Chapter Eight: No Protocol Exists

Happy reading.

None of Ginny's questions were answered that morning. Hermione hurried off, and none of her family was present. Alone, Ginny sat down in a chair, wrapping her arms around her legs, holding herself tightly. Occasionally someone would walk by, and more often than not it was someone Ginny had never seen before. New members of the Order, the Order of which Ginny would never be a part. The flow of people walking by slowed to a trickle, and then no one passed through the room in which Ginny was sitting. After almost an hour had passed since Ginny had last seen another soul, she finally stood, knowing that no one was here to comfort her, even in her time of utmost need.

Ginny didn't want to floo back- it seemed too chaotic, and right now she wanted calm. Thus Ginny walked through the house in search for a broom. The house was completely deserted, silent and almost haunting. It did not take Ginny long to find a broom, and while she did wonder about the location of the rest of the Order, she really didn't care enough to be worried. She mounted her broom slowly, and launched herself out a second story window. The air rushing around her felt cool, and Ginny too deep breaths, happy to be able to simply breathe without feeling any pressure. Hogwarts was her eventual destination, but Ginny was in no particular hurry to return. She had nothing to accomplish- her dreams and goals of a life after Hogwarts were almost meaningless. A Malfoy didn't work for a living, a Malfoy didn't work for pleasure. A hobby would be acceptable, providing of course that it was a social hobby. It no longer mattered if she passed her classes, or if her NEWT scores were decent. She might not even have to take the NEWTs! Nothing really mattered anymore. Nothing.

"Good morning." Ginny sat up abruptly. It was Monday morning- she had been asleep since she had returned to Hogwarts yesterday, and now Draco was standing over her.

"Bloody hell! What are you doing here?" Ginny demanded, grabbing the covers and wrapping them even more tightly around herself.

"I've come to collect my wife. We're leaving tonight. England just isn't safe right now," Draco paused. "I've talked to McGonagall, and she agrees; we're leaving Hogwarts this afternoon. Anything you need to pack, do it now."

"What are you talking about? McGonagall said I could stay, and finish up the year. I have to finish school! I only have a few months left- I'm not about to drop out!"

"Ginny, I don't think you realize. We're married. The war is on. And you're leaving with me. Tonight."

"No, I'm not. I'm not just going to drop everything and run away and hide with you! People I care about are going to be hurt, and I'm going to be there for them. You're right, this is a war. But I'm going to be a part of it, and I'm going to stay here. I'm not a coward, and I'm not running!" Ginny's voice was clearly defiant, challenging Draco.

"Are you calling me a coward?" Draco asked, his own voice deadly calm.

"Yes. Running is the cowardly thing to do," Ginny replied, contumely echoing in her words.

"I'm not a coward. Everything in life is not black and white, and there is more at stake here than you and I, and what we want. If I had a choice about it, no, I would not fight in this war. But I don't have a choice. I am taking you and we are leaving. There are no clear lines drawn in the real world, not right and wrong."

"It's not my fault you're a cynical bastard." retorted Ginny.

"Oh Merlin! How can you be that naive? You're supposed to be a grown and married woman, but you have the emotional understanding of a four year old!" said Draco, his temper flairing.

"Emotional maturity is it? And this from the man who still smirks at the thought of snubbing Harry or my brother or Hermione? Or even anyone from Gryffindor, actually," Ginny's voice was getting louder and louder. "Anyone who doesn't meet your little pureblood standards? You think you're up on this pedestal, better than everyone else. What you still haven't learned is that you're not!"

"Well, it couldn't have been that important to me, then, if I married you." He managed to make it

sound like a vulgar insult, ending it with a trademark sneer.

"I'm sick of you and your little games. You're pathetic!"

"Games?"

"Yes, your little games. Even back in Hogwarts, it was all about you proving that you were better, holding court over your little cronies, mocking everybody. And you haven't changed at all!"

"And what would you know, Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Don't bloody call me that!" screamed Ginny.

