(A/N – I know Draco is out of character. You'll find out why in a bit. Ginny however is not out of character. She's out of cannon, but honestly…her cannon is the embodiment of innocence…but how could she be sweet and happy and smart and, well, normal…after what happened to her? So although she is not how I would normally write her, she is not out of character.)
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When she reached the bottom of the tunnel, she released her breath. She walked across the pile of old bones, left behind from the basilisk's feasts. The sound of bones crunching under her feet made her wince slightly, but she kept going. She needed to get to the chamber; needed the rush she got from it.
The darkness of the tunnel surrounded her, but she didn't light her wand. She liked the fear that the danger of darkness gave her.
Placing her hand on the wall for support, she made her way down the tunnel. When she finally reached the chamber, she used her wand to light the torches. Looking around, she could see her own blood, dried after years of being here, all over the floor. She gasped loudly when she realized there was already someone here, sitting on the ground in the darkness.
The hooded and cloaked figure turned at her gasp, causing his hood to fall from his head. Ginny gasped again when she realized who it was.
"Malfoy?" she said questioningly.
"Weasley? What the fuck are you doing down here?" he asked, sounding surprised and angry.
"I…well…what are you doing down here? And how did you get in…you can't speak parseltongue!"
"I cheated…since when can you speak parseltongue?"
She looked away. "Since my first year."
His eyes widened. "Oh. I guess that would be my father's fault then, wouldn't it."
Ginny looked him right in the eye. "Yes."
"He's in prison now, thanks to your friend Potter."
"He is not my friend," Ginny said. He looked strangely at her. "He thinks he is…but he doesn't even know who I am."
"Oh, it's like that. Well if it's any consolation, nobody knows who I am either."
Ginny nodded. "Yeah…doesn't surprise me. Hey…why are you talking to me?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Why not?"
"Doesn't seem like you…"
"Well coming down here doesn't exactly seem like something you would do either," he replied quickly.
"Don't tell anyone."
"I won't if you don't."
"Alright."
"So why did you come down here anyway?" he asked her curiously.
Ginny sat down on the ground a few feet away from him and, forgetting about her arm, slid her pajama shirt off, leaving only a tank top and her makeshift bandage. "Nightmares."
Draco eyed her strangely. Wondering what he was looking at, Ginny looked down in the direction she thought Draco was looking. "Oh shit," she said quietly.
"If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask." She shrugged. HE slid a little closer to her and reached slowly towards her arm. She winced a bit but did not pull away. Seeing this as an invitation, he began untying the scrap of material that held the cloth tightly to her skin. When he was finished, the cloth fell to the ground, revealing her heavily scared arm.
The newest cut was still open, and tiny drops of blood ran down her arm. Once again feeling the rush of relief that cutting gave her, Ginny sighed quietly and closed her eyes.
"When did you do that?" Draco asked.
"I dunno…twenty minutes ago," Ginny replied, her eyes still closed.
Draco wiped the blood away and tied the cloth tightly on her arm again.
She looked sadly into his eyes as silent tears began trickling slowly from hers. She looked down at the ground. "Sorry," she whispered almost inaudibly.
"Shhhh," he whispered back.
She smiled weakly at him. "You're really different."
"So are you…"