The Distance to Here
Chapter 6
A/N: Hi everyone, sorry about the delay! I should stop saying that, there's a delay every time we write a chapter so, I guess this is the pace that we update at! I was inspired to write by, once again, boredom, over the March Break. I hope you like this chapter, there will be some Hr/D (whoohoo) and also some H/G so enjoy! I know the romance is going slow, but the plot is complicated and we still don't know how the ending is exactly going to go. The story has no middle, as of yet, but we know how the romances are going to play out! Oh, and there will be no smut, or long describe-y kissy-smooch scenes, because we don't write smut. Go watch porn if you really need it described. Don't forget to press the purty button that says review at the bottom. Oh, and this is also our longest chapter yet, I believe.
Ginny opened the door of the cell. She recognized the pale hair and piercing eyes at once. He looked gaunt and ragged, not at all his normal composed self. He was lying on his cot, feet dangling over the edge, staring at the ceiling with a slight frown on his face. He looked like he was counting the ceiling blocks. She took all this in in a moment, before crying out his name and running the short distance between the door and his tiny cot.
He jumped up at once, startled out of his concentration, and accepted the massive hug she was giving him, patting her soft head of hair awkwardly, while trying to dislodge himself from her death-grip. Needless to say, Draco was not a 'hugging person', having never grown up in that sort of environment.
"Ginny…they caught you too? That brother of yours, I should have killed him when I had the chance…Yes, Potter? Why don't you leave us to catch up for a while before the interrogations begin?" Harry started to laugh hysterically before he could stop himself. To hell with keeping his emotions locked up; getting one up on Malfoy was too precious not to gloat over.
"Caught you, didn't we, Malfoy? Ginny is working for us, and has been since she started her training with your father. We've had a mole in your circle for quite some time; she just wanted to see the latest mouse the cat dragged in. You really believed her act?" Harry looked impressed, Ginny slightly embarrassed, and Malfoy sat in his cot staring at Harry and blinking like an albino owl.
He spluttered for a few minutes, trying to get the words out. "I- but you-" He finally took a deep breath. "Is that true? Are you really working for him?"
"Yes. But I never hated you, Malfoy. I never pretended to like you. I had always wondered whether or not you really wanted to be a Death Eater, your heart never was in it." She sighed, looking around the room, agitated. "But now I need you to listen. I have some very important information to give you both. It involves you, Malfoy, and your father, and Lor- Voldemort."
"What did I miss? Oh, Ginny!" Hermione smiled warmly at her friend. Ginny was so strong and brave, and Hermione admired her greatly, young as she was. "I see you've met our little friend here," she said, not unkindly. Harry sensed the note of apathy, even friendliness in her voice and glanced at her sharply. "What?"
"Nothing," he said. "Right Gin, let's hear it, out with it now!"
"Well, I went to the meeting the other night, and Voldemort gave me an assignment." She turned pointedly to Draco now, and began speaking directly to him, desperate to lessen the mistrust in his eyes. She had lied to him for so long, why would he listen to her now? She willed him to believe her. "Your father, and Voldemort both think that you are going to go pointedly to my brother and the Ministry; to give them information. They- want someone to dispose of you. Me. I was obligated to say yes to him. What else would I say, after all, but you being here makes it easier." She turned to Harry and Hermione now. "We have to keep his capture under wraps. If the public finds out, then the Death Eaters will be aware and I'll have to kill him for real. We can bide time; I'll pretend I'm searching for him. But this makes our job more difficult, because we have to do some serious damage to Voldemort and weaken him in a very short period of time. I will not hand him over to the Death Eaters," she said firmly, seeing Harry about to open his mouth. "I have seen first-hand the cruelty they use for traitors, and I will not facilitate it. I did this to save lives, not take them." Discussion ended, she stood up and walked briskly to the threshold of the cell. With a whispered, "I'm sorry" to Draco, she left the room. Harry followed immediately, seeing the distress in her eyes.
Only Hermione and Draco remained in the room. He chuckled, a dry humourless chuckle. "So are St. Potter and the Mole 'involved'? He follows her around like a sick little puppy."
"I thought you had it in your head that he was involved with me," she retorted, although she felt a slight glow at his mentioning Harry and Ginny's mutual attraction. She had known it was only a matter of time before Harry realized what he was missing, and how little he really had. Hermione was glad that she wasn't the only person noticing Harry's doting attitude.
"I did, until I saw them. How long have they been together?"
"A little starved for entertainment, are we, Draco? Need some drama in your life? Well, here it is. They're not. Together, I mean. Harry's engaged to Cho. Although…"
"Although what?" Draco was interested now, leaning into her. Draco was a shrewd observer of human behaviour. New subjects pleased him to no end, even Potter. He was observing Hermione now, as she talked about Cho's lack of understanding, and Harry's aggravating optimism. He was looking at her eyes, large vats of liquid chocolate, swirling with emotion, flashing with anger at Cho's stupidity, sympathy for Harry, and anticipation of Harry and Ginny's imminent romance. They were pretty, with flecks of gold and black in them, unified colour from far away, but so subtle in its different tones close up that they looked like a Monet painting from close up. He stopped staring as he realized just how close up he was.