"You and I are leaving. I don't care if you come willingly, or if I have to forcibly remove you, but we are leaving. I'll be back here at 4 in the afternoon. If you wanted to say goodbye to anyone, your friends or family, now would be a good time to do so." Draco walked out of the room, one of his infamous smirks covering his face, leaving Ginny to stare at his back.

"Arrogant bastard!" she screamed after him, though the door closed on her words. She stood and hastily dressed; Ginny believed him when Draco had said that he would take her against her will, but Ginny wasn't sure she was going to be around for him to take. She stood before the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder, threw it into the fire and called out, "The Burrow!" as she stepped in.

She stepped out of the fireplace and walked right into her mother, who promptly put her arms around Ginny and began to cry.

"I'm so sorry Ginny, if I had known, I would never have left. I'm so sorry..." Ginny found herself soothing her mother, rubbing her hand over her mother's back.

"It's alright. I promise, it's alright."

"No, Ginny, it's not," broke in Harry, who had just walked into the room. "It's not alright at all. What the hell did you think you were doing?" Ginny stepped away from her mother, who sniffed, obviously not wanting to be a part of this discussion.

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Ginny asked. "I did what you asked. I thought you would be ecstatic." Her voice was dripping with condemnation.

"You might just have fucked up everything we've been working for years to accomplish!"

"Harry, watch your language! You will not talk to Ginny that way!" broke in Molly.

"We had been working so hard, planning everything out so carefully, and you mess it up. You put the prophecy in motion almost a full month before we were ready. It's a miracle no one was killed, but if someone had been, I would lay the blame solely on you. What were you thinking to go and marry the bastard?" Harry continued, his voice never softening.

"I didn't want to marry him, Harry! It's not like I had a choice!" exclaimed Ginny.

"You're just angry because you didn't get your way!"

"Not getting my way would be to have radishes in my salad at dinner. This has nothing to do with not getting my way!"

"How could you do that to me?" Harry demanded.

"How could I do that to you? Do you have any idea how you've betrayed me? And now you have the audacity to blame me? I did nothing you didn't ask me to do!"

"You acted rashly and it could have killed me!"

"You left me! You left me there! You made sure my family got out that night, but you left me there. How can you leave me, then be mad at me when I'm not able to read your mind and know that you didn't actually want me to marry him, to do the thing that you begged me to do!"

"It's common sense! There was no reason to marry him that night!" Harry yelled at her. "No reason at all!"

"I didn't have a choice. I was put in front of the alter. I just did as I was fucking told to do!"

"Ginny!" exclaimed her mother. "I know you know better. Don't use language such as that in this house!"

"Sorry," Ginny took a deep breath to calm down. "I did as I was bid. I had just found a dead body, and I was more than a little distraught. I'm sorry that I made this difficult for you, Harry, but this has been even harder for me. I don't want to argue any more today. I actually just came to let you know, Mum, that I'm going to be leaving for a while. I don't know how long, and I don't know where I'll be going. I just wanted to let you know. I love you Mum. Give Dad my love as well, and the brothers." Ginny turned and faced Harry. "I just can't do anything right anymore." Grabbing another handful of floo powder and flinging it into the fireplace, Ginny looked back once more at her mother, who was walking toward her, before stepping into the fireplace and calling out "Hogwarts!"

Draco didn't expect Ginny to actually be in her room when he arrived. Knowing that she didn't want to go with him, he expected her to run off somewhere. Thus he had placed a tracking spell on her this morning, before he woke her up. He was pleasently surprised therefore, to see her sitting tamely on her bed when he arrived. Her head was down, hands folded in her lap.

"What's wrong?" he asked, pausing about a meter away from her. Ginny looked up at him, her cheeks streaked with tears.

"I just don't know how much more of it I can take. I just want it to be over."

"I know, I want it to be over, too," replied Draco, picking up the luggage sitting on her bed. "Do you know how to Apperate?"

"I haven't gotten my license, but I know the basics of it."

"Good, because we're Apperating back to the Manor."

"But I'll get-"

"Don't worry about the Ministry. They have much more important things to handle right now."

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K BA

Miss Auburn