know it exists anymore
Cloudzi- yea, I'm really sorry about that. I've put in the house names, but update faster and make the chapters longer is pretty much impossible in my situation. thanx for reviewing!
Gin the Gemini- yup, Draco's too soft for my taste, too, I like him really tough. Hm, that's an interesting question. No, I don't think guys usually talk about that kind of stuff. God, I don't know what the food REALLY is. Some health food, probably. *g*
Mage of Fire- Honestly? *looks around, scared* Oooops, I hadn't noticed. I can see what you mean though. I'll try to put some ugly people in, k?
AmethystClown- Well, I just take everything crazy I ever thought of and mix it all up, and the result is the Arx Aurea. Thanks for the compliments, btw!
elen- I love Draco too. I mean, who doesn't?
Nikki- *gulp* please forgive me for not updating quickly. I had no idea somebody actually would consider putting me on their fave list. I'm really honoured!
A13TAT- this wasn't a cliffie, right? And don't say you suck, cuz you know it's not true. Nobody really does. (except me, maybe)
The Dark Lady Adrienne- yeah, you're lucky there! If I need help, I'll definitely call on you! And thanx for the compliments.
jenn- YES! I explained! Right?
Arafel- I wouldn't call this soon. but thanks for reviewing twice!
Rachel- You like my cliffhanger? Wow, that's something new! Nearly everybody is ready to kill me for it. And, yup, sooner or later it will come out why they're both in the same house.
depth- no fair! Don't be so nice to me, I'll get conceited!
Now, I wonder what cuty-cat's opinion is. Hm, maybe I don't want to know. Anyway, thanks for reading this and pointing out mistakes, stupid things, etc. I O U!
Shooting Jewel