Worth It

Chapter 8

The next day everyone seemed to set out from their dorm rooms with a plan in mind. Snape had concluded that the only thing he could do was to seek out Willow, preferably in private, and apologise to her. He wasn't looking forwards to this in the slightest, and was toying with the idea of missing breakfast, so he wouldn't have to apologise to her in public. Despite his rather off-putting appearance, Snape did actually have some pride, and apologising to Willow at breakfast seemed equivalent to debasing himself in front of the whole school.

Luna was equally determined to just get through the day without thinking of Blaise. This plan lasted about as long as breakfast, when she spotted him coming into the Great Hall, and her stomach instantly tightened up.

Ginny, across the hall from Luna, had noticed Blaise walk in too. He had reached the Slytherin table and demanded a place by Draco when a plan occurred to Ginny. It was stupid and might well earn her a hex or two, but it was a plan. Blaise was friends with Draco. She was friends with Luna. If Luna told her everything that had happened, and how she was feeling, then maybe Blaise had confided in Draco.

Ginny tucked her hair behind her ears, and stared across the hall at Draco, who managed to ignore her for a record breaking seven minutes before finally turning round and glaring back.

This is not a good idea, Ginny.

She smiled at him, and coyly went back to eating her food. Across the hall, at the Slytherin table Draco was feeling rather confused. Griffindors weren't meant to smile at Slytherins. Griffindor girls especially were not allowed to smile at Slytherin boys; it was practically a rule. Draco was sure he could find it written down in some obscure book in the library.

As the students filed out to go to their classes, Draco's mind was still stuck on Ginny Weasley. The Weasleys hated him. Ron tried to lay into him every chance he got, Fred and George had used him as an unwilling guinea pig for some of their wilder pranks, and Ginny had… Draco paused.

Well, okay, actually she hasn't done anything. That doesn't explain why she was staring at me.

His mind wandered in the morning's lessons, and his teachers started to prepare themselves for what they knew would undoubtedly be some form of junior death eater defiance, but it never came. Draco was too busy thinking about Ginny, to even worry about whether he was doing the right thing by following his mother's wishes. He was actually looking forwards to seeing her again at lunch, just to find out if she would be looking at him again.

Not that he wanted her to be looking at him, he reminded himself, after all she was still a Weasley. He just wanted to know why she was staring at him, and why, in the name of Merlin, she had decided to smile at him.

When lunchtime finally came Draco didn't have long to wait. Before he could even get into the Great Hall, a small hand grabbed a fistful of his neatly pressed robes – something that no-one would usually be allowed to get away with – and dragged him inside an equally small room.

"Um," said a quiet, feminine voice.

"Weasley?"

"Yeah."

"Why the hell have you pulled me into a cupboard?" Draco squinted down at her in the darkness of the supply closet that she had dragged him into. Even in the faint light that filtered through under the door, he could tell that her cheeks would be flushed to the same colour as her hair.

"I thought it was a classroom." Ginny shuffled awkwardly. She had meant to bring Draco inside an empty classroom, but had miscounted the doors. Now she was practically squashed into him, inside a small stuffy closet. Not that he was unattractive, far from it in fact. It's just that that so wasn't why she had been trying to get him alone. She reached for the handle, but Draco quickly pulled her arm back and she winced at his tight grip.

"Are you crazy?" he whispered harshly, "I don't know how many people saw you drag me in here Weasel, but I can do without even more people seeing us leave a hall closet together!"

"But," Ginny stammered, "I need to talk to you." She was quickly coming to the conclusion that as plans went, hers sucked.

"What makes you think I want to talk to –you-?" Draco sneered.

Ginny felt her herself starting to sweat, and she scowled at Draco, "Because it's about Blaise."

In the darkness she couldn't tell whether his expression had changed, but she could feel him tense up, and pressed home the small advantage she had gained. "About Blaise and Luna."

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"And I think that my best friend crying herself to sleep every night, because of –your- best friend rather makes it my business."

Draco was flummoxed. If Ginny Weasley knew what had happened between Blaise and Luna, then why would she want to talk to him about it? Inside a musty old closet, of all places. For once he didn't know what to say, and wasn't enjoying the feeling.

