"Draco...c'mon, Draco. Wake up, Malfoy! Oh, you stupid ferret...c'mon, wake up!" Hermoine was whispering fervently and shaking him slightly, trying her best to stay quiet, and yet wake Draco from a deep sleep.
"Whaddya want?" he moaned, "Go waay.." he rolled over, and so she pinched him. "Ow! Granger! What in the bloddy hell was that for!"
"You have to come with me." She stated.
"I'm sleeping!"
"C'mon, Malfoy, Ginny needs you."
"What? Me?"
"Well, not necessarily you, just someone. I figured you were probably the only one who could calm her down." With that, Draco got up from his bed, quietly so as not to wake his sleeping mother, and Hermoine led him back to the room she shared with Ginny. Apparently Ginny'd been having a fitful sleep, and had started talking. Saying things about how frightened she was, how she didn't kill those chickens ("No, Hagrid! I swear! It wasn't me!"), and she doesn't know why there's blood on her robes...things that Hermoine recognized and associated with the poor girl's first year at school. She explained all this to Draco, and that she'd tried to hold Ginny and calm her down, even wake her up, but failed miserably when Ginny just started getting even more upset and scared. They entered the dark room, and he heard her talking. It sounded as though she were completely awake, but as he got closer and knelt by her bed, he saw that her eyes were closed, and her face was scrunched up.
"Ginny?" He began cautiously,
"I'll leave you two alone...I'll be downstairs in the kitchen if you need me." With that, Hermoine left.
"Ginny? C'mon, it's ok. Wake up..." He shook her slightly, and she immediately pulled away from his grasp.
"No! Please go away! Please just leave me alone! I can't...I won't...please..."
"Ginny...Ginny! It's ok, it's just me! It's just a dream, Gin...just a dream..." He tightened his grip on her shoulders, and shook her a little more. She began to whimper, so he pulled her close and held her, but that just upset her more. She woke up and looked up at him, but he could tell she wasn't seeing what was actually going on.
"Please," she cried, "Please, just leave me alone...please, I don't want to...People are getting hurt and it's all my fault..." He wanted to be like one of those heroes, helping a damsel in distress - the tighter you hold her, the closer, the more she realizes she's safe in your arms, and she'll calm down. But that wasn't the case with Ginny Weasley. The closer he held her, the worse she became. She was begging him to let her go, well, not him, she was begging Tom to leave her alone. Draco backed off for a minute to try and bring her back to reality. He left her on one side of the bed and retreated to the foot. He sat on the edge and looked intently at her.
"Ginny...Gin, look at me." She pulled her knees close to her chest, and rocked herself for a minute. "Ginny...please just look at me." Finally she looked at him, and saw the compassion and kindness in his face. He wanted to help her, it wasn't the same look Tom gave her when she was about to flush the diary, it was a sweet, caring look. Her whimpers subsided, but she never broke eye contact with Draco. She was studying him, he thought, to make sure he wasn't tricking her. "It's just me..." With that she jumped up, out from under the covers and ran into his arms. He held her, and rocked her back and forth. She couldn't say anything, and he wasn't about to make her, so they just sat there. After awhile, he broke the silence and asked her if she wanted to go get some tea, so they made their way down to the kitchen where they met up with Hermoine.
"Hey Gin, you ok?" She asked as kindly as she could, Ginny was gripping Draco's hand like it was her last lifeline, and standing close behind him, seemingly for protection from the big, bad world. It amazed him how innocent and fragile this spitfire of a girl could be. She was such a trooper, never showed her weakness, never let anyone see her fault or fail, and yet here she was, holding on to him, needing him. The feeling gave him a sense of purpose, he wanted to be that protector, wanted to help her. He knew, though, that as soon as this ordeal was over with, if he acted like that she'd kill him. Ginny nodded slightly at Hermoine, who smiled and got up from the table. "You guys want some tea? I just made anoter pot."
"Thanks, Hermoine." Draco said. The sincerity in his voice surprised her, she'd never heard him speak to anyone like that before. Anyone except Ginny. Draco sat down on a bench, and Ginny sat close to him, almost on top of him. He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. The three sat in silence as they drank their tea, and Ginny seemed to be slowly returning to herself. As they finished their second cups of tea, she finally got up the courage to speak.
"Thanks, 'Moine...for the tea..." she almost whispered. Draco gave her a little squeeze, and a small smile, and echoed her thanks to Hermoine who just smiled, and said 'of course,'. "Would you guys...mind...not mentioning this tomorrow...please?" She was looking at her hands in her lap, waiting hopefully, "I just don't want...anyone really...knowing it still bothers me."
