Chapter 7: Interlude

The nightmare is finally over.

That was Ginny's first thought the moment she saw Draco walk into The Leaky Cauldron. Caught in her excitement and relief, she rushed at him and threw herself into his arms—she'd always wanted to do that. Just throw herself into his arms like that. And maybe she'd do it more often. It seemed as though Draco didn't quite mind, as he embraced her for quite a while before finally pulling away.

"Draco, I'm so happy to see you. And I can't believe you're all right! I mean, I'm all right, and you're all right! Merlin, I'm just so happy!" Ginny cried aloud. She wanted to hug Draco again right then, but as soon as she met his eyes, she couldn't look away.

Draco stared at her silently, taking in every inch of her face, every freckle, crease, and color, mapping out all the territories of her countenance—the mountain that was her nose, the oceans that were her eyes…

Draco slowly began moving his face forward.

"Oh, Draco," Ginny whispered. Knowing where this was going, she closed her eyes, more than ready for his kiss.

Please! Stop! Don't hurt her! Draco was shouting in his mind the whole time. He didn't know why he couldn't control his own body. He was grateful he hadn't completely lost his mind yet, but Ginny! God! Move! Draco wanted to shout at her. But he could only feel his face moving closer and closer to her neck.

STOP!

Ginny opened her eyes and looked up. Draco had suddenly stopped, and the grip on her arms had tightened. "Draco?" She said warily, her eyes wide. She looked at her arms. "Draco, let go. You're hurting me," she said worriedly. But then she looked at him more intently and noticed that his head was shaking. It was as though his body wanted to move his face closer to her, but some invisible force was stopping him from doing so.

"St—" Draco suddenly wheezed.

Horror-stricken, Ginny tried to get away from him, but Draco was holding her too tightly. "Draco, let go!" She said with more force this time. She tried pulling away as hard as she could, but all to no avail. Draco's head was still shaking in the same manner. Ginny looked at his eyes again, but now they had watered up. There were tears in his eyes.

"Please!" Draco suddenly said in a shuddering gasp.

"Please? Please what, Draco?" Ginny asked, panicked.

And then Draco gave a choked gurgling sound before his face suddenly started plunging toward her neck, faster than she could believe. Ginny turned her head away and heard herself scream, but when she ran out of breath to scream, she opened her eyes and blinked. No one was holding her arms anymore. She felt her neck with shaky hands and discovered no bite marks. And then she looked on the floor and found an unconscious Draco Malfoy before her.

"Draco!" Ginny jumped as she rushed toward him. But before she could get to where he lay, someone caught her arm. Ginny turned and met the face of her older brother. "Ron?" She looked from Ron to Draco and back again. "Ron, what're you doing here?"

"Saving your life? Again?" Ron bit out. "You're ever so welcome," He said dryly.

"Ron, something's wrong with Draco. We've got to get him back to Madam Pomphrey," Ginny said.

"Nothing is wrong with Malfoy here. Well, he's a little psychologically disturbed, definitely, but nothing you'd classify as wrong."

"Ron, what're you saying?" Ginny let out an exasperated sigh.

"Gin, do you know why Harry isn't here? Or Hermione? Do you know why only I am here to get you?" Before Ginny could answer, Ron spoke again. "Oh. That would be because Draco randomly attacked Harry with a Sectum-whatever spell and basically made Harry implode. Then he turned me into a weasel. And now Hermione's back at Hogwarts keeping an eye on Harry. Who is injured. Because of him," Ron pointed seethingly at the spot where Draco lay.

Taken aback, Ginny said, "What? What're you talking about?"

"Malfoy. He isn't just an asshole boyfriend. He's a Death Eater."

"WHAT!" Ginny shrieked. The few people at The Leaky Cauldron had already begun to look in her direction. It was lucky that the tables around them hid Draco's unconscious form. She lowered her voice. "Ron, that's rubbish."

Obviously not caring about the people staring, Ron threw his arms into the air and hollered. "RUBBISH! One of our best friends nearly bled to death, Malfoy blatantly attacked us, and you're telling me this is rubbish!"