Ginny's bravado was gathering momentum, and every minute that Draco Malfoy was not hexing her gave her more courage. True, she hadn't planned on having this conversation inside a storage cupboard, but when she considered it, it seemed like a good thing for Draco to be unable to see her face. The darkness seemed almost protective, plus there wasn't really enough room for him to be able to cast hexes effectively.

"What do you want to talk about them for?" Draco said, in an oddly tight voice. He did not want to be talking about his and Blaise's allegiances to Ginny Weasley, and yet it seemed as though that was where this conversation was headed. How else could he explain to her that Blaise hadn't known what his parents were planning?

"Remember when you walked into our carriage on the train? I was looking at you two, and I saw Blaise's face. I saw his eyes Draco, and he was sad." Ginny paused for breath after rattling off her confession. She hadn't told anyone what she had seen in Blaise's eyes, not even Luna. She couldn't bear the thought that she might be wrong.

"Why was he sad, Draco?"

Draco didn't answer. He was too busy trying to keep his breathing calm.

Sweet Merlin, the girl drags me in here and says she wants to talk about Blaise and Luna, and then she asks me why he's sad! Draco had been expecting accusations, maybe the implication that he had been involved too. He had thought that Ginny would be furious with Blaise, and with him for beings friends with Blaise, although being Slytherin was generally enough to invoke anger in Griffindors these days.

"Draco?"

Ginny was looking up at him, and he fancied he could see concern in her eyes. He was kidding himself, of course, he could scarcely tell where her eyes were, but the thought was comforting. She shuffled again, bumping up against him and he steadied himself against the cool wall behind him.

"For Merlin's sake Draco, say something!" Ginny hissed, and Draco focussed his attention back onto the fiery little girl who had actually summoned the courage to confront him. He choked back a rather manic giggle and stood up straight.

"He –was- sad." He paused, and smoothed out his robes, while trying to decide what to tell her. "I don't think I can tell you more than that. It's his business, not mine."

There, that lets her know she's right, without telling her too much. If she knows more, Merlin knows whom she might tell. She'll figure out why he was sad.

Ginny hardly heard Draco saying that wouldn't tell her any more. She knew all that she needed to now, and was almost shivering with excitement. If Blaise had been sad on the train, then that had to mean that he was upset about Luna, and if he was upset about Luna that could only mean one thing - that he was upset about what had happened to her.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

At the end of the day Willow was wearily making her way back to her rooms. It hadn't been an easy day and she had taught her first sixth and seventh year classes. The sixth year had been reasonable, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but the seventh years had been Slytherin and Griffindor.

From the moment she had walked into the room she realised that this wasn't going to be an easy class to win over. The Slytherins hated her and wanted her out of their house, and the Griffindors hated her and wanted her out of their school.

By the time she had reached her rooms Willow had her mind firmly set on having a nice relaxing bath, and then curling up with a book. She didn't even want to venture out for dinner, and had already collected some food from the house elves in the kitchen.

As she turned into the corridor containing the entrance to her rooms she noticed a figure lurking outside her painting, and recognised it, with a sinking feeling, as being Professor Snape.

Great. Just what I don't need right now, another dose of venom. She grinned to herself, Venom from the head snake, no less!

"Can I help you, Professor Snape?" she asked, with exaggerated politeness.

Snape turned to face her, his internal monologue repeating the mantra, You must apologise. You must apologise. It was the last thing he actually wanted to be doing, seeing the firm set to Willow's mouth, and the friendliness that wasn't reflected by her body language. He sighed and opened his mouth to speak, when she cut him off.

"Or did you just want to insult me some more?"

He supposed he deserved it. From the start he had made his feelings towards her more than evident, and now he was reaping what he had sown. Still, her brash manner irritated him and he drew his robes about him and glared down at her. It was unnerving that such a slip of a girl, who had to look up to meet his gaze, could stare him down with such a calculated coldness.

"I wanted to apologise to you. My behaviour the other night was rude and uncalled for."

There, he had said it. He turned abruptly on his heel and stormed off down the corridor. The encounter hadn't been pleasant, but by apologising now at least he could clear his conscience of one burden; his other sins being far too deeply etched. Saying sorry to a grave marker did little to alleviate guilt.

Willow was left gaping down the corridor after him, mouth open and eyes wide. Had the bat out of hell actually said sorry to her? Her ears told her that he had, and yet all of her reasoning powers were screaming at her that it couldn't have happened. Nasty, slimy potions masters did not spend one night screaming insults at you, and then come and apologise the next day.

