New chapter….
Thank you so much to louey31 for being my first reviewer! It means a ton for a new fic.
Disclaimer: Still applying.
"Surprised Weasel? I warned you, I warned you to stay away," Malfoy said, his eyes glinting feverishly.
"You-you," Ginny couldn't manage anything else.
"Are you really shocked?" Malfoy queried, licking his dry lips, and panting, "So do you still want to help poor defenseless Draco?" He tried to sneer at her, but it looked more like a grimace.
"Of course," Ginny said, "No one, not even you, deserves to go into a comatose state!"
"Don't be too sure, you don't know what I've done."
"Shut up and help me, I don't know the spell to cure you."
Malfoy muttered the charm to her; it was hard to understand him as he was now shaking violently. Ginny murmured the spell, her wand tip touching the nasty purple pucker on Malfoy's forearm, evidence that a powerful toxin had recently punctured his skin. Right above the wound was the Dark Mark; Ginny averted her eyes, aware that she was staring openly at it.
"Like it?" Malfoy managed to say.
"What do you think?" Ginny said, letting the disgust in her voice tell him the answer.
"It takes…5 minutes to work," Malfoy whispered.
It took Ginny a moment to figure out he was talking about the spell. She seriously hoped it would hurry up, Malfoy was looking worse by the second. He was white and sweating, and his face was contorted with pain. He closed his eyes and Ginny was aware that his face was prematurely lined, there was worry etched on his brow. From the way Malfoy clenched his jaw Ginny could see that he was truly suffering.
Meanwhile Kingsley Shacklebolt was nowhere to be found. He truly had walked on. Ginny experienced a flare of almost anger, over Malfoy no less. He might be a Death Eater but he was still a human.
Did this mean she was concerned about Draco Malfoy? Ginny wondered. No, she reassured herself, it just meant she was human.
"Weasel—Weasley!" A voice drew her back.
Malfoy had apparently recovered, he was lounging against the tree, no, he was leaning against the tree-no, he was leaning against the tree for support. His face looked haggard.
Suddenly, something shattered in Ginny's calm composure.
"Come on," she said, "We're going back to the castle."
"Our detention is not over," Malfoy reminded her annoyingly.
"Who cares? This detention is fucked up. We're going back!" Ginny snapped.
"OK, but if we get in trouble I'm blaming you Weasel."
Malfoy took a step and faltered.
"Do you need to lean on me?" Ginny said, not unkindly.
"I don't need help from Weasels!" Malfoy spat.
Ginny rolled her eyes, and gently grasped his forearm. "Come on, even Ferrets sometimes need help."
Malfoy made as to protest, but fell silent. Together they made their way up to the castle.
It was pitch black as they crossed the grounds, there was no doubt that it was past curfew. At least Malfoy was able to walk, though he still had to go to the infirmary, to, at the least, get the thorn out of his arm. They went up the main stairway, and then took the left staircase. This was the normal route to both Gryffindor tower and the infirmary; they should have emerged onto a short hallway containing two stairways and a suit of armor. What they found instead was a long hall dimly lit by flickering torches stuck on the wall.
"Malfoy," Ginny said, "Where are we?"
He, however, was already striding confidently down the hallway. Ginny, anxious about being alone, scurried to catch up with him.
A stairway spiraled up into darkness at the end of the hallway.
Malfoy began mounting the stairs; Ginny grabbed him, saying, "I think we're lost."
A seemingly infuriated Malfoy snapped, "Look Weasel, I didn't ask you're goddamn opinion. Find your own way if you're so positive we're lost."
He then twisted out of her grip and stomped up the steps.
Ginny glared after him, smarting from his reply, but she followed him up the steps. The stairs led to an equally ill-lit passageway, where a lone torch attempted to dispel the darkness. A tapestry hung from the wall, depicting a witch standing with a unicorn, a humongous dragon curled up at her feet. Malfoy impatiently pushed it aside, revealing yet another passage.
"Malfoy are you sure we're not lost?" Ginny could not help blurting out.
Malfoy sighed, saying, "Look, you Weasels may have trouble finding the nose on your face, but us Malfoys, we have an innate sense of direction- I know where we're going."
He proceeded down the hallway, and Ginny, feeling slightly assured, followed.
A door was visible, and Malfoy grasped the knob.
He attempted to turn it, but nothing seemed to happen. Perplexed, he preceded to rattle it, which apparently did nothing. He continued to jiggle the doorknob, but it seemed futile to Ginny, she grasped her wand and murmured, "Alohomora".
The door didn't open, but a loud voice behind them shouted, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! SOUND THE ALARM!"
Ginny and Malfoy whirled around, they saw a small, transparent man, grinning wickedly.
"Peeves," Malfoy groaned.
"Peeves please don't," Ginny pleaded desperately, "Come on, please Peeves."
The poltergeist merely cackled and flew at them. Ginny ducked, and when she straightened, she found herself looking at a very livid Snape.
"Weasley? Malfoy? What in the hell are you doing?" He snapped.
"P-Prof," Ginny stammered, "We're trying to get to the infirmary."
"Follow me," Snape said icily.
Ginny glanced at Draco, who was giving the door a final tug.