Ah, and yet another chapter ensues.In my opinion, this story has been going well so far! At least that is, for my stories. Wow I've gotten so much better at writing since my very first fic… Which is indeed posted on Much to my embarrassment.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter, unfortuanetly.
Chapter Three
It was night once again. Ginny had been unable to sleep for hours. Being so, she sat down in the window sill of her dormitory reading. The door of her room began to creak open. There was no one there, but still she knew who it was. His visits had become frequent over the last two weeks, nearly every night.
"Draco, you don't need to be here every night. I'm fine here, Dumbledore told me I was. With all the other Gryffindors here, I really should be fine," Ginny said.
Draco sighed, "Ginny, I want to be here though. Really have you ever watched someone sleep? Say, Harry?"
"Yes, I have before," she said.
"Well it's just so interesting. Your body moving up and down, with your breath. Every once in a while you turn towards your side. Normally you're already lying on your right side though," he said.
Ginny turned a slight bit red. Then she said, "But Draco, don't you need to get some sleep yourself?"
"I still do get sleep. What do you think classes are for anyways, eh?" he laughed.
"Draco, do you want to walk outisde. I mean, outside the building. It was such a nice day earlier; it will probobly be beautiful," she suggested.
"Yeah that would be wonderful," he said. Then he took her hand and led her out of the dormitories.
Slowly, and quietly they walked through the corridors. Then they walked out of the castle.
The two had walked so silently, it was almost eerie. They were two incredibly opposite people walking side by side. One witch, the red-headed, poor Weasley of a gigantic family of Gryffindors. One wizard, the rich snobby Malfoy, of the small dynasty of Death Eaters and Slytherins. Both their families and they themselves were incredibly different. Even the way they went about life was differing.
"Ginny," Draco stuttered slightly, "I've got to say that I, well I'm so sorry for all that I have ever done to you, and your brothers. Even Harry."
Draco wasn't looking at her when he said this, but Ginny sensed how hard it was for him to say it in the first place with all his stuttering.
Draco never stuttered in public. Not around his friends he didn't at least. Everytime Ginny had ever seen him around school he had handled himself eloquently and persuasively. She had even once seen him talking to a young Ravenclaw girl, convincing her to go off snogging when she had at first been denying him with the utmost confidence.
That's when Ginny noticed it. Draco had changed over the years. Before he had been the nastiest, darkest of all Slytherins, ready to receive the Dark Mark in a second. Now he was a quiet student. He didn't go off snogging with some new girl everyday. Nor did he talk off to his teachers, or completely disregard rules. Draco had taken the duty to protect her of all things! He was trying to get into the Order of the Phoenix, quite the opposite of the Death Eaters. Maybe they were not so far from each other as they both seemed to think.
"Draco I can certainly forgive you for all of that. It was just some stupid teasing and name-calling in the first place," she laughed, "Now my dear brothers… They probobly won't."
Draco laughed, "No I don't suppose they would."
The two students approached the Quidditch pitch. Both of them knew this place well, as they were both on their house teams. They walked into the middle of the middle of the pitch.
"Can't wait until the first game in a couple of days," Draco sighed, "Can you?"
Ginny smiled, "Well I certainly could wait. I mean, Ron has improved as a keeper a great deal, but the team as a whole really isn't that wonderful anymore. Hopefully we will be much better this year."
"That's so nice to know that you, a Gryffindor have so little faith in your very own team, especially when I'll be playing against you first," He smirked.
"Well you've got another thing coming then, you little snake! I'm sure Harry can beat you in the beautiful chase for the Snitch," Ginny laughed.
Draco laughed with her. He held in the thought he kept dangling at the back of his head. 'Harry can beat me. Of course, Harry Potter can beat me, Draco Malfoy at anything. Especially anything having to do with what you may think of course he would.," Draco spun around in his brain.
After a long silent moment, Ginny spoke, "Draco are you alright?"
"Yeah," he paused, "Yeah I suppose so." As he said this he was turning away from her for fear of being bright red.
Draco winced. It was there again. He could sense it burning there, on his left arm. It seared through his arm without any fire visible.
"Alright, now I know you aren't," Ginny tried to pull a smile. "What is it really?"
"It- It's nothing I promise," he said.
He winced again.
It continued to sear through his skin, in its painful shape. It wouldn't stop, he knew it never would. Until the one thing he had always never wanted happened. What he had despised the idea of since his very first year.
