Chapter Thirty Four: The Day of Freedom
The middle of April is considered to be the pick of spring. Flowers were blossoming to their fullest and bright colors were everywhere. It seemed that a rainbow had come down to the ground from the sky. Lawns were vividly green, tempting teenagers to sit on them. Many students followed that idea and the grounds were full of children studying for N.E.W.T.s or O.W.L.s, lying on blankets, surrounded by books and parchments. This very spring day was given for Draco and Ginny to enjoy their day off, which surprisingly to them, they decided