She entered her rooms in a daze, and sank down onto her couch to think. Why on earth would he have had such a change of heart to feel bad about what he had done, let alone to summon the courage to apologise to her face to face?

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

After the students were meant to be in their dorms that night Ginny planned to sneak out to meet Luna. She hadn't, however, counted on Ron being suspicious about her whereabouts the previous evening. He had been to find Hermione and Harry and after much explaining, complete with vigorous hand gestures, had persuaded them to help him keep an eye on Ginny.

When Ginny snuck through the common room that night she didn't realise the dream team were watching her. Squashed together under Harry's invisibility cloak, the three children hardly dared to breathe as Ginny slipped past them, and out through the door. After waiting a moment they eased open the portrait of the fat lady and quietly begged her to tell them which way Ginny had gone.

Ginny was making good her escape, and congratulating herself on getting out of Griffindor tower without being spotted. She quietly scurried through the corridors that led to the room where Luna would be meeting her. The old castle seemed so quiet at night, a dramatic difference to the day time, when the old corridors buzzed with the laughter and movement of the children. Every few steps, Ginny would pause and look around her, sure that she could hear footsteps following here, but there was never anything to be seen.

If it was Snape, he wouldn't just be following me. He'd be shouting by now. With this reassurance Ginny continued her night time wanderings and the dream team, who had to keep stopping every time Ginny looked about her, continued to trail her.

The closer Ginny got to the room she would be meeting Luna in, the surer she became that someone was following her. It wasn't a nice feeling, and it settled in on her like snow landing, sending an icy chill down her back. Being alone in such dark and imposing corridors, with so many people staring down at her from the paintings she scarcely noticed during the day was scaring Ginny. Anyone could be following her. It could be a Slytherin. It could be her brother, and it was a testament to Ginny's feelings towards Ron that she hoped her tracker –was- a Slytherin. At least they wouldn't write home and tell her mother.

Finally the feeling of being watched got too much for her, and Ginny crept very, very slowly towards the corner ahead of her, slunk round it and then started to run. Her feet were making more noise now, and she was praying to whatever gods would listen that Filch wouldn't be near enough to hear. As she dashed through the few corridors remaining between her and her destination she felt cold from the night air, which seemed to hang in front of her in a heavy blanket. It was almost palpable, and as she breathed it in, in ragged gasps, it chilled her from the inside out.

Nature's survival mechanism was kicking in, and she felt adrenaline flow through her, making her breathing come erratically and sending shivers down her arms and legs. If someone had managed to keep up with her long enough to touch her shoulder, she would have jumped out of her skin with fright.

Casting one last glance over her shoulder she reached the classroom and careened in, just managing to resist the urge to slam the door shut. No-one seemed to be hot on her trail, and Luna was sitting comfortably at the teacher's desk with a confused expression on her face. Ginny swept her hair out of her eyes and quietly turned round and shut the door.

Ron, Harry and Hermione were stuck. When Ginny had rounded the corner and started running they hadn't know whether to follow her or not. If they had run to keep up with her they would never have been able to stay hidden under the invisibility cloak, but if they had been careful and stayed hidden they wouldn't be able to keep up. In the end they spent long enough agonising over what to do that Ginny was well away.

Ron pushed himself out from under the cloak in disgust.

"Where the hell does she think she's going? She's meant to be in bed!" he shouted, and slammed his hand against the wall to emphasise his point.

"Ron! Shush! We're meant to be in bed too!" Hermione whispered desperately, but the damage had already been done, and Snape rounded the corner with a triumphant expression on his face.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, might I ask what you are doing out of bed?" Snape asked in the silky tones of someone who knows he's finally got one over on a despised enemy.

"Sir, we were…" began Hermione.

"Is your name Potter?" Snape rounded on her. "I want him to explain himself."

"He hasn't done anything, I wanted him to come out!" Ron protested, drawing Snape's unforgiving wrath away from Harry for a second.

"I do not want to hear your excuses, Weasley!" Snape said grimly. The three of them had interrupted him thinking about Willow, and as a result they were not going to get any lenience from him. Potter was a continual thorn in Severus' side, from his father's bullying when Severus' had been in school to Potter suddenly becoming the saviour of the wizarding world, merely because he had not died while a baby.

