A/N - EVERYTHING can't be about D/G or this would be a pretty flat, one sided story. There WILL be more D/G, have PATIENCE. And if you don't like drifting focus, then I shouldn't even bother posting my other fic. Anyhow, back to the show :) oh, and there is another, more lengthy note at the end. Sorry.
Chapter 22
It was nearing dawn, but most of the Slytherins were still gathered around in the common room. Every piece of furniture was occupied, the rest were camped out on the thick furs and rugs covering the floor. Some had even brought in their pillows and bedding. The major wounds had been taken care of, and Madam Pomfrey was working her way through the more minor ones, already looking a bit haggard. Though most of them had either been uninjured or healed already, they remained. The attack had been so sudden and violent that it had left them all shaken. It was unsettling to think one creature had done all of that damage, and a large group of their strongest housemates had left it apparently unscathed.
Draco was sitting tailor fashion in his usual seat, a large overstuffed leather chair by the fire, Ginny curled up in his lap as he held her comfortingly.
Ron looked about ready to nod off on the couch. Blaise was draped across him, his head nestled against Ron's shoulder. He was fast asleep, the effects of the curse leaving him very weak, though the color was slowly beginning to return to his face, and the rasping had thankfully finally gone away. Pansy was sitting on the thick rug, her head resting against Ron's side, her hand clinging to Blaise's even in her sleep. Ron was stroking her hair absently as his eyes drooped tiredly.
The sleepy air of the room ceased instantly as the entrance door clicked open. Everyone tensed, looking at it fearfully. There was an audible collective sigh of relief as Snape entered. Then the atmosphere turned abruptly uneasy as they all saw who followed him in.
"Mum!" Ginny said faintly, glancing up at Draco. Oh this wasn't going to be good... She was just thankful that when they had sent for Pomfrey someone had thought to flip the picture over the mantle! It now showed the innocent looking landscape they had affixed to the back for just such occasions.
Molly lost her obvious hesitance to enter Slytherin house when she heard her daughter's voice, hurrying towards her. She paused when she saw who she was sharing a seat with, staring wide-eyed. When she was able to peel her eyes away from them, she looked over, spotting Ron.
He hadn't moved, not wanting to wake Blaise. He sighed. He knew it would have to come out sooner or later... he had just been hoping for later. Like in ten years or so...
After a moment, she seemed to snap out of it, picking her way through the Slytherins on the floor until she reached the couch. "Ron!" She said tearfully, not missing the dark, hand shaped bruise that stood out so starkly on the pale flesh of his neck and the blood that stained the front of his shirt. She leaned over, hugging his head and kissing his forehead, then started fussing over him, "Why look at you..." She said fretfully as she saw the edge of the claw marks on his chest peaking out of his open shirt. She eyed the holes burnt in his clothes, revealing the angry, seared skin beneath. "You really need tending to." She said worriedly.
"I'll be fine mum." He said tiredly. "Pomfrey has her hands full."
"Well, I don't." Molly said resolutely, taking out her wand.
He sighed, letting her move his head around as she cast healing spells on his neck, then each of the scorch marks that she could see in turn. When she was done, she tried looking at his chest, but Blaise was half laying on the shirt covering the wounds. She looked at the boy, unsure how to broach the subject. "Ron dear... I need to get to the cuts..."
"Don't... Let him rest... I'll be fine."
Blaise stirred, obviously having woken and heard her. "I'll move..." He said wearily.
"Blaise don't... it's ok..." Ron protested as Blaise started shifting off him, his muscles protesting jerkily.
"No... you need to be fixed up." Blaise said, trying to get some leverage to shift over out of the way. His eyes opened reflexively as he slipped a bit, barely catching himself. Molly gasped, covering her mouth as she saw his sightless eyes. He quickly closed them. "Sorry." He muttered, shifting over and leaning back against the couch.
"What happened to him?" She asked, horrified.
"He got hit with a curse aimed at me." Ron said, sitting up. His muscles weren't cooperating much better than Blaise's had. "They're all hurt because of me... I led that thing here. It was after me." He said morosely, looking around at the gathered Slytherins, most of which were clustered together in pairs and small groups for solace.
"What was it? Why would it be after YOU?" Molly asked, horrified.
"We aren't sure what it was... it... tried to attack me in my room... I got lucky and got away, but it headed me off when I got down here..." He said evasively. He had been asked not to mention too much about who he believed it was before they could investigate the incident.
"But why would you come here?" She asked, trying hard not to make it sound like an insult to the surrounding Slytherins.
"Snape said I could come here if I felt I was in danger... and... they... were the only ones I trusted..." He admitted self-consciously. Many of the gathered Slytherins smiled at this, including Blaise.
"And why would he think you might feel you were in danger?" She asked shrewdly.
