Elizabeth Turner, Loonyloonylupin: Thanks a lot!

Chapter Four

A knock came at the door to Dumbledore's office. Ginny and Lucius looked up, startled, looking incredibly like guilty schoolchildren. After a few seconds, the headmaster poked his head through the door. He looked at the occupants of his office, each in turn.

"Miss Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, would you be so kinds as to allow me to re- enter the conversation, or do the two of you need more time?" After a glance at Ginny, Lucius swallowed and nodded. "As a matter of fact, Headmaster, I was just on my way out." He stood, and his robes swept out of the office behind him.

A tear rolled down Ginny's cheek. She felt as though she'd just lost Draco all over again. Dumbledore was studying her from across his desk.

"Ginny? He began gently, "Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

Ginny glanced up. She avoided Dumbledore's gaze as she shook her head.

"Very well," he said gravely, "I believe that Professor Snape is expecting you in Potions, if you feel up to it. If you do not, then I am sure he will understand."

*

Ginny entered the Potions dungeon just as the bell rang. She turned to leave with everyone else, but Snape detained her. She walked to his desk and stood silently, not knowing at all what to expect.

"Miss Weasley, Mr. Lucius Malfoy has just been to see me. I fell very strongly that it is in your best interest to warn you that his business is his own."

Ginny flushed. "He told you?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"That," Snape snarled, "is not your concern."

*

With a pop, Lucius Malfoy appeared in the hall of his manor in Chelsea. He cast not a glance around him. His mind was occupied. He entered the sitting-room, sank into an armchair, and closed his eyes for a moment of thought. Upon opening them, a blue hand met his gaze.

"Oh, Merlin!" He whispered. He pulled out his wand and bent to take his wife's pulse. There was none. He apparated back to Dumbledore's office.

*

Ginny looked up at the doors to the Great Hall as they opened. She gasped. There he was! Draco was back! She watched, feeling as though she was glued to her seat. Harry looked up at her.

"Ginny? Are you all right?" He turned, following her gaze. "Lucius Malfoy? What is he doing here?"

As Ginny watched Lucius approach Dumbledore and begin speaking to him, her heart plummeted to her feet. She hated him. He had taken Draco from her, and now, he had given her a hope, the faintest glimmer of hope that Draco was alive. She stood up, causing her empty plate to crash to the floor. She didn't care as she stormed out, completely missing the look of concern in Lucius Malfoy's eyes as he turned, attention drawn by the clatter of the plate.

*

"Ginny?" Lucius Malfoy's voice resounded through the entrance hall. Ginny turned. Lucius saw her tear-stained face for only a moment. She ran at him. She raised her hands and pummeled thme into his chest, over and over, again and again, until she collapsed against him, her tears soaking the front of his robes.
Lucius lifted his hands. One went to Ginny's flaming hair. The other wound around her waist as she began to sink to the floor.

TBC