Severus Snape hated Harry Potter for living. He hated him for being famous for living because it had required no skill or talent. He hated him for living because Lily had died. He hated him for being the sweetheart of the wizarding world, while Snape himself was nobody. Snape could have died at Lord Voldemort's hand on several occasions, but he hadn't. He still risked his life on a regular basis to provide information for the Order of the Phoenix, but he wasn't praised for it. He would always be looked down on for being a slimy potions master, for being a Death Eater.

Little things like this made it almost bearable.

"One hundred points off…"

"Ah, Severus, I see you are escorting the children to our meeting."

Snape's mouth hung open, midway through docking points, and he stared at the headmaster in confusion. This couldn't be happening. The children were out of bed, after hours. The old man surely couldn't be making excuses for them. They were sneaking around under an invisibility cloak for pity's sake!

The children looked equally shocked themselves. They had been bracing themselves for a major loss of house points, and no one had heard Dumbledore arriving. They knew they didn't have a meeting with him, so why was he out wandering the corridors, and claiming they were en route to see him?

"Meeting?" Snape asked feebly.

"Yes, yes!" Dumbledore assured him with a grin, "I asked the children to come and have a chat with me tonight. I'll take them from here, shall I?"

Before waiting for Snape to respond, which could likely have taken all night, Dumbledore hurried down the corridor with the three children in tow. Snape was left by himself in a dark corridor, with a rather horrible expression developing on his face. He had caught them, and then Dumbledore had to come to the rescue. It wasn't fair. He made a choking sound and stared at the portrait opposite him for a while, before walking stiffly back to his rooms, cursing the day Harry Potter joined Hogwarts.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

As the three Griffindors entered Dumbledore's office they shared glances that were equal parts curiosity and nervousness. They had been out of bed after hours, and now they were facing the headmaster. The fact that he had told Snape they were to be meeting him troubled them, and they looked eagerly up at the old man for answers.

Dumbledore's office was well lit, even at that late hour, and more than a hundred candles burned in different places about the room. Some were in wall brackets, some in elaborate candelabras, and some merely floated a few inches off the ceiling, their smoke curling up in the corners, and drifting down to the windows.

The headmaster had made himself comfortable in an armchair by the large wood fire across the room from his desk, and he gestured to the children to join him in the more relaxed and informal setting.

As they sat down, their confusion reached a peak, and Ron couldn't contain himself any longer.

"What's happening, Sir?"

Albus calmly looked at Ron, and answered, "You were out of bed after hours. Professor Snape was about to take house points."

Hermione valiantly resisted the urge to put her hand up before speaking, "But you stopped him, Sir."

"Yes, Hermione. I had rather wanted to talk to you three alone, and it seemed like as good an opportunity as any."

"How'd he know we were there?" Ron whispered to Harry, who shrugged and looked at Dumbledore, who had an unmistakable twinkle in his eye.

"Professor Willow Rosenberg," he announced, and looked at the three faces in front of him. Hermione was almost on the edge of her seat with anticipation over what he was about to tell them, whereas Ron was slumped backwards, looking off to one side and scowling. Albus would have his work cut out there, he was certain. Harry looked neither eager, nor disappointed, just politely curious to hear what would be said.

"I know you have not had many competent Dark Arts professors," Albus continued, "but I would like to ask you to all give Miss Rosenberg the benefit of the doubt. You all met her once, and seemed to get on before she was sorted into Slytherin."

Ron snorted his objection.

"Almost all of you got on well with her," Albus continued seamlessly, "and I would like to assure you that the fact that she has been sorted into Slytherin does –not- call her character into question. I am satisfied with her allegiances, and I would ask you to respect the fact that I know far more about this remarkable young woman than you do as yet."

"She tried to end the bloody world!" Ron exploded, "Doesn't that say enough?"

"Ron!" Hermione protested, but Dumbledore waved her into silence.

"Do you know why she tried to end the world, as you so dramatically put it, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore asked patiently. "If you do not, then you do not know this woman."

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

The young lady in question was also on a night time exploration of the castle, in an attempt to find Professor Snape, who she knew would be patrolling the corridors. Little did she guess that he had already had enough of the students and had retired in a foul mood to his chambers.

