This is very rushed, as I don't think I'll be updating for a while. I'll do a personal thank you in my next update.
Disclaimer: The only things that belong to me are the plot, Soleil (who is, in reality, the name of one of my best friends), a few house-elves, Desdemona, and all the other jazz J.K.R. couldn't be bothered putting in her books.
Malfoy Manor was a horror unto itself.
A huge, looming thing, located northeast of Hogwarts, it stood out as the only house anywhere for several miles.
Why this was, they felt they'd rather not know.
The Manor was located in a small village, Malfoy Intrinsica, and was surrounded by a low stone wall. The Manor itself was about fifteen stories tall.
Draco flew before it for a moment, screwing up his eyes. The others hovered behind him, watching closely. Their attention was diverted, however, when a small, just barely noticeable and chipped green door appeared just underneath a tree.
"House-elf entrance," Draco said. For a moment, he remembered what Ginny had said to him the moment he had woken up in the cave, and he glanced back at them. "We freed the after Fa—Lucius left, and now they're in employment elsewhere, in some sort of elf-run bar in Switzerland."
Ron snorted. "Switzerland?"
Draco pointed his broom into a dive, and neatly swooped. He slowed to a stop and touched the ground. "Good chocolate."
He pulled at the doorknob, which seemed to wriggle for a moment, before disappearing. Draco looked crestfallen. "Damn. Only house-elves can touch it, for security measures, and only elves tied to our Manor."
"What now?" Soleil surveyed their position. "Isn't there a main door?"
Draco shook his head. "Mother is away, an she has taken the key with her. No door into this house will open without that key."
"What about climbing up the—what in bloody—," Hermione had pointed to an open window, and her watch had seemed to twinkle slightly. In a moment, a long, tough fiber had sprung out and attached itself to the windowsill.
"Good job, 'Mione." Ron looked up, squinting.
"What did you do?" Ginny demanded. "All you did was point?" She tried it and nothing came out. "That was SOOOOO cool! Why can't we do that?"
Hermione tugged at the fiber, but it stayed put. "It looks like you'll have to climb up there, and pull me up afterwards."
Soleil looked at the dizzying height, and frowned. "Um, can't we just fly up on our broomsticks?"
While the others gave her stares, Blaise, who had been quiet thus far, waved a hand. "There are wards everywhere, m'dear. Any magical thing attempting to fly over this wall will be incinerated, along with its rider. There were signs a while back."
Draco smirked, and bent to pick up a twig from his broomstick. "Makes for good sport, though." He threw the twig as far as he could. It was almost across the wall when something seemed to grab hold of it.
In a moment, scarlet flames lapped at it, then ended up disappearing in midair, ashes and all.
"Wow…"Soleil whispered.
"I pity your mailman." Ginny said indifferently. "So come on, let's get inside!" She twanged on the rope, and it bounced slightly.
"Ginny, what if it's not stable?" Hermione began, but the redhead had already swung herself onto the filament and inched forward.
"You know, this will take a while, so…" She rolled off to the side, and ended up holding on with her hands, her feet inches off the ground. With what seemed like little effort, she took one arm off the rope and swung it to the front. The other arm soon took over, then the other, and the other.
When she was halfway across the rope, Hermione, who had been leaning back, motioned to Soleil.
"You next. You're lightest."
Soleil nodded, but her face seemed ashen as she grabbed on, and began to swing across.
Ron went shortly after, then Harry. Draco stood for a moment, observing Hermione, who seemed to be only slightly fazed from the strain.
"You're not that bad, Granger."
She grunted, although in a semi-friendly way, and nodded at the fiber. Draco grasped it, and made his way across and into through the window in record time.
As he jumped through, he realized where they were. "This is our parlor, for entertaining guests, so I'd say this is the tenth floor."
There wasn't much there; he and his mother had moved all the antiques downstairs and sold them, as most of them either bit you or cursed you.
Draco turned back around and looked down at Hermione, who was decidedly less pink looking and had moved forwards a few feet.
"Granger! We're pulling you back up!"
Hermione shook her head, and pointed at the watch. "It understands! It understands!"
Draco turned to Ron. "Weasley, I think your girlfriend had gone mad."
Ron snarled a little, but stuck his head out. "Hermione, what are you talking about? It's a bloody watch!"
"Move back!" Was her only reply. Casting dubious glances towards each other, they did as bidden.
"Up!" Hermione could be heard shouting. There was a whirring noise, and a something that sounded suspiciously like a zipper. Suddenly, Hermione popped up in the window, breathless.
A three-pronged hook unclasped itself from behind the shutter, folded up, and disappeared under the beeping watch still on Hermione's hand.
"I can give it verbal commands! That's why it shot up when I asked how we were going to get up there and pointed!" She seemed ecstatic. "And I think it detected the magical barrier, because that's a Muggle invention, a grappling hook!"