Ginny hesitated a moment. "Well… Ron, we just need to get him back to the Infirmary."

"Oh? So he can kill us all when he wakes up? I'm honestly surprised I could knock him out at all. What—with such a thick head and all? You'd think all that conditioner in his hair would serve as some sort of protection."

"Speaking of thick heads," Ginny growled as she glared at her brother.

"Yeah! Speaking of thick heads? Malfoy here just tried to take a chunk out of your neck! And you still want to be near him. And you're telling me I have a thick head?" Ron huffed.

"Can we please just take him back?" Ginny sighed.

"No," Ron said.

"We can't just leave him here to rot and die," Ginny said, disgusted.

"Uh, yeah. We can." Ron said bluntly.

"Ron, you know we can't. Just put your hatred toward him aside. Please? Something's obviously wrong with him."

"With his mind, you mean," Ron crossed his arms over his chest.

"Actually, I think you're right," Ginny said. Ron blinked when he heard his sister agreeing with him. "It's weird, but I think he's possessed. Or something. He's still got his mind, I think. When he was trying to bite me, well, there was a minute where he just paused. Like, he was trying to stop himself. I think he said 'stop' and 'please'. He was trying to stop himself from biting me."

Ron rolled his eyes. "For all you know, he was probably sputtering foam."

"He doesn't have rabies, Ron," Ginny rolled her eyes in return. "And you can't spontaneously sputter 'please', no matter how hard you try."

"Just don't talk to me anymore about this. I'm only agreeing to bring him back because Hermione would probably be upset about me leaving this monster in public."

"Don't call him a monster," Ginny said.

"Okay. I'm only agreeing to bring him back because Hermione would probably be upset about me leaving this butterfly fairy princess in public."

"Shut it, Ron. Do you have the money?" Ginny put her hands on her hips.

Ron knew he'd probably end up regretting bringing Draco back with them, but when Ginny was in one of her moods, well, it was like trying to stop his mother when she was in one of her moods. Almost near impossible. Which was why no one had been able to tell her to stop making those wool sweaters every Christmas. Because once you have ten or twelve of them, you're pretty much set for life with the wretched things. Except for Harry, of course, who actually liked the sweaters. Only Merlin knew why. Well, maybe not even Merlin knew.

"I hope you know you're paying me back for having to pay extra to Floo Malfoy here." Ron told Ginny as they lined up in front of the fireplace.

Ginny looked skeptically at Ron. "That's Harry's money."

"No, it's not," Ron said, looking away. Under his breath, he muttered, "Half is Hermione's."

x x x

Draco awoke with a startle. His first thoughts were about Ginny and her safety, but he slowly turned his head and found himself staring at her face. And thankfully, he wasn't trying to bite her neck.

"You're not going to try and kill me again, are you? Because that would be awkward," Ginny smiled. She used her fingers to move some hair off Draco's forehead. Then she turned and said, "Hey, guys. He's awake."

Shortly after, Ron and Hermione stood next to Ginny, who was still sitting on Draco's bed in the Infirmary.

"What happened?" He finally muttered. His head was throbbing.

"You're a half vampire again. Well, sort of," Ginny said sadly.

"No!" Draco shouted. He tried to get up then, but was immediately pushed back down by Ginny and Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione said calmly. "Let me explain."

Ron was sighing quite obviously and rolling his eyes. Until Hermione elbowed him.

"The first time Riddle bit you, you turned into a vampire. You were basically a completely different person, completely controlled by bloodlust alone. But now that you've turned into a vampire again, the affects of being a vampire aren't as strong this time around. From what Ginny tells me, it seems your physical being and part of your mind is controlled by bloodlust, but your subconscious mind—basically the little 'voice' most people ignore, is not being controlled by your bloodlust."

Draco slowly scooted up the headboard and sat up in his bed. "This sounds like a load of crap."

Hermione's mouth fell open. "What? Why? I explained it quite clearly!"

"If I'm really a vampire, why am not trying to bite you guys right now?" Draco crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at Hermione.