As Willow wandered through the corridors she neared the room in which Ginny and Luna were talking. Ginny had just finished explaining her dramatic entrance to Luna, who had assured her that it was probably a night time kevyl that was following her. Apparently a kevyl was a small mammal with large eyes, adapted for night time vision, and was only to be found in old buildings. The school was perfect habitat for it.

As the girls relaxed their conversation became loud enough for Willow, wandering the nearby corridors, to catch faint echoes of it. Curious, she followed the sound of the voices until she was outside the room where the girls were now talking about Draco. She was torn between her duty as a teacher to punish children out of their dorms after hours, and her need to understand what was happening between Luna and Blaise.

"You pulled Draco Malfoy into a supply cupboard?" Luna squeaked!

Well, that wasn't what Willow had been expecting to hear. She leaned against the wall next to the door, and strained to hear more. After Luna's outburst the girls had quietened down again, and were speaking in hushed voices. The urge to listen in defeated Willow's ethics, and she concentrated hard, creating a spell that would allow her to hear what was being said inside the room. Then she just leaned back, and waited to see what would come next.

"I asked him about something. You might be angry with me." Ginny admitted slowly, not quite wanting to look Luna in the eyes. Of course, telling her best friend what she had learned meant she had to admit to her initial suspicions from the train, and Ginny wasn't looking forwards to Luna's reaction.

"What did you ask him?" Luna said quietly. She had no idea why Ginny would consider talking to Draco Malfoy of all people. She would never have had the nerve to pull him into a closet and question him. It had to be something very important that Ginny had asked, otherwise she would never have risked upsetting the prince of Slytherin.

Willow, outside the door, was on tenterhooks as well. She didn't know that Ginny had been to talk to Draco and had reached the same conclusion as Luna; it had to be something very, very important for Ginny to defy her house and seek out conversation with a Slytherin. Not just any old Slytherin either, one of the most feared and respected boys in the house. Willow had learned this quickly. Draco Malfoy was not someone to be messed with, even with his father publicly outed as a Death Eater. Maybe more so because of it, in fact.

"You know when Blaise came into our carriage on the train?" Ginny continued carefully, not wanting Luna to become upset again. "You weren't really looking at him, were you?"

Luna, calm as she was, coloured up a bit and opened her mouth to protest that she didn't –want- to be looking at the person who had betrayed her trust so cruelly.

"No, I mean, that's not a bad thing. You were upset. That's understandable." Ginny hastily added, before Luna could explain. "I just meant that you didn't see the look on his face. Oh Luna, he looked so upset. He walked in and saw you, and his eyes were so sad. That's what I asked Draco about; whether Blaise was upset on the train."

Willow's heart was in her mouth on hearing those words.

Oh Goddess, please let this be true. Please, just let this be true, and I'll be a good little witch, I swear it. I'll even join the Order!

Luna was staring at Ginny with the oddest expression on her face. She felt as though she had a lump in her throat that was stopping her from breathing, let alone talking. Her stomach was suddenly in turmoil, it felt as though it had a fire burning in it and the heat rushed through, bringing a blush to Luna's usually pale cheeks.

"What…" Luna began, and bit her lip. Did she really want to know what Draco had said? "What did he say?"

"He said yes!" Ginny announced triumphantly.

"But," Luna said with a tremble to her voice, "why would he be upset?"

Willow knew why and her heart was singing as she hugged herself. She only just managed to keep herself from laughing in delight, but as it would have given the game away she managed to control it and her sides shook with the effort. Blaise had to be a good guy!

"You idiot!" Ginny hissed, with a smile that softened her words, "He couldn't have known what his parents were going to do! He was upset about what happened!"

Willow decided she had heard enough and walked away from her post outside the room, grinning to herself like a lunatic all the way back to her room. She scarcely noticed the time, or how cold the corridors were. She had more important things to think about.

If Blaise was a good guy, then was Draco as well? He was best friends with Blaise, surely that couldn't happen if they were on different sides in this war. The thought brought her back down to earth with a bump. This was a war they were caught up in. A war being fought by children inside the very school. The Slytherin boys wouldn't have anyone to talk to. Snape was hardly a good confidant, the Slytherins probably knew he was a Death Eater, their fathers would have told them so.

Willow decided as she got back to her room, that the very next day she would seek out Draco and Blaise and talk to them. If she was right in her guess then they might well need someone to confide in, and she was a teacher now after all.

"Please Goddess," she whispered, "let me help them."

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.