A/N from ZiBl: Hiya! Wow, two chapters in two months! You lucky, lucky people. I am waaaaay too tired to write any sort of author's note right now, so bleagh on all y'alls. :hug: But I absolutely love you for being a faithful reader. Or a new reader. ANY KIND OF READER! Whatever!
A/N from S-D: Hiiiiiiiiiii! I'm so super excited for this chapter, and don't forget, there's only 2 more to go! Not that I want this fic to end, but... I'm excited for it anyways! And yes, I love you all muchly!
Dancing With the Dragon
Two insane idiots named ZiBl and Samwise Dragoneyes
Chapter 8: Snow Fall and Shadows
"Slept well last night, did you?" Draco looked up from his breakfast. Blaise stood across the table from him, with dark circles ringing his eyes and a dry half-smile on his lips.
"Why, yes I did, so kind of you to ask. Though I must say, you look simply awful." Draco replied. Blaise sat down and glared at the spiky-haired Slytherin across the table.
"Thanks to you, I got kept up most of the night, forced to comfort Pansy. She kept bawling on about how mean you are to her." Blaise sighed and put his head into his hands. "I think I need to find myself a girl, to make me unavailable." Draco patted his hand in sympathy.
"Good plan. If we have girlfriends, the cow can't bother us nearly as much." Draco took a quick bite of cereal. "Now all we have to do is find some likely girls."
"What about you and Ginny?" Blaise said, almost thoughtfully. Draco, in the process of having another bite of cereal, choked. Coughing, he looked up at Blaise.
"You are kidding, right?"
"It sure would shake dear old Daddy up a bit." Blaise pointed out. Draco snorted.
Yeah, him and the rest of the world." He muttered. Just then, he felt a hesitant tap on his shoulder. He turned around, half expecting to see Pansy. It was Ginny. Draco's eyebrows shot up. "Red! What the hell are you doing?" Casting a furtive glance around, he stood up, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her into the entry hall. "Do NOT talk to me in front of the other Slytherins! What are you trying to do, ruin my good name?"
"You've never had a good name, Draco," Ginny said, looking mildly annoyed at his violent reaction. "And I just wanted to say thank you." Draco blinked.
"Well, I didn't want my opponent to freeze to death before the competition. Then I'd only win by default, instead of pounding you into the ground."
"You pound me? That over confidence will be your doom." She smiled, and her whole face seemed to light up. "Thank you again." She hesitated a moment, then flung her arms around him in a hug. What the fuck? The surprised Draco barely got the thought out before he heard a gasp from the direction of the Great Hall. Looking up, he spotted Blaise and a Japanese girl he didn't know gaping at him and Ginny.
"Ginny!" the Japanese girl's voice came out as a surprised squeak. Ginny calmly let go of Draco and turned, realizing that they had company.
"Kagome?" She arched an eyebrow and cast a challenging glance at her friend.
"Um... nothing."
"Draco...?" Blaise took a step closer, looking warily at Draco as if he had just sprouted horns.
"Blaise," Draco responded, trying to keep his voice level.
"Well, good. Now we're all introduced," Blaise said brightly, turning to Kagome. "It's very nice to meet you." She looked absolutely stunned at being addressed by the second hottest boy in school. Draco, of course,being the first.
"Umm... nice to meet you, too," she managed to say, blushing a furious scarlet.
"Well, this has been fun. Let's do it again sometime, shall we? When we don't have classes to attend?" Ginny asked tartly, and then stalked off. Draco shot Blaise a "what-the-hell" look before walking off in the opposite direction. Blaise grinned at Kagome.
"See you later!" he winked, and walked after Draco. Kagome just stood there, wondering if the entire school had gone absolutely mad.
November passed incident free, and December finally arrived, accompanied by a good deal of freezing wind and snow. By halfway through the month, Draco, Ginny, and Kagome could pass all but the hardest DDR songs. Dane had finally beat them all. He was now working on getting an 'A' on the hardest of all: Paranoia Survivor Max 290, or PSM for short. Then, one morning right before the winter holidays, Draco received an urgent owl from his mother Narcissa. Unable to open it at breakfast due to Pansy's hounding, he slipped it into his schoolbag. That night, in the safety of his dorm, he opened it.
Draco,
I regret to inform you that your
father Lucius has been arrested
on Death Eater charges. Until
this legal battle is fought out, our
mansion has been confiscated.
I am staying in a hotel until this
is over. Please remain at Hogwarts
for the winter and spring holidays.
Your Mother,
Narcissa Malfoy
Draco caught his breath, and re-read the note. Lucius? ARRESTED? This was just way too good to be true. The bastard certainly deserved it after Orion. At that moment, Blaise dashed into the room, slamming the door behind him. He quickly walked over to Draco.
"That dratted whore Pansy is getting worse and worse. One of these days, I'm just going to curse her to –"
"Blaise." Draco interrupted his friend. "Lucius got arrested on Death Eater charges."
Blaise, who had been pacing back and forth angrily, stopped and stared at Draco.