"Apparently not clearly enough," Ron muttered.

Hermione sighed. "Fine, I forgot to tell you about that part. You should remember from when Professor Lupin was here that he subdued his werewolf being by taking the wolfsbane potion. Madam Pomphrey has concocted a similar serum, only that it subdues your vampire being." Hermione reached behind her and showed Draco a bottle. "See? Here's some more for when the current dose runs out."

Slowly, Draco said, "And when does the dose run out? And what happens then? And am I a freak like this forever?"

"That's the thing. We don't know when it runs out," Hermione said. "Vampires are creatures who are quite nearly extinct at this point. Well, I really shouldn't call them creatures, they were human at one point." Then she looked at Draco and corrected herself. "Well, they are human. But Madam Pomphrey basically made up this potion. Since there aren't many vampires in the world, most people who have been turned into vampires were turned by choice, and if they weren't turned by choice, then they never really found medical assistance in time to halt the process."

"Halt the process?" Draco asked. He hated being so dependent on someone else's information.

"Yes. Madam Pomphrey says that she believes there is a way to stop the process. She's never actually had a vampire patient before—I mean, how odd is that? But she's got her medinurses researching it right this minute."

"And why isn't she researching it?" Draco asked bitterly.

Hermione suddenly fell silent.

"She's tending to Harry," Ginny said quietly.

"Tending to—" Draco sputtered.

"You remember what you did, don't you?" Ron bit out.

"Ron, stop," Ginny said. "He wasn't himself."

"So, tell me. What is he like as himself?" Ron then rounded on Ginny. "Is he what he's like when he's with you? Or when he's playing Death Eater with his daddy dear? Or when he's with his Slytherin trash? Or when he's—"

"Ron, that's enough!" Ginny stood up. "Just leave him alone, okay? Honestly, sometimes I wonder if it's your fault that you two never got along. Harry's had his issues with Draco, but he's trying to make the best of the situation."

"I'm sure he'd have something else to say if he wasn't bleeding to death at the moment," Ron said. He saw Draco's eyes widen. "That's right, Malfoy. Harry's bleeding to death. Bet your father'll be really proud of you now. You killed Harry Potter."

"Ron!" Hermione protested.

"You might even get your own tattoo now!" Ron's lips twisted into a hideous grin. "You might even—"

"Harry Potter is not dead."

Everybody turned to see Harry casually walking toward the lot of them.

"Harry!" Hermione cried out. "Harry, you're okay!"

"Just a little cut up and bruised, but I've been through worse," he said as he made his way toward Draco. He stared at the blonde in the bed. "You okay?"

Draco gawked. He still couldn't remember the spell he'd hurtled at Harry hours before, but he remembered all the red—all the blood, yet here he was, the freaking Boy-Who-Lived, asking him if he was all right, when he'd nearly killed Harry. "Yeah," Draco muttered. "About… about the spell that I—"

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, turning to walk away.

"Look, I didn't mean to—I wasn't—"

"I said don't worry about it," Harry said again, then he turned when he got to the door. "Like you said, you sort of owed me." Then he stuck his head back through the door. "Ron, could you come out here for a minute?"

Ron, surprised to hear his name so suddenly, gave a confused look to Ginny and Hermione before walking toward the door. "Yeah, sure."

x x x

After closing he door behind him, Ron turned to face his friend. "What's up, mate?"

"Ron, that's weak," Harry said, his back against the wall. "What's up with you?" Harry turned his face to look at Ron. "Why are you being such a prat toward Malfoy? For all you know, he could be related to you some day. I bet in some distant, weird way, you two are related. I mean, I'm related to him through Sirius, in a way."

"I am not being a prat toward Malfoy," Ron pouted.

"Ron, I was standing outside the door for a few minutes before I finally came in. I heard everything you said."

"Then how can you think I've been a prat? After my history with him? Our history with him? And after all this dodgy stuff that's been happening to him? Because of him? I don't know how you can expect me not to at least be a little wary," Ron said.