"Yes, that's wonderful and all, Granger, but we really must be going." Draco interrupted. Hermione looked a bit dejected, and Ginny shot him a dirty look. He was surprisingly hurt by it, but ignored the feeling and turned, opening the door.
There was no one in the hallway, so Draco led them to his parents' bedroom on the same floor with no problem.
"Mother hasn't latched it since Lucius left." He explained, opening the ornate wooden door easily.
The inside was marvelous; all covered in green and black marble, and in the center of the room was a magnificent, four poster bed. Rows upon rows of bookshelves covered the walls, and on the right side of the room was a large desk.
Draco headed for the desk immediately. "I'll look for some clue of where the lair could be, and you all…just don't touch anything!"
There was a resounding crash, and he turned, seething as he saw Soleil standing over a pile of glass.
"It was a pretty duck character thing…" she whispered. Draco growled, and she jumbled to fit it together.
"Oi, Soleil, just use the spell!" Ginny muttered, and at the same time trying to pull her friend up.
Hastily mumbling "Reparo!" Soleil managed to scramble to her feet. "Sorry about that…"
"No problem," Draco ground out. He turned on his heel and stalked to the desk, pulled out the plush leather chair, and sat down.
"Yeesh. I hope his stupid pleather chafes his arse…"
Harry, Ron and Blaise couldn't help but snicker at Ginny's comment. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I doubt you even know what pleather is!"
"Sure we do!" Ron cried indignantly. "It's—oi, Harry, tell her what it is!" Harry smiled and shook his head.
"It's imitation leather, Ron. It's a Muggle thing, and used for people who can't afford real leather."
"Oh. Oh!" Ron laughed again as the joke really sank in. Ginny had to try very, very hard not to roll her eyes, and even then it was just barely managed.
"What do we do while the dragon's doing his work?" Blaise slumped against a bookshelf, arms crossed.
"Let's do that first-word game, Ginny, the one Lavender was trying to teach us." Hermione glanced at the redhead. " I seem to remember it being very childish."
"You only said so because of your answer." Ginny replied. "Now, let's start with Soleil!"
The raven-head nodded. "Bring it on, my friend. Bring it on." The two giggled slightly, and Ginny thought for a moment, then waved her wand in an elaborate pattern.
"Truscio." She murmured. "Now, what is the first thing you think of when you hear the word, 'Boys'?"
"Boxers." Soleil clapped a hand to her mouth, and Blaise, Harry and Ron stared.
"Gin, what did you do?" Ron said. Ginny shrugged.
"It's a spell we learned, or at least, Lavender did. It makes you tell the truth, but it's deeper then Veratiserum, although it can be deflected." She pointed her wand at Ron. "Truscio. What do you think of when I say, 'Hermione'?"
"Kissing." Ron's face turned a deep, deep red, and Hermione's soon matched it. Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him.
"Geez, Ginny, that was awful! I never knew you were so mean," he teased. Ginny pretended to look affronted.
"Oh, really? Truscio!" She cried. "What about Fleur Delacouer?"
"Hot." Harry managed a weak smile as they all laughed. Ginny grinned evilly and looked around. This was going to be fun.
By midnight, Draco had finished all his father's old documents, or the one's his mother hadn't torched anyway. They were of no help, and he was getting a pounding headache from the cheers erupting behind him every few moments.
He shut a heavy tome and stood, stretching. With a sigh, he walked over to the group, sitting in a circle.
"I didn't find anything." He told them.
Every single eye swiveled towards him, and he didn't like the way they were looking at him.
"Truscio!" Six voices shouted. Draco felt in unbearable urge to spill about anything they asked him. He blinked once, twice, and looked at them quizzically.
"What'll all that do to him, Ginny?" Hermione asked.
Ginny was squinting slightly, looking at him oddly. "I dunno. I suppose it means he won't be able to not answer. Mind you, this only works for one question, so it had better be a good one."
"Like any of the questions here are good." Blaise sulked. Harry snorted.
"You're just upset because the first thing out of your mouth was 'whips' when we mentioned Soleil's name."
Blaise blushed, and desperate for revenge, turned his gaze to Draco. "Well, we'll see if we can find something different. Draco?"
The blonde stared dumbly at him, riveted. "All right?"
"What do you think of when I say, 'Ginny'?"
There was a long, drawn out silence, in which Draco seemed to be fighting against whatever magic was making him answer. He fingered his bow, twanging the string every now and then.
Ginny was faintly ashen-faced, and was staring at him raptly. Ron, Hermione, Harry and Soleil were riveted to the scene before them.
"I think of…" He said. Then he stopped. "It's too complicated." He answered, leaving it at that. But it wasn't enough for them.
"Truscio! What do you mean too complicated?" Ron stared hard at him. Draco shrugged.
"Too many things going through my head."
"Truscio! Do you like her?" Harry said.
"I don't know. Like I said, it's too complicated."
