Chapter 7

She arrived at the boundaries of the forest about 6:30, surprising seeing as she could have sworn it only took her maybe half an hour to get to the stream. Then again, her mind reasoned, you weren't hurt. She slowly nodded to herself but was unsatisfied. Surely...

She froze as she saw who was sitting under her tree; he who was the topic of her earlier thoughts.

Malfoy's silver hair shone in the sunlight, an unnatural color that Ginny had, until now, suspected of being dyed. His head was tipped up to the sun, his smoky eyes mirroring the clouds.

She stepped out of the shade and into the sun which lit up her hair like a torch, causing Malfoy's gaze to be drawn to her.

"Weasley." He acknowledged, his eyes only resting on her long enough to judge who she was.

"Malfoy." She said without much feeling. The trip through the forest had exhausted her and she wasn't up for a debate, nor was Lance around to protect her if Malfoy decided to hex her and she didn't quite think she had enough energy to protect herself.

She approached him and sank down wearily beside him a little ways away, there was no going in to Sanctuary till he left and somehow she didn't feel he was leaving any time soon.

"Leave me alone Weasel."

She ignored him and stared back into the dense shadows of the forest. Malfoy growled.

"Are you deaf as well as ugly? I said," She cut him off.

"I know what you said."

"Then move! Here I was having a good day until you had to show up and shove your freckled face into it!" She didn't say any more, just stared into the Forest. Some of the forest's calm must have rubbed off on me, she thought hazily.

"Weasley!"

"Shut up." He glared at her.

The silence stretched on, neither wanting to move, Ginny because she was to tired, and Malfoy because he did not want it to seem he was giving in and puzzled by her lack of response.

"Weasley, why the hell do you insist on staying here?" She didn't answer. "Answer me dammit." He jabbed her in the leg with an elbow, an unanticipated and certainly out of character bit of emotion. "Dammit Weasley!"

She looked at him in agony and immediately he knew something was wrong with this particular Weasley.

"Oh come off it! I didn't shove you that hard." She didn't answer, this time unable to. Her eyes rolled up, exposing the whites; she was unconscious.

"Oh damn." Malfoy got up, unsure of what to do. A real Malfoy would leave her there but he now found he couldn't do it.

Glaring and muttering under his breath he rolled her onto her back. He pulled off her robes and arched an eyebrow. He was mildly surprised at the wound the robes had been hiding. He smirked, so the Weasel had gotten in trouble. Now would be the perfect time to stalk off and begin telling everyone.

Malfoy walked a couple of yard before stopping. This was ridiculous! He could walk away and make her life hell...so why wasn't he doing it? He frowned crossly, and stalked over to the Weasel.

"You stupid bint. You'd better appreciate this." He heaved her into a fireman's lift, none to careful with her but to keep her blood from touching his clothes.

"Harry Potter." The whisper was right next to his ear.

"The-Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die, the Golden Boy, he did this to you..." His moment of triumph was cut off as a door opened in the tree he had been sitting under.

He looked at in veiled amazement, and stepped inside with his burden and set her in one of the room's chairs.

"What the hell..."

He kicked shut the door and set about exploring.

He wove in and out of each room until he came to the bathroom; there he gathered what he deemed was necessary to fix up Ginny's leg, then returned to her.

He found he awake and negotiating the steps to the Library.

"Here." He said gruffly and offered his arm.

She regarded it for a moment and then placed her hand in his. She stiffened as he hesitantly put his hand on her elbow but let him be.

They reached the couch in the Library without any mishaps and in complete silence. Her legs buckled and she fell onto the couch, only to find her head cushioned by Malfoy's hand.

"Undress." He said, watching with detached amusement as she balked.

"What the hell! No way!" She said this all with false bravado, her body limp as a rag doll.

"So I can attend to your wound." She glared at him.

"This is all very kind of you but I think I can manage." He raised an eyebrow; they both knew how false that was.

"Fine." He nodded to her, then turned and left.

Ginny frowned, she wondered how long he would keep her secret, but it didn't matter now. She straitened and bit back her tears; painfully she dragged her leg around to where it would support her when she stood.

Drawing a rattling breath, she stood, nearly screaming. Chest heaving and darkness crowding the edge of her vision, she hobbled a step then sinking to her knees. Crawling, she reached the stairwell and froze. Where was her wand? She could heal herself with it.

Letting herself lie on the ground, she feebly searched her pockets. ...wand...wand...wand...wand...wand...wand... She chanted in her head as she came up empty. If she didn't do something, she would die.

"Weasley?" The voice of Draco Malfoy sounded down stairs, definitely angry about something. "Weasley!" She could feel the vibrations of his feet coming up the stairs against her cheek on the floor. She moaned.

He burst in, coming to halt at her head.

"Oh hell." She couldn't agree more with his sentiments. What she didn't expect was for him to scoop her up, grunting, and deposit her on the couch.

"Listen, I'm going to stay here; they've already locked the doors." She nodded, her sight almost consumed by black.

"You need a..." His voice faded to a distant buzz and Ginny knew no more.

When Ginny was aware of what lay around her, it was clearly morning. She was on her own bed in her underwear and bra, only a dull ache in her reminding her of her wound.

She quickly went through her thoughts of the day before...arrow shaft...poison...forest...walking...Malfoy...MALFOY?! Her eyes flew open. Oh no...he hadn't...he wouldn't...Tom...

She thrashed about, knocking her sheets off onto the floor and ignoring the pain in her leg.

"What the hell Weasley?!" Malfoy burst in, dressed in his shirt and pants, looking to have just taken a shower with wet hair.

"What happened?" She screeched and grabbed a reading candle and brandished it at him.

He looked at her with disgust. "I jabbed you. You fainted. Door in tree appeared. I walk in, put you down and try to go to the castle only to find that it has already been locked up. I come back to find you passed out on the floor. Heal you. Put you in bed and sleep on that couch of yours."

She observed him quietly but saw nothing in his impassive face. "Fine."

"Is that all?"

She nodded and turned her back to him, a clear dismissal.

She heard him go walk down stairs and gather his things before slamming the front door.

She nodded tiredly off to sleep, but not before realizing tomorrow was Christmas. Damn.

3roken5oul- I'm glad you found that unexpected! It's no fun when one reads fics and knows what's going to happen. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Dracosbaby- Yeah, Ginny has it rough, but she'll pull through, have no fear. Yes, Draco is a jerk, but not through and through. Thank you for reading and reviewing.