"See something you like?" she asked, smirking slightly. Her lips were full, of colour and expression.
"You wish, Granger," he said, smirking back identically, but she thought she saw a hint of embarrassment in his eyes as he turned away.
Now it was her turn to observe him. In the years since she'd last seen him his face had become sharp and mature. His eyes reflected all the heinous things he'd seen committed it his lifetime. The eyes themselves were still as stony as ever, still the colour of an overcast sky. His tall, slim figure, he was easily six foot three, was sprawled carelessly on his cot. His muscles were always tense in anticipation of conflict. He's very cat-like, Hermione thought. Her eyes drifted back to his face. Malfoy's nose was perfectly straight. His chin was stubborn, synonymous with his personality. His hair looked like a halo, the colour was golden, darkening as time went on. All in all, Hermione thought, bemused, he's quite sexy. There was no repercussion for that thought. No reproach for what she felt. Eye-candy was eye-candy. Her attraction to him was physical, and it happened with lots of people. She had no reason to believe that this time would be different.
Although, she decided, he was magnetic. He hadn't always been. Those years after school must have been hard. Something about him made her want to care. She knew how trying Death Eater training could be. Ginny had been dealing with it since before she graduated from Hogwarts. She would stay up nights, haunted by a vision of reddened eyes and forked tongue. Scared forever of being discovered and tortured until her will could not contain the information stored within her. More of the pain, she was afraid of betraying the people she held closest to her.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Hmph?" she said, blinking and turning to face him, only to find that she had been staring unseeing at him the whole time.
"You were staring at my, ah, southern area and frowning. Pondering if reputation has been exaggerated? Or rather, underrated?" The arrogant smirk had been replaced by a look of innocent curiosity.
"Er…I was thinking about Ginny. I uh, got distracted-"
"I don't blame you," he cut in mildly. "I would be distracted too…" He glanced southwards; raising his eyebrows, face a mask of awe, confirming her suspicions about his narcissism.
Hermione rolled her eyes heavenward, but to her aggravation, a small smile escaped her lips, not going unnoticed by Draco. "Bugger off," she said absently. Standing up, she turned to go, but he blocked her way. Aware of his proximity, and uncomfortable not only because of his criminal record- although she was not aware of the latter- she cast her eyes down.
"Er…" he stated thickly, trying to find the words. She looked like a wilted flower in autumn, with her eyelashes fluttering like that. "Could you, bring me some food?" he asked, trying to inject a tone of obviousness into his voice. "The way you feed me, I could probably gain some weight by going to Azkaban."
She looked embarrassed, he noticed. Well, Granger was always trying to seem like the angel of goodness and charity. It was nothing of consequence.
She wordlessly conjured up a plate of bangers and mash, stepped around him nimbly, smiled a goodbye and closed the door behind her.
~*~
Harry followed Ginny down the corridor, Draco's arrogant drawls fading away. God knows what the two of them could find to talk about. His arrogance, her sweet, almost innocent demeanor made no easy match.
"Ginny…" he trailed off as she turned around to him. Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears.
"Oh god, Harry," she cried and ran towards him. For a moment all sexual tension was forgotten and then buried her face in his chest. "I try to be strong, emotionless. But when I think what they would have done to him, what YOU would have done to him, I just-" The tears came silent and swift, and were over in mere minutes. "I'm sorry. It's just, he was civil, likeable even when I talked to him. And the way he was treated…I know Malfoy's not some spring chicken, Harry-don't give me that look- but it was not all his fault. I'm sorry, look at your shirt!"
Harry didn't give a damn about his shirt. "So you're not-" He made a vague gesture with his hand that gave her the meaning.
"No! I was his mentor for Christ's sakes! Don't you think that Voldemort would have found out? Don't you think he would have forbidden it? Love ties everyone together in the strongest bonds, Harry. Anything that is competition for Voldemort is forbidden, including love." She narrowed her eyes. "But why would you care about Draco and I? You have your own little fiancée waiting for you at the Ministry," she said calculatingly.
Harry sighed, and ran his hand through his straight black hair. "No," he said, simply. "We decided to take some time away from each other to- sort out our differences."
"Oh," Ginny was floored. "Well, I'd better get going. I have to talk to Ron." Her lips brushed his in a kiss goodbye, but the meaning behind it was much more than that. And then she was gone, flying away in graceful, featherweight owl-form, copper wings beating powerfully. Harry stood watching her disappear into the horizon for many moments, eyes wide, hand going through his hair repeatedly. He didn't even notice Hermione standing in the doorway, watching this whole exchange with a sense of happiness a long time coming.