"What?" Draco handed him the note. As his eyes skimmed the parchment, Blaise's smile grew, and by the end of the note, he was practically radiating joy. "Draco, this is great! You know what this means? You're free. You're not just his little minion anymore. You can be whoever you want, without worrying about Lucius." It was starting to sink in.
"Free..." all his life, Draco had been expected to be nothing more than a little clone of his father. He was expected to take up his heritage, to wear it proudly. He'd hated it. I can really be anything, now. Anything... Not even have to worry about whether I'm friends with the right crowd or not. Immediately, the laughter of a certain redhead filled his mind. Until now, it would have been impossible to be anything other than secret friends with Ginny. But without Lucius in the picture... We could actually hang out in public. I do enjoy being around her. I don't like her or anything, of course. Not like she's ever going to like me, even if I did like her. Of course, I don't.
Yes you do, Replied a rebellious little voice in the back of his mind.
"Don't." Muttered Draco.
"Draco, don't just sit there mumbling to yourself! This requires celebration. To the kitchens for a good cold butterbeer!" Blaise strode off, happily humming to himself. Draco looked after Blaise and wondered what had got him so cheerful and carefree.
It's almost like he's in love with someone, said the little voice.
"Oh, shut up," Draco told it firmly as he followed his friend to the kitchens.
Ginny thought the winter holidays would never come, but they had at last. At the moment, most students were boarding the Hogwarts Express for home. Ginny had opted to stay at Hogwarts this Christmas, mostly because Ron was going home. Ever since she had slapped him, he cast dark looks in her direction whenever the two crossed paths. The thought of being shut up in a house with him all holiday was more than Ginny could bear.
Also, staying at Hogwarts gave her time to perfect her DDR technique. After all, the challenge was a mere two weeks away. Ginny and Draco had agreed that the challenge would take place at one o'clock the day after students came back from holiday and the day before classes started again.
But what would happen after the challenge? Would Draco still be her friend? Unlikely. He'll distance himself from me and forget me the second this ends. No matter who wins... Since she'd first come across him cutting his own hair with a knife on the Hogwarts express, Ginny had discovered a whole new side to the seemingly cold and heartless Slytherin. He was funny and witty, and she never ran out of things to talk to him about. Plus, underneath all the arrogance, he was rather nice and caring. She smiled to herself, thinking again of the pajamas he'd given her. They kept her quite comfy-cozy during DDR sessions.
Hmm... I should go practice some. The jumps in 'Healing Vision (angelic mix)' are still pretty tough for me. Ginny let her wandering feet take her to the inter-challenge room. She entered the room to find it cast into darkness. Normally, two ever-burning torches on either side of the room kept it brightly lit. Stopping, Ginny waited until her eyes adjusted to the dim interior. Suddenly, a shadow that had been leaning against the machine stood up and moved toward her.
"I knew you'd come down here eventually, Weasley." Ginny frowned, trying to place the voice.
"Michael? Michael Corners?"
"Right the first time."
"What the hell are you doing? You almost gave me a heart attack, skulking about in the dark like that."
"Almost? I'll have to do better than that." He pulled his wand out from the inside of his robe and pointed it at her chest. Ginny automatically reached for her own wand. It wasn't there. With a sickening lurch in her stomach, she realized that she'd left it in her dorm room. Oh shit.
"Why are you doing this?" Ginny fought to keep her voice calm and reasonable, despite her growing panic.
"Nobody dumps me the way you did."
"That's it? You're attacking me because I dumped you? Ages ago, I might add. Pathetic, Corners. You know, you'll never get away with this. A teacher will come in any second now."
"They're all busy watching the train. And I think I'll get away with it quite nicely. Curse you so you can't move, kick you around a bit, curse you a bit more... And end it all with a memory charm so you have no clue what happened." By this point, Michael had backed her into a corner. She stumbled, and fell backwards, hitting her head on the wall and sliding into a sitting position. Oh crap... She thought, trying to find a way out of this situation. Damn it. I can't even attack him by hand. The second I even move, he'd petrify me. Michael took another step forward, raising his wand. A look of twisted hatred filled his face. Ginny closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, waiting for the blow.
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"
That isn't Michael's voice... Her eyes flew open just as the torches blazed back to life. Half blinded, she threw up an arm to block the light.
"Gin? Ginny? Are you okay?" She slowly opened her eyes to find Draco on one knee beside her, his brilliant eyes full of concern. She looked past him to see Michael lying petrified on the ground, with only his eyes still moving, darting about worriedly. "Ginny?" Draco lightly put his hand on the side of her face and guided her gaze back to his. "Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine." She answered. The warmth of his hand on her face was distracting her thoughts and causing her heart to race even harder. He removed his hand and held it out to her, helping her to stand. She rose and walked over to Michael. Standing over him, she smiled a cold, cruel smile. Bending swiftly over, she picked up his wand, which he'd dropped when Draco petrified him. Still smiling, she held it up and snapped it cleanly in two. Throwing the broken pieces at his face, she whirled and stalked out of the room. Draco followed.
"Thank goodness I decided to play DDR when I did..." Draco trailed off as he noticed the tears pouring out ofGinnys eyes. "Ginny?" She turned and flung herself into his arms, sobbing into his chest.