"Draco, what is it?" Ginny asked worriedly. Then he couldn't help it, his right hand moved up to get a hold on it. It just refused to stop burning.
Ginny reached for his hand. He turned farther from her and pushed her hand away.
"It's nothing!" he yelled.
"I'm-… I'm sorry," a moment's pause as Ginny spoke, "Draco, just let me check your arm please?"
"No! You can't see it!" he was nearly screaming at her now. He continued clutching his arm.
Ginny put a hand on his back, and he pushed her away. He began to walk back towards the castle. No he wasn't walking- Draco was running.
"I sware it's nothing!" Draco yelled back at her.
She stood there, clueless as to every bit of what just occurred. If someone were to have seen her, they probobly would have described her as a dear staring into a pair of headlights.
Then she ran, on impulse and impulse alone, after him.
"Draco! Draco! I want to help you!" she howled after him.
He had reached the large doors of the school, and was opening them. He yelled, "But I don't want your help! I don't want anyone's, not even that damned Order!"
"Draco! Please!" she had managed to catch up with him.
He took one look back at her as she said these words, realizing that had been a mistake.
"No… No I can't let you," he stared at her pleading eyes with a horrid longing.
Ginny grabbed his arm before he could tear off again. "Draco. You can trust me. It doesn't matter what you tell me. Whether you tell me you are one of Voldemort's best pals, or if you are dreadfully ill and going to die tomorrow. You can trust me with anything."
Someone to trust. It was exactly what Draco Malfoy had always wanted.
"But I," he was wincing again- "I just can't. It will only get worse then. It will only do more."
Ginny took that quick opportunity to see exactly what in the world it was that he would not let her see. He had lowered his right arm away from what seemed to be hurting him.
She rolled up his sleeve incredibly fast.
There it was. This was what she was forcing him to show her? It wasn't anything someone, especially a Gryffindor, (That is let alone being a Weasley), would want to see.
The Dark Mark was staring straight at her. The snake seemed to be mocking her.
"Oh… Draco…" was all she could muster out.
"You did say anything," he said. He became very fond of looking at the floor, at the ceiling, or anything but Ginny.
"Draco," she let his sleeve fall back down along his arm. "You- was that what was…?"
"Yes."
"Why do you think? I mean- when did you get it?" she tried asking.
"My father forced me to receive it when I was in my fourth year- you remember the Quidditch World Cup," he said. Draco slowly sat himself on the ground. He burried his own face deep within his hands.
"So you did know exactly who was doing all those things to those Muggles! Your father was there!" she was exasperated.
She could make out that he was nodding.
"Oh, Oh I'm so sorry Draco. I mean I didn't mean it to be… quite that way," she said, "Draco. You can't think that just because you have the Mark I'll absoloutely hate you do you?"
"Yes," he said.
Ginny sat down right next to him. She put her arms around his curled form. Ginny noticed that his left arm was in fact very very warm.
"Don't Draco. It's alright. I'll talk to Harry-" she began.
He cut her off, "No, please, please don't tell anyone. Not even that damned Looney friend of yours. Please."
She nodded. "Draco, we will find a way to get rid of him. Then it won't hurt at all anymore."
By this time he had lifted his head and rested it on Ginny's shoulder. Little did she know how much he enjoyed having someone his age to trust.
Half the night they just sat right there. She rocked him back and forth a bit. When the Mark had finally stopped causing him to wince, he was trembling.
Draco had a strong desire to cry during these long hours. But never once did he, for fear that Snape, or a prefect of some sort would possibly walk by. They were sitting just right inside the doors to the castle.
Eventually Ginny thought Draco had fallen asleep.
"Draco?… Draco are you awake?" she asked.
Draco replied, "Yes."
"I'm going to go up to Gryffindor Tower now. I'm surprised nobody has come by yet, but I don't want anyone to," she said worriedly.
"Yeah, I agree. Ginny, please, don't be afraid of me now. I promise, I sware to you that I am on your side," Draco pleaded. Draco Malfoy was pleading? He was asking someone else for something. Never in her life had Ginny seen Draco depending on another person.
"I'll try Draco. That's all I can do," she said.
They went off in separate directions. One up and one down.
That night Ginny couldn't sleep the entire night. Nor could she help wondering about Draco's Mark. Why he really had it? How did he get it? And most of all did he still support what it stood for?
AN: Whoo! Another chapter down! Please Review!