Ron dropped his eyes.
"Because his housemates were playing deadly little pranks on him." Blaise said bluntly.
Molly looked over at him sharply, then back at Ron. "What?"
"Most of them were harmless..." Ron said, blushing.
"Except the one that nearly killed you." Blaise added pointedly.
Ron sighed, "Blaise..." He said plaintively. Why did he have to bring this up again?
Blaise shifted his head towards him. "It wasn't an accident, Ron. Stop making excuses for them. Even before this, Gryffindor simply wasn't a safe place for you to be! You have to swallow your pride and start taking this seriously!"
"Tonight was different... it wasn't one of the pranks." Ron insisted.
"No kidding." Blaise said with a sarcastic edge, opening his eyes and staring at him significantly for a moment before closing them again.
Ron dropped his eyes, the guilt rising in him again at the sight of Blaise's blank stare.
Draco chuckled. "Get used to it, Ron." He said mirthfully. "The more he cares about you, the more he nags. Trust me. It's like having a second mother."
Molly looked over at Draco, then back, looking searchingly between Ron and Blaise.
Blaise's cheeks had colored slightly, "Shut up Draco." he said, an embarrassed smirk on his lips.
Ron's face had gone red all the way to his ears. He didn't meet his mother's eyes.
"Oh Merlin..." She sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing the bridge of her nose. She took a deep breath and forced a smile, "So... Ron... are you going to introduce me to your... friend?" She asked tentatively. From the look on her face he knew she was much more interested in the nature of their relationship, and had a good idea already what it was... but was still clinging to the hope that they were just friends.
Blaise turned his head towards Ron again, obviously just as interested in his answer.
Ron swallowed a lump in his throat. He looked at Blaise for a long moment. He took a deep breath. "This is Blaise Zabini... he's... well... I guess he's my boyfriend..." He said uneasily, not sure he could really assume that...
A brilliant smile lit across Blaise's face, washing away any doubts Ron had about his acceptance of that title.
Ron smiled, reassured, "Blaise... this is my mum."
Blaise looked stunned, obviously having slept through that part. "Your MUM?" He asked in a near whisper.
Ron chuckled. It wasn't often he saw Blaise so disconcerted. "Yep."
Blaise quickly brushed off his shock, realizing he was being rude, and smiled again. He reached his hand out in her general direction, trying to keep it from shaking too much. "Pleasure to meet you ma'am."
Molly still looked a bit disconcerted, but she took his hand. As soon as she grasped his hand her expression turned to one of concern, feeling how feather light his grip was, his muscles trembling lightly with the effort of holding his arm out.
"You need to lay down dear..." She said with concern. She looked back at Ron, then quickly waved her wand over him taking care of the nasty claw marks (though pale impressions remained on his flesh). As soon as that was done, she tucked away her wand and guided him firmly back down on the couch, not even bothering to ask. Then she moved over a bit and very gingerly urged Blaise to lay back down as he had been before. He complied with a bemused smirk on his face.
"There we go dear... have you eaten anything? You look like you could use a spot to eat..." She said dotingly as she brushed his hair away from his face.
"I'll be fine... just tired..." Blaise said, smirking.
"I think I'll have the house elves bring something up anyway, in case you get hungry later." She said in a motherly fashion.
Ron had to smirk. His mother never could resist taking care of everyone around her. Still, he was shocked how well she seemed to be taking this...
Blaise reached out, feeling along the edge of the couch until Pansy reached out and touched his hand. He smiled, taking her hand and pulling it over, holding it to his chest. She had been sitting by silently, not wanting to draw attention, so this was the first time Molly had even noticed her. Ron saw his mother's questioning stare and realized he hadn't finished the introductions. "Oh... um... and this is Pansy Parkinson." He said, his cheeks coloring again as Pansy looked over at him, surprised at being introduced.
Molly looked down at the girl curiously, noting Blaise's hold on her hand, then over at Ron, "And she is...?" She said, confused.
"Our girlfriend." Blaise said with a smirk.
Molly arched an eyebrow, peering down at the now furiously blushing girl. "By 'our'... you mean yours AND Ron's?" She asked carefully.
Blaise smirked and nodded against Ron. Ron blushed and nodded as well.
"Oh thank Merlin!" Molly sighed in relief.
"What?" Ron asked, stunned by her reaction.
"I was beginning to fear I had no chance of getting any grandbabies out of the entire lot!" She said, beaming at him. "I have six boys and you're the first one to introduce me to a girlfriend yet!" She leaned down, "It is a pleasure to meet you dear." She said, beaming and offering Pansy her hand.
Pansy took it with her free hand and shook it, looking up at Ron in shock.
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"Mum..." Ginny said tentatively as she came to a stop next to her mother.