"Damn it... I was so scared. I didn't know what he was going to do to me. He could have raped me or something. And I wasn't able to do anything!" Draco slowly circled her with his arms and held her as she cried.
"It's okay now, he didn't hurt you. He won't, anymore. And if he tries to..." Draco's face twisted in malice. At that moment, Professor McGonagall turned the corner into the corridor. What she saw was an angry looking Malfoy holding a crying Weasley.
Automatically, she assumed the worst: that Draco was attacking Ginny.
"Mr. Malfoy!" she snapped, and Ginny and Draco immediately jumped apart. "What on Earth are you doing to Ms. Weasley?" Draco opened his mouth, but no words came out. No one was going to believe this. They'd all think Draco attacked Michael, then Ginny.
"He's saving my life, professor." Ginny said quietly, wiping away all her tears. Both Draco and McGonagall stared at her.
"What do you mean?" asked the professor.
"I was just entering the inter-house challenge room to play some DDR when Michael Corners attacked me."
"Corners? Attacked you?" McGonagall interrupted, her eyebrows rising to nearly above her hairline.
"Yes. He pointed his wand at me and threatened to do some very nasty things to me. I left my wand in my dorm today because there were no classes, so I was basically powerless. He backed me into a corner and was about to attack me when Draco paralyzed him. He's still in there." She waved a hand at the inter-house challenge room. McGonagall, still shocked, entered the room to find Michael petrified on the floor. He stared at her with eyes that clearly said 'Oh shit'. McGonagall unpetrified him, grabbed him by the ear, and marched him off down the corridor.
"Come, Mr. Corners. We are going to pay a little visit to Professor Dumbledore. We'll see what he has to say about you attacking another student." When they had passed out of sight, Ginny looked up at Draco and smiled.
"Thank you for saving me." He smiled back.
"Not a problem."
Later that afternoon, they heard the good news the Michael was expelled. The remains of his wand were burned, an even greater dishonor than merely having it broken.
The time until Christmas sped by, and before Draco knew it, he was sitting down to a splendid Christmas tea. He hadn't received any presents from his family that year, what with his father in jail and his mother living in a hotel. In fact the only present he did receive this year was from Blaise, who gave him a new watch, as Draco's old one had broken sometime in November.
Draco thoroughly enjoyed his Christmas tea, as he was the only Slytherin to stay at the castle that winter. He could just enjoy his meal in silence, without listening to Crabbe chewing with his mouth open, or Goyle snorting as he shoveled food into his mouth. From the other end of the table, Ginny caught his attention and sent a small dove she had gotten from a wizard cracker over to him. The dove held a note in its mouth.
Meet me at the top
of the Astronomy
Tower in 15 minutes.
He finished reading and glanced up to see her already leaving the room. Grabbing his present to her off of the bench beside him, he got up and made his way to the tower.
Snow drifted lightly down as he stepped out onto the balcony. Ginny stood at the edge, looking over the frosted lake and powdered trees. She turned as she heard his approach. Wow. She looks like a Christmas angel with that snow in her hair. Draco smiled.
"What did you want to see me about?" He asked quietly, unwilling to let his voice shatter the stillness of the snowfall.
"Here. Happy Christmas." She held out a small white box with a scarlet ribbon tied neatly around it. Draco carefully undid the ribbon and pulled off the lid. Inside, nestled among a piece of white tissue paper, Ginny's necklace shone softly. He looked up at her, eyes large and full of surprise.
"Your necklace? But, Red..."
"Please. I want you to have it. I thought very hard about what to get you for a present. I don't have the money to really get you anything nice. But I realized the necklace was a perfect gift. After all, it's my most valued possession, and you're... my most valued friend."
"Ginny..."
He looks so adorable right now, his eyes gleaming like liquid silver.And so unreal, with the snow falling all around his face.
"Thank you so much. I know what this necklace means to you," Draco's soft voice broke into her thoughts. She smiled as he slipped it around his neck and fastened it. I don't think I'll ever admit it, but he means more to me than anything.
"It looks good on you." It was true. Silver really was Draco's color. He blushed ever so slightly, and a soft smile touched his lips.
"Thanks. Here, it's not as great a gift as what you gave me." He handed her a soft object, wrapped in silver paper. Ginny carefully opened it, and gasped. She held in her hands a warm velvet cloak, deep black on the outside, and crimson on the inside. The clasp had been crafted into the shape of a golden Phoenix with wings spread out on both side and rubies for eyes.
"Wow. It's... beautiful." Ginny swirled the cloak around her shoulders and clasped it. Draco smiled.
"So you like it, then?"
"I love it; it's so soft and warm! Thank you so much, Draco."
"Happy Christmas, Ginny." They smiled at each other, both seeming to almost glow in the soft snow light.
A/N: Next chapter is the long awaited and muchly anticipated COMPETITION! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Who will win? Will it be Draco? Ginny? Or will giant plague-infested rats take over the castle? We shall all see in the next chapter of... DANCING WITH THE DRAGON!
BTW, we haven't forgotten about shout-outs! We'll be doing them at the end of Chapter 9, so it'll be quite a long list! STAY TUNED!