D/H-D/G fic luver, Crimson Gold, SweetBloom, Selah1, WiDz, Hikara, Maryann, Julia, Priz, and Elizabeth Turner-Thanks a lot!
Chapter Six
Ginny looked down at her hands, suddenly realizing that she was furiously wringing them together. She stopped abruptly. They began to shake violently. She reached for her fork, but it seemed to jump away from her hand and clanged to the floor. This didn't seem to matter much, as a new one instantly appeared to replace it, but Ginny stared blankly at the fork on the floor anyway. Ron jerked his head up, drawn by the noise, and opened his mouth, but Hermione kicked him under the table and he shut it again. Harry looked up, his eyes concerned.
"Ginny?" he asked.
Her eyes wandered up slowly. "Mm?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Mm-hm. I'm fine."
Harry's brow furrowed and he glanced across the table at Hermione, who shrugged. Ginny turned her attention to her mashed potatoes.
Ginny looked quickly at the magical clock next to her bed. It was 11:39. She got up and looked out the dormitory window. The moon was nowhere in sight. She sighed in resignation and pulled her cloak on over the robes that she'd laid in bed still wearing. She crept across the creaky floor and held her breath as she opened the door, hoping against hope that it wouldn't squeak or slam. She tiptoed through the threshold and was about to breathe a sight of relief when a figure stepped out from a shadowy corner and stretched his arm over the common room exit.
"Where in hell do you think you're going?" Ron asked, his eyes frigid.
Ginny eyed him with resolve. "Get out of my way." Her words were slow and calculated.
"Tell me where you're going."
"No."
"This has something to do with Malfoy, doesn't it?"
Ginny looked at the floor. "Draco is dead, Ron."
"Only one of them is."
Ginny's head snapped up and she caught her brother's accusing stare. "What the hell does that mean?"
"You know exactly what it means." He stepped away from the door, eyes downcast. "I don't even know why I bother. You're smarter than I am." As Ginny started to leave, he grabbed the sleeve of her cloak. "Just be careful," he said, never meeting her eye. She reached out and hugged him.
"I have to do this, Ron," she whispered. Then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone.
An owl hooted in the distance, and Ginny gathered her robes closer around her slim form. Why had she ever agreed to come here? Why couldn't they have met somewhere else? Anywhere else.
She sat on a log, and quickly scanned her mist-shrouded surroundings, trying to gather her bearings. She pulled Lucius' note out of her pocket. The map scrawled onto the back was easy to read, even in the darkness. She stood and walked gingerly through the indicated clump of trees. She found herself in a clearing, an ominous fog gathering near the ground. This was where the map ended. Ginny looked around slowly, finally seeing a cloaked figure lurking near the edge of the clearing. He took a step forward, and the hood of the cloak fell, revealing pale skin and platinum hair.
"I was beginning to think you'd changed your mind." Lucius said, his voice low and gentle.
Ginny took several steps forward. "I wasn't sure when to come. You didn't give a time."
"Yes I did." Lucius paused, and understanding glimmered in his pale blue eyes. "I take it you didn't check the parchment for invisible ink?" Ginny shook her head. "You might want to from now on." Ginny nodded.
"So why are we here?" She asked.
"You said you wanted to help me."
"I do."
"Well, I'm not quite willing to risk your life yet. We've both lost enough. What I do need you to do is to listen very carefully to everything Professor Snape says in class. Anything that seems even the slightest bit out of the ordinary, I want you to write down in this." He held out what appeared to be a leather-bound journal. Ginny took it.
"It's a journal?"
"On the surface. If you lose it, it's untraceable and the words will turn into gibberish. We'll meet every few days and you can pass the information to me."
"Where?"
"Different places. I'll get the information to you however I can. If you get a message from me with nothing in invisible ink, assume it's not from me and ignore it. It's not much security, but it's the best I can do for now."
"Is that all?"
"For now." He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her lips, his mouth lingering across her cheek and at her hairline. Ginny reached out to him, but he was gone, the fog swirling in his wake. After a moment, she began to wind her way back up to the castle.
TBC
A/N: At long last, here it is. From now on, I'm going to try to update once a week, and you have my full permission to repeatedly send me very angry e-mails if I don't.