"Gin, of course it bothers you, that's ok. It's ok. It was a terrible thing..."
"Please, Hermoine?" She begrudgingly agreed, and made her way back up to her room. Draco still had his arm around Ginny, and invited her into the living room where they could sit more comfortably. They settled on the couch, and Draco continued to hold her.
"You ok now?" He asked tentatively
"I dunno...I guess. I mean, I figure I could probably fall asleep ok now, but..." Tom would always haunt her. It made sense, it was a traumatic chain of events.
"Ginny, I am so sorry...I wish I could take it all back." She looked down at her hands, knowing that he now knew how awful what his father had done was. She wanted to tell him it was ok, that it wasn't his fault, but she just wasn't ready to forgive Lucius Malfoy. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready to forgive him, and she didn't want to lie to Draco and say it was all well and good.
The next day came early, and Mrs. Weasley was up and preparing breakfast with Mrs. Malfoy before anyone else had awakened. The two women noticed Draco and Ginny in the living room, and figured they'd just gotten up a few minutes before - truth was they never went back to bed. but they seemed ok, so the mothers ignored them and made breakfast. They were still sitting on the couch when Fred and George got up, and even when Harry and Ron finally arrived downstairs for breakfast. Finally they relocated into the kitchen to eat, and decided to ignore all the weary glances at Ginny. She seemed ok, she was even smiling. She was talking, laughing, eating, and doing all of it like their good old spitfire would.
"So, Ginny, you're alright?"
"Yes, Mum, I'm ok."
"Alright, just making sure. I wonder where Hermoine is..."
"Well...you know Hermoine...she's a sleepyhead..." Ginny left out the part about how Hermoine had stayed up half the night trying to help her, and the fact that after Draco's 4AM visit to her room, she never went back to bed. She decided it was best not to worry anyone any further.
The next few days were full of people coming in and out of Grimmauld Place, Tonks, McGonagall, Remus and Kingsley visited, and the occupants all went out in various groups to shop at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Kingsley helped disguise Draco and Narcissa when they went to shop, so they couldn't be recognized. As an Auror he knew a few helpful spells and potions. The days passed quickly, and suddenly it was Christmas Eve. Draco pulled Ginny into his room, and smiled at her.
"I wanted to give you your present,"
"Now? Why not tomorrow?"
"I wanted it to be special, just between you and me." She smiled appreciatively, and ran off to get his present. she came back quickly, and they sat on his bed and exchanged packages.
"It's not much...but I thought you'd like it..." she said softly. He motioned for her to go first, and she tore the wrapping off a small boook. She opened it, and saw that the pages were blank...it was a diary. She froze in horror - she hadn't kept a diary since...well, since Tom. Noticing her horror, Draco put his hand on her arm and drew her into a hug.
"You need to learn to trust yourself again, Gin." he whispered, "It's the only way it'll ever be ok." She really regretted getting him a stupid book on quidditch, now that he'd been so thoughtful and so caring. He, however, loved the book, and as they finished up their moment with a passionate kiss, they rejoined their families downstairs for the Christmas Eve feast.
Everyone seemed to be there - the whole Weasley Clan (including Fleur, but minus Charlie), Professor McGonagall, Tonks and Remus, Kingsley, Harry, the Malfoys, and a few other Order members Draco didn't know. It was quite a gathering, and they all had a merry time singing carols, listening to Celestina Warbeck on the radio, eating and drinking eggnog through the night.
Ginny departed early, she sneaked up to her room to examine her present. It was a simple, leather-bound diary, a deep shade of chocolate brown. She touched it and shivered...she knew he was right, but that didn't mean she wanted him to be right. She opened it slowly, examining the pages that just screamed at her to be filled. Decidedly, she sat down at her desk, took out her quill and some ink, and began to write.
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A/N - Thanks for reading this! I'm glad you guys like it...I was afraid no one would read it, lol.
louey31 - yeah, they aren't so cool, but i figure one more outburst and they'll get a good butt kicking...thanks for reading! You were the first, lol
beloona - please, we all know Harry. As much as he hates the limelight, he's a Leo. He hates competition more.
helldarkangel1 - yep, this is my first. It wasn't really well-thought out at first, but i'm trying to guide it to a nice place, lol. And yeah, it annoys me when I read fics where all she does is run, hide and cry...i feel like she's a fighter, expecially having grown up with six overprotective older brothers- she can handle herself