Disclaimer - I own nothing except the plot and the made up characters.
Chapter 16 – Heart of shadow
Draco and Ginny meandered through the shadows of the castle, the afternoon sun shining milkily through the bare trees.
They were both lost in thoughts of their own, but still joined at the hand. Ginny felt her thoughts were just going in circles; how would they keep this secret? Should she tell Ron? No she couldn't, he'd flip and probably kill Draco or something. What were they going to do?
But the one thought that reigned over the others was, when they parted, would what they'd just had be forgotten?
She tried to displace the thought, but it continued to return, floating ominously to the surface of her mind.
Abruptly, he pulled her to her. They both reflected a moment on how this action and closeness felt so natural.
"Don't worry about it," Draco told her, aware of what she was feeling – because he was feeling many of the same things but for different reasons.
"But there's so much that could go wrong," she whispered. She couldn't think of a single person who would approve of their decision. Not that it was a decision really; she reminded herself, more something that felt inevitable.
"I know," agreed Draco, stroking her hair thoughtfully, wondering where the strong feelings he felt flooding through his system had come from. "But I've never felt more positive in my life."
She smiled, reaching on tiptoes and pressing a kiss firmly to his mouth. Draco's lips curved against hers before cupping the back of her head in his hand. The kiss deepened, an exploration of each other's mouths, gentle yet necessary.
And so they continued, up the stone steps of the castle and in through the great double doors, the fingers clasped tightly together.
Both of them felt as though in a dream, like one's head had been left on a soothingly scudding cloud whilst one's body had to continue on the physical plane. The feel broke abruptly when they heard someone coming swiftly towards them though.
As Blaise rounded the corner he saw just the two people he was looking for facing off in front of him.
"I may be dirt poor, but at least I'm not dirt," Ginny growled unconvincingly – her eyes were too soft and her mouth was pink and swollen.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that little weasel." Blaise noticed that Draco also sounded somewhat unthreatening – as a teddy bear is – and that his insult had no effect whatsoever on the youngest Weasley. He put two and two together easily.
"Spare me," he snapped. "Persephone needs your help. Now."
Ginny looked up immediately. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"Follow me."
Ginny and Draco exchanged looks before following Blaise along the corridor. Worry lines creased on Ginny's forehead, and an inexplicable guilt washed over her. She should have stayed with Persephone, when Persephone had said she was ill.
Blaise strode quickly, his countenance darkly thunderous. Not because he was angry with them for finally getting together – it was going to happen at some point – but more because he unaccustomed to being this worried for someone. What happened if Ginny couldn't help Persephone? What if there was nothing they could do? What if she died?
Blaise tried to block these thoughts from his mind, but his pace speeded up; even Draco was having to hurry to keep up.
The pain had worn off a little now; it had been replaced with the illusion of floating. Persephone, flexed her limbs cautiously, trying to find something to take hold of, but there was nothing.
She didn't know which way up she was; in fact she didn't even know what kind of place she'd ended up in. It had better be good, for all the pain she'd gone through to get there.
For awhile, when the agony had not ceased, she'd given into the pain letting it consume her, letting it stop her heart and still her breathing. But Blaise had shaken her out, brought her back for a second to her world – to the real world.
Knowing that help was on its way had eased her suffering somehow. So in her waiting, she taught herself to ride the waves of pain, to detach herself from them and treat them as another sensation altogether. In this way, she lost track of how much time had passed, how long she had been in pain.
Slowly the pain had lessened, as though she'd passed the point of no return. Now she felt only little twinges, which seemed nothing to her strengthened spirit. Persephone felt mentally weak, as though she'd taken a long journey, but at the same time, ready for more, like the burst of energy after the recovery from a long race.
She wanted to know where she was, why she was here and how she got here. Yet no answers presented themselves, her strength returned though, enough to allow her to open her eyes. There was all white, all around, but even as she watched it faded, through grey into black. As it faded her body began to ground itself.
There were sensations against her legs and upper body, softness, warmth. Persephone realised that although she clearly remembered opening her eyes, her actual vision was shut. It was a strange sensation, like having mental eyes and physical eyes. She could see darkness, but knew that when she gathered the strength to open her eyes, she would see light.
Slowly, very slowly, she pried eyes stuck with sleep and weariness open. The first thing she saw was the ceiling, stone eaves sloped upwards into a peak at the middle of the room.
Where was Blaise?
She sat up slowly in bed, feeling her bones creak in protest, everything hurt. The world around her seemed blurry, as though she couldn't focus on anything in particular, it made her feel almost dizzy.
Persephone used the bed to push herself into a standing position. On the wall opposite was a full-length mirror; staring back at her from it was a tall blonde woman wearing comically pink pyjamas.
What the hell?!
Very Sorry about the wait guys, but I have actually just been snowed under forever with work. It's great. But anway, I did what i could with this chapter. It's not very long I know, but I figured that you'd rather have a chapter than not at all!
Anyway, sorry again! And feedback is always welcome. xx Susannah xx