"Truscio! What exactly do you feel?" Even Hermione was eager to find out what was happening, and everyone watched intently as Draco struggled with this answer.
"I feel—warm, and I feel like—like it's wrong when she's upset, and she shouldn't be that way, and she should always be happy, and I feel—mad at myself for not being like what my parents raised me too, because I want to be friends with her, and that's not supposed to happen."
"Traitor!" Something hissed from the shadows. A small, dark form scurried out from behind the bed, and glided down the stairs.
Draco shook himself, and glared at those around him. "What the bloody hell was that?"
Blaise could see the rising anger in his friends' eyes, and scurried to his feet. "Heh, Draco, Drake, good buddy, old pal! It was a joke, just a nice, nice, joke!"
But as the silver-eyed boy advanced on him, Soleil jumped to her feet.
"Hey, don't you think we should follow whatever it was that was just here? It could be a clue?"
Blaise shot her a relieved look and all but sprinted out of the room, followed closely by the others, and a fuming, blushing Draco.
Soleil glanced down at Ginny, who was getting up rather slowly. "You ok, Gin?"
The redhead seemed dazed, and for a moment, Soleil wondered if she was really affected by Draco's words. Then she shook herself.
"I'm just fine. It would have been better if he had just said something like handcuffs, though…"
Soleil giggled nervously, then followed her friend out of the room. There, they found Draco stringing an arrow to his bow, and moving it slowly down the staircase.
A small green creature with wide, purple eyes and pointy ears was staring at them. Vaguely resembling a house-elf with no clothes on, it pointed a round finger at them.
"You've betrayed the house of Malfoy! Lucius was wrong! You are not his son! Desdemona will kill you for this!"
Draco let the arrow fly, and the creature managed to move away. Ginny caught a glimpse of a forked tail before it started darting down the stairs.
"Follow it!" cried Harry.
They all loped easily down the stairs, and their legs being longer then the creatures, they were soon catching up to it.
"I think it's heading for the dungeons!" Draco said. Ron stopped short, almost tripping Ginny, who was running behind him.
"You have dungeons in your house?"
Ginny shoved him so hard he just barely missed the steps, and instead flew to the bottom of the staircase, hitting it with a loud thud.
"You great big git! YOU DON'T STOP RUNNING FOR SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT!" she shouted, looking very disheveled. Ron whimpered and tried to crawl away.
"I think we should stop teasing Weasley about how scared he is of his sister. It looks like he has reason." Blaise whispered in Draco's ear. The blond nodded, wide eyed, as Ginny brushed some hair out of her eyes.
"Get UP! We have to find this DAMN THING! I want to hurry up and get RID OF IT so I can GO HOME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"
Ron nodded, and everyone instantly felt sorry for him. It seemed Molly Weasley had decided to pass on her temper to her only daughter. Ginny instantly softened.
"Good. Now then, let's go inside these dungeons, shall we?"
The creature had long since disappeared, and so they had to rely on Draco's instructions as they loped easily down endless hallways and down more staircases.
Draco stopped just short of a large, mahogany door, and took a deep breath. "If there's anything weird in this castle, it's bound to be in here. Lucius never let me come down here. When he did, he always came back bruised and scratched."
There was a long, long silence. Draco knew what they were thinking. What if, lying behind this door, was Desdemona, waiting to get rid of them?
"Let's do this."
Surprisingly, it was Soleil who said it, her eyes cold with new resolve. She glanced at Ginny. "It seems like nothing's going to happen if we just stand out here, so let's go." Ginny winked at her, and Soleil managed a smile.
"Well then…" Draco had felt his stomach constrict as Ginny had winked, and now he pulled back the latch on the door. "Let's go." The door swung open, greeting them to a murky sort of darkness.
"Where the hell are our wands?" Harry said suddenly.
Hermione blushed. "Oh my. I suppose with all the excitement, we all forgot…" Ginny suddenly stood rigid.
"I think my suit's reacting," she mumbled at everyone's looks. Her hand moved of it's own accord into the big, middle pouch of her belt, which was surrounded by two others, smaller, on each side. She drew out a torch.
"Ok…how do we light it?" Blaise stared at it.
Ginny shrugged. "I dunno. Hermione?" But the bushy-haired girl was way ahead of her. She positioned her watch just in front of it, and whispered "Fire". A small red beam shot out of it, and the torch flared.
They all looked up into the newly lit room.
Ginny heard only a rushing noise, before she stumbled back. Draco grabbed onto her just before she fell down the winding staircase in front of them, and felt a liquid on her suit. He drew his fingers into the light and realized they were a crimson color.
Ginny looked down at her previously pristine white suit and let out a gasp at the blood seeping through the suit from her stomach.
Ginny had always used a very advanced vocabulary, and rarely cursed, unless she was seriously disoriented or pissed off. But now, as seven pairs of eyes became trained on her stomach, only two words escaped her.
"Holy shit!"