A/N: This chapter will be some flashback, and, if I get to it, we'll be back to Ginny on the train. "For the Children."

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, Hermione/Severus, Harry/Pansy

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Um… I don't own it?

Chapter 8: For the Children

"There must be something…" Ginny muttered under her breath, pacing the compartment. After all, she had just effectively destroyed both Lucius Malfoy's and Cordelia Parkinson's wands—and wands were not replaced easily. It was the wand that chose the wizard (or witch), and once the wand that had been your match was gone…

She shuddered. But it was just as well—they had deserved it. They deserved Azkaban, and how their wands had gone unscathed was beyond her, but that was that, and this was now.

If she were right, the five children with her in the compartment were the only ones left on the train. They were against five Death Eaters, of which only three were now armed. However, the children were first years; they couldn't know very much magic, if any.

"I want to go home," the blonde-haired, green-eyed girl said, her eyes filling with tears. Was that Eliza? Or had it been Dora?

"It's all right, 'Liza," the other blonde said, putting an arm around her. She was obviously trying to be brave, despite the quivering of her lower lip. The boys surrounding them were trying to be brave as well, though it seemed they weren't succeeding as well as Dora was.

There must be some way, Ginny knew, to get out of the train with her charges. If it had been just herself, she would have been long gone, but she had five children to worry about.

Last time, it had only been three… And she'd had Draco's help, as well.


Ginny walked towards the carriages that would take the students to Hogsmeade feeling slightly down. It had been three months since the Yule Ball, and she still hadn't fully recovered from The Kiss.

The Kiss.

That was how she thought of it; in capital letters. Oh, she and Harry and kissed, but it had been nowhere near as sensual as the one Draco had given her. Or, perhaps, as forbidden. She thought of him as Draco now. It seemed strange to call him Malfoy after everything that had happened. Well, fine. It had been one kiss. That was all that had happened between them. One kiss. And it was driving her insane.

She'd seen him that morning, at breakfast, and he'd pretty much ignored her, as usual. It…hurt, in an unexplainable way. She supposed she shouldn't be hurting, especially since she was going out with Harry…

Oh, Harry. She didn't know what to do about him. She knew she loved him, but since The Kiss, she'd…lost interest in him, she supposed. It was horrible to think such a thing, especially when she had been in love with him for nearly six years. Now one kiss had managed to sweep her feet out from under her and question the very feelings that had kept her alive for so long?

Perhaps that was a rather dramatic way of putting it, but it was how Ginny had always thought of her feelings for Harry.

"Ginny!" Harry called to her from one of the carriages. He waved, smiling at her. She smiled back, hurrying to the carriage and stepping in.

"Hi, Harry," she breathed, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "So, what are we doing today?" she asked, sitting down across from him, next to Hermione. Harry was sitting next to Ron.

"They want to go to Zonko's," Hermione said from behind her book.

Ron scowled at Hermione. "I can't believe you're still reading at a time like this."

"At a time like what?" Hermione asked, peering over the top of her book. "So far as I know, we're still alive, we aren't expecting V-Voldemort," she stumbled slightly over the name, "to attack us anytime soon, and today is a Hogsmeade day. We're supposed to have fun, and I'm having fun."

"Reading your Potions book?" Ron asked disbelievingly. Only Ginny noticed the flush creeping up Hermione's neck, as the boys were too distracted by the arrival of an owl. It dropped a note on Harry's lap before leaving out the still-open window. "Harry?" Ron asked, noticing the whiteness of his best friend's hands as he gripped the sheet of parchment he had already unfolded.

"Hermione's right, Voldemort isn't attacking us anytime soon—he's decided a more subtle approach—if you could call it that—would do the trick, I guess," he whispered, handing the note across to Hermione. "He's kidnapped Charlie's twins and your baby sister."

Hermione dropped her Potions book with a thud and grabbed the note from Harry. "Ooh, no…" she said softly, tears springing to her eyes. Ron rushed across the small expanse to hold her in his arms as she began crying softly. "Rhianna," she whispered.

Ginny shook. He'd kidnapped Ann and Georgia. Charlie had married directly after Ginny's fourth year, to a woman he had met while in Africa. They'd had the twins almost exactly nine months later, though the twins had come early according to the Mediwitch. They were going to turn one year old in a matter of weeks, and now…

"Voldemort is going to pay for this," Ginny hissed under her breath, watching the three best friends comfort each other. She'd never said his name out loud before, but before, she'd never had a reason.

As soon as they reached Hogsmeade, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found Professor McGonagall, who was overseeing the students this weekend. They left Ginny in Hogsmeade as they went back to the school to see Professor Dumbledore. Ginny sighed, watching them get back into one of the carriages. Harry turned around once to wave at her, but then they were gone.

It hurt, watching them leave without her. It wasn't as though she were utterly incapable. She was quite good in both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, though she was better in the former. She'd earned an "Outstanding" on her OWLs for each of those classes. But it didn't matter; they would do it without her.

Blinking back tears, Ginny turned back to Hogsmeade… And promptly ran into a very solid body. "Oh, excuse…" she trailed off, looking up at just who it was she had, very literally, run in to. "Draco," she whispered. She then realized, horrified, that she had said his first name. "Malfoy," she said, loudly.

Draco raised his brows, looking down his nose at her. "That is my name, yes. Draco Malfoy. Something you need, Weasley?"

"Er, no," she said, backing away slightly before turning and running towards the far end of town, where she knew the Shrieking Shack was. She could hear laughter behind her, but she ignored it. It didn't matter, it didn't matter, it didn't matter… She kept repeating it, hoping that with time it WOULDN'T matter.

Reaching the Shrieking Shack, Ginny paused, nearly out of breath. There was no one on this side of town, and it was eerily quiet. It was as though…

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" an oily voice sneered.

Ginny spun. Silver hair, an aristocratic face, and a cane she would never forget for as long as she lived. Lucius Malfoy. She backed away. This couldn't be happening; Lucius Malfoy was supposed to be in Azkaban. This couldn't be happening…

"Scared, are we?" he laughed, his eyes glinting in the setting sun's light. "Good."

Ginny blinked, slowly coming back to herself. The last she remembered… Lucius Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy had kidnapped her. The bloody bastard! Ginny thought angrily, her hands flexing slightly. She wanted to wring his neck! And she would, given the chance.

She was in a room… No, correction: She was in a dungeon. A cold, dark, damp dungeon. Well, she could say one thing about Lucius Malfoy: he had class. Or rather, he knew the clichés. But either way, it was cold, and she was freezing. Ginny wrapped her arms around herself, grateful for her robe at least—but it was still cold. It had been cold enough outside, but this… This was nearly the Antarctic.

Ginny squinted in the pitch black darkness, attempting to see something, but it was no use—there was no light. Frustrated, she rolled into a kneeling position and began inching her way across the floor, feeling her way with her hands. "Hello?" she asked softly.

There was no answer. The eerie silence was going to deafen her. There was no noise, no steady drip of a forgotten pipe—as she had often read in books—no breathing, no… anything. She continued crawling until she came to a wall. It, too, was cold. Colder than the floor, if that were possible. Ginny shuddered, deciding to follow the wall to her left.

It had definitely been hours. Maybe not days, but at least hours had passed since she had awoken in her prison. She didn't know why she was there—other than a general idea, of course—or even where 'there' was, but she did know who had taken her there: Lucius Malfoy. Because he, of course, had been the last person she had seen before blacking out. And she wasn't entirely certain the blacking out had been her fault. She couldn't remember ever fainting before in her life, and she knew Lucius Malfoy was capable of doing whatever he needed to do to make her come with him quickly and quietly.

Ginny sighed, leaning against the cold, hard wall. She was surprised there was no smell. In a dungeon that no doubt belonged to Lucius Malfoy, she would have thought the scent of blood and gore were extremely horrid to the senses—but there was no smell.

She wondered if anyone had noticed her missing. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had just headed back to the castle; they were no doubt still there. And since she had gone with them, no one else was expecting her. No one would wonder where she was until much later tonight, when the students returned to Hogwarts.

A far-off noise caught her attention. It had sounded like a shuffling of feet… But if it were, it couldn't be that far off—shuffling feet didn't make very much noise.

"Well, Miss Weasley," a cold voice drawled, "long time, no see." A whispered word, and a second later his face was illuminated.

She sneered at him. "What do you want?" she hissed. She was rather surprised by her behavior, even as she was doing it. She usually wasn't this aggressive. Then again, she had never been kidnapped before either…

"In the end, Miss Weasley," he said, his manner clearly indicating his lack of interest in her question, "you will know. For now…" he trailed off. He tilted his head slightly, tipping it forward. "I bid you farewell."

Then the light on the end of his wand went out, and he was gone.

She slept. Fitfully, she slept. Her dreams were haunted with dark dungeons and cold beds, with sadness and pain, with everything that had plagued her since her birth. She dreamed of the Chamber, she dreamed of the diary. She dreamed of the past, and she dreamed of the present.