"Just a moment dear..." Molly said, finishing the healing spell she had been casting on Goyle's leg. "There you go." She said, smiling at Goyle and standing up.
"Thank you, ma'am." Goyle said in a surprisingly polite tone, examining the pale scar that was all that remained of his wound. Molly had jumped right in, helping Pomfrey with the remaining injuries. She may not be a trained medi-witch, but having raised seven rambunctious children, she had learned her fair share of first aid spells. Especially with the twins!
She looked around, tucking away her wand as she saw Pomfrey was already tending to Draco, who appeared to be the last remaining 'patient'. "What is it dear?" She asked, turning her attention to her daughter.
Ginny blushed. When her mother had arrived, this was the last subject she had wanted brought to light... but her mother's seemingly total lack of interest in what she had been doing curled up against Draco Malfoy had her perplexed. It was normally the LAST thing Molly Weasley would have let slide!
Still, she wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject... "Um..." She said uncertainly, tucking her hair back behind her ear self-consciously and glancing back at where Draco was. She took a deep breath and plunged in head first, wanting to get it over with. "Draco and I are... kind of seeing eachother..."
"I know dear." Molly said, her smile fading a bit.
Ginny blinked in surprise. "What do you mean you know?"
"It was just a matter of time really..." Molly said gently.
Ginny's eyes went round, "What? What does THAT mean?"
Molly took her hand and patted it reassuringly, "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else dear..."
Ginny sighed and nodded, looking around. There was no space in the common room that was even remotely private. She led her mother over to Draco's room.
As Ginny closed the door behind them she went beet red, spotting the photo near Draco's bed at the same time her mother did. She hurried over to it, flipping it over even though she knew her mother had already seen what it showed. She turned back, trying to figure out how to explain that. "Um..." She said as she scoured her mind for a logical explanation for it.
Molly rolled her eyes. "Oh please, dear! Stop fretting. The copy the twins have in their livingroom is much bigger."
Ginny's eyes went wide. "The TWINS have a copy of that???"
Molly chuckled, "Yes... I believe they said they had one of the first orders. Seems Lee Jordan clued them in before Colin had even handed over the negative! They said they've never been so proud!"
Ginny ran her fingers through her coppery hair, trying not to giggle nervously, "And you and dad... What do you think?"
"Well... we are both glad you know how to take care of yourself. That's very important for a witch in this day and age..." Molly said a bit evasively.
Ginny grinned and let the subject drop. "Um... so... what did you mean?"
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Draco watched Ginny and her mother leave the room, then looked around, spotting Snape and catching his eye. As soon as their eyes locked, Draco shifted his head, subtly indicating he wanted to talk. Snape's eyebrow arched slightly, but finished up his conversation with the fourth year he'd been talking to and made his way over, making his path look random.
As soon as Pomfrey was done healing the last of his injuries, Draco thanked her and made his way down one of the hallways. He rounded the corner, then leaned against the wall and waited patiently for Snape. He arrived a few moments later, eyeing him questioningly.
"How's it going with Potter?" He asked, keeping his voice low. There was no one down this hall at the moment, but he didn't want sharp ears in the common room hearing voices and coming to investigate.
Snape snorted derisively. "Not supposed to talk about that, now are we?"
Draco rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, tilting his head to the side a bit and waiting expectantly.
Snape gave him a little smirk, then his expression turned sour. "Nothing. We can't find a trace of anything in him that could have caused that kind of devastation."
Draco nodded thoughtfully. "I didn't think you would. They're far too smart to have stayed in a body after it's hiding place had been discovered. If it didn't take his soul with it, he's extremely lucky."
Snape narrowed his eyes shrewdly, "You know what did this?"
Draco nodded without a hint of doubt.
"How could you know?"
"I don't..." Draco said, then his eyes shifted to dark brown,
"I do." Darien said with a grim expression. "The Malfoys used to have nearly a dozen of them before they were outlawed. That probably wouldn't have stopped them if one of the new ones hadn't gotten out of hand and slaughtered two of my uncles, an aunt and three cousins. They are only bound to the eldest living member of a bloodline. Grandfather hadn't remembered to tell that one explicitly not to injure anyone in his family. They don't like being bound, and if they find a loophole, you're in trouble."
Snape folded his arms before him, "What else do you know of them?" he asked with avid interest.
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Ginny was sitting on the bed with her face in her hands. "This can't possibly be right." She said, lifting her head and looking at her mother resolutely. "I'm not some ancient, long dead relative! I mean I would know wouldn't I? I mean why ME? Why would she want to be ME? And how could you possibly KNOW? I mean do I just look like this girl? Because if it's the hair... I mean I'm a Weasley... it's not like the color was an option!"