"Ron, being wary is fine. In fact, it's good to be a little wary," Harry explained. "But you're practically attacking the guy every time you lay eyes on him."

"Your point?" Ron narrowed his eyes.

"If Sirius taught me one thing, it's to live in the moment. It shouldn't matter anymore what he did in his past. Right now, he's on our side—he's one of us. And in case you haven't noticed, he's gone through hell for your sister. Draco and Ginny aren't any random couple. I think it just might work between those two. And I don't want you to mess things up for yourself."

"Mess things up for myself? Oh? You think I mess things up?" Ron huffed.

"Er, yes," Harry said.

"Oh, yeah? Why don't you give me proof?" Ron crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, you were the one hollering at Malfoy when he attacked us," Harry shrugged.

"Oh! Now it's my fault your blood and guts exploded everywhere? Is that what you're saying?" Ron threw his arms up in disbelief.

"Ron, no, that's not what I'm saying. That part wasn't your fault. Just… just give the guy a break, okay? I think he really wants to change. For the better. And you're not making this transition any easier for him," Harry got up off the wall.

"He wants to change," Ron stated. "It's a bit late for that, isn't it?"

"Ron, there's never a good or bad time to change. You need to count the opportunities to change. Draco's just like any one of us—he acts based on rational self-interest. He's finally realized that Voldemort's side doesn't have anything to offer him. It doesn't matter what made him realize that or why he's changing, really, but that he's changing… that's what should matter to us, and that's what we should embrace. But just for the record, Ron, I think I'd have to say Ginny is one of Malfoy's sole reasons for reconsidering the path of his life," Harry said honestly.

"Okay, fine, you're right," Ron sighed. "I mean, when you start talking like Hermione, you've got to be right." Ron rolled his eyes as Harry cracked a smile. "But it's just so hard to… to be nice to him! I mean," Ron looked around to make sure no one was listening. "He turned me into a weasel!" He hissed.

Harry laughed. "What? When did this happen?"

"Right after he attacked you. His special 'attack' for me, I guess, was to turn me into a weasel. I think it's because Moody turned him into a ferret fourth year," Ron scowled. "Speaking of which, we really need to get a move on figuring out how to cure Malfoy."

Harry smiled. "Liking the positive attitude."

"Yeah, well, Ginny seems to like him, so I guess I ought to at least try and help," he sighed and both boys went back into the Infirmary.

x x x

"My Lord, we've lost the girl. Riddle—"

The fireplace Lucius Malfoy was speaking into suddenly flared up in flames. "YOU WHAT? INCOMPETENT FOOLS!" Voldemort roared.

Riddle let him go. So you're the fool here. Lucius thought to himself dryly. But he suddenly jumped back as one of the flames licked dangerously close to his face.

"THAT GIRL IS CRUCIAL TO MY PLAN. GET. HER. BACK." Voldemort hissed.

"My liege, we're trying. I've got—"

"YOU'VE GOT A SON. A SON YOU CAN'T EVEN CONTROL. THAT GIRL IS WITH HIM. FIND HIM. FIND THEM. BRING ME THE GIRL."

Lucius looked rather bored, but his heart was pounding and he was sweating. And it wasn't because of the fire either. Still, in a voice calm as ever, he bowed low and said, "Yes, my Lord. Consider it done."

Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans. And… uh… Ginny's "You're not going to try and kill me again, are you? Because that would be awkward," line is from the "Asylum" episode from my new favorite show, Supernatural. Jared Padalecki is so hot! Yay! But that line's from Dean (Jensen Ackles). Just so you know. Oh, yeah. The title of this chapter is "Interlude" since the action is far from being over. This chapter was a calm chapter used to explain a few things. Hope I've pulled most of you out of the dark.

Chapter Eight: Things have pretty much calmed down for Harry & co. Well, at least they're all together again. Now all they need to do is find a cure for Draco's vampire situation. But will they find it in time? And Voldemort is out to find Ginny again. But why Ginny? Find out all this and more in the next chapter!

Thanks to bigreader and Andromeda77 for reviews last time. :)