The present was what scared her the most. The only dream she had dreamed which could be classified as 'good,' had involved Draco Malfoy. Not Harry. Draco.

It was therefore extremely strange, and yet fitting, that he showed up to wake her from that very dream.

"Weasley!" he whispered, shaking her slightly. She jerked awake immediately, gasping for breath.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, feeling bewildered. He actually looked nervous, scared—emotions she had never imagined Lucius Malfoy's son being able to feel.

"You must come, quickly," he whispered, pulling her up when he saw she was awake. "My father is sleeping, and the guards are dead drunk," he continued, pulling her after him.

"I suppose you drugged them then?" Ginny asked, hurrying beside him. She wasn't concerned if he had, though curious.

Draco snorted. "No. They just drank too much, as usual. I got lucky. Sometimes they decide to play cards instead, and where would we be now? I just got here. We've got to get you out of here, now."

She hurried after him, relieved that she was finally going to get out of this prison, but at the same time confused and shocked. Why was Draco—no, why was Malfoy helping her? Wasn't he on the same side as his father? Despite what she had learned of him when she had overheard his conversation with Pansy, she still believed he sided with his father when it came to the Dark Lord—and there was little doubt that Lucius had kidnapped her for the Dark Lord. Why else would Lucius Malfoy be after her? Or the children?

"Wait!" Ginny cried, stopping in the middle of the hall. It was dark, but she could tell the floor beneath her was little more than dirt, and the walls were cold, hard stone. There was magic in them, blatantly obvious magic the caster had wanted people to feel. "Where are they? Where are the children?"

"What children?" Draco asked. "Oh, Granger's sister and your nephew and niece."

"We have to find them!" Her voice echoed, and she lowered it slightly before continuing. "They're bound to be here somewhere…" Ginny said, looking around. Though where, of course, she had no idea. There didn't seem to be any alcoves or doorways leading out of the hall.

"Ginny, we have to get you out of here."

"But what about them?" she demanded, tears in her eyes.

"Ginny, there's no way we can find them and get them out in time."

"In time for what?" Ginny asked, dread creeping up her spine.

The little emotion Ginny had been able to see in Draco's eyes disappeared. "There's a Revel tonight. It's beginning in just under an hour."

"And we were to be the main attraction," Ginny whispered, her chest tightening painfully.

"I believe so, yes."

Ginny closed her eyes briefly, holding back the tears. "We have to find them," she said firmly, after opening her eyes again. There was a glint in them there hadn't been before. A glint that had never been there before, and perhaps never would be again.

Draco looked at her, his eyes seeming to stare inside her, touching her thoughts, questioning her motives—and then one corner of his mouth turned up grimly. "Let's go, then."

She didn't know why he'd changed his mind, but she knew better than to argue. They had to find the children.

Ginny stared at the door of the compartment, lost in thought. It had been difficult to find them, as they hadn't been in any of the easy-to-find dungeons. It wasn't that Draco hadn't known where all the dungeons were, but that he hadn't seen them in so long. For the last few minutes there, she hadn't been certain that they would be able to find the girls before the Revel began and Lucius Malfoy came down to fetch them—and her. And when he went to her cell, he would have found it rather empty.

But they had found it, and from there it had been easy. Draco, the more experienced broom-rider (although he did admit it was close), had taken one of the twins and Rhianna, who had known enough to hold tight to Draco's neck while he held the twin—Ann—tightly in one of his arms, steering the broom with the other. The other twin had gone with Ginny, and they had arrived at Hogwarts within two hours.

Then there had been explanations, to Hermione, Ron, Harry, Dumbledore—and even Snape. And when it was all over, she'd had herself to contend with, answers to find to questions she hadn't even been able to form yet. She remembered being so frustrated about Draco, trying to understand his behavior and not coming close. She still didn't understand it, completely. But at least now she knew that he had always supported Dumbledore. Oh, maybe not when he was a bratty little kid, but when he was older—when it had truly mattered, beyond petty disagreements between schoolchildren—he had made the right choice.

A/N: So, don't forget to critique me... :) I've had this written for a while. I've just been "sitting on it" because I was unsure about it. I even tried to find a beta to reassure me about it...but I didn't. Or rather, I tried, and I didn't find one. So if anyone's interested, please mention it in your review. I don't need a grammar/etc beta, but more a "yeah, this is a good plot" or "no, this is horribly cliched" or something along those lines. :) Sorry if I'm not making much sense. Approaching finals and lack of sleep will do that to a person.