Molly sighed deeply. She pulled over the chair from the desk and settled down in it. She sat in silence for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then started in a soft tone, "When I was a child... your father's family and mine were friends... we would visit their home... the Burrow... and one summer... I met her. From the moment I saw her I felt like there was some kind of connection between us, though I didn't understand it at the time... everyone thought I was just imagining things... a made up friend like many children create... they thought it was just from the stories the family sometimes told about her... how they would speculate on how she really died, even though it had been about a century since it happened... it had been a big turning point for the family... no one really believed she killed herself... but no one else had ever seen a ghost either... but I always knew she was real... I had only seen her the once, but I never forgot her."
She settled back a bit in the chair, looking as if she were bracing herself for her daughter's reaction, "When I got older... your father and I had inherited the Burrow... and I had my six boys... And I was content with my life... but I still very much wanted a daughter... It was like this burning desire in my heart that I couldn't extinguish, even though I knew that not a single female had been born into the Weasley family since the night Ginevra Weasley died. One night I had a dream. In the dream, I returned to the pond... and she was waiting... we didn't even speak... but somehow I knew it was time for her to return... and... I know it sounds strange... but I felt like I had always known that time would come... had always known what I was destined to be... her mother... your mother, Ginny dear... You were born nine months later." She said, reaching out and stroking Ginny's cheek gently.
Ginny stared up at her mother, getting increasingly worried about her.
Molly smirked. "I must admit, when I first met young Draco, I was sure you'd made a mistake... He looked just like the old painting of Darien that had been in Ginevra's school trunk in the attic... but I thought sure there was no way THAT boy was destined for my precious daughter! Still... from talking with Dumbledore I've come to understand a bit better at least. I can't say I'm content with the way things are of yet... but... I'm willing to see how it goes."
Molly straightened, becoming more businesslike. "Well, I best finish up in the other room and get back to Dumbledore's office. Your father is helping with some kind of tests and is expecting a full report on how you are both fairing. I do hope they are testing some kind of way to ward off or destroy whatever beast did all that damage! I certainly don't like the idea of such a creature going after one of my children! Never thought I'd be so thankful for a group of Slytherins!" She said smirking.
Ginny forced a grin and nodded. Her mother kissed and hugged her, then left.
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A/N - I don't usually respond to reviews in the story, especially in any lengthy way, because I'm afraid other readers will find it boring, but my description of Thestrals has been questioned, so I will respond (and I thought this at least might hold some interest for other readers as well). To the one who wrote the review, PLEASE don't take this the wrong way. I'm not getting on you, but I feel the need to respond. I take research into my stories seriously. I am well aware of the differences between Thestrals and Hippogriffs. I will now directly quote J.K. Rowling, from Pages 196 & 197 of OOTP (american edition) "The coaches were no longer horseless. There were creatures standing between the carriage shafts; if he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would call them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black, leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gathering gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister..." And the information that is added when Hagrid has them in class is that they prefer the darkness, are very intelligent, have an amazing sense of direction and can take their riders pretty much anywhere they want to go, they are carnivorous, are attracted to the scent of blood, that they make a sound like a "loud, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird." (That is if Hagrid did a good imitation of their call), and have pointed fangs. Later, when Harry & co. ride them to the Ministry, Harry describes them as being very reptilian, and strangely beautiful once he stopped fearing them. It was also mentioned that they had long black manes and silken coats (fur, pelts, whatever) and are wicked fast and very agile from the description of their flight! Never once are their feet described as having hooves. Their feet aren't described at all in fact. Their being horse-like does not necessarily mean they HAVE to have hooves. I can't think of any carnivores with hooves off hand, therefor, as far as I'm concerned, it is only logical that they have some kind of clawed or taloned feet. I figured it would be pretty hard for them to take their prey down with fangs alone. What do they do? Bludgeon them to death? In Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, they are in the Winged Horses section on the very last page, but it looks to be a very vague category, and they are described merely as "...the rare Thestral (black, possessed of the power of invisibility, and considered unlucky by many wizards)." If there is some other source of information on how Thestrals look other than J.K., I have not seen it. I take her word for it without question like any good little star-crossed fan :) As for him bowing to it, I never said it was required. He was being respectful. Even if Draco hadn't been inclined to show respect before, I think Buckbeak taught him it is better to be safe and respectful than on the ground bleeding and looking up at an enraged beast! I will be the first to admit that Hagrid also said he brought the Thestrals there in the first place, but I like to think that it is possible there were wild ones there before that... I mean there are all sorts of creatures in there nobody knows about. Besides, Darien was there like eighty years or so before Hagrid. Maybe the Thestrals left...? Or just hid, then their descendants slowly integrated with Hagrid's herd... never said they were the SAME Thestrals, in fact I would very much doubt it considering the time difference. Draco/Darien just appeals to all Thestrals :) Anyhow, I hope that answers your question about what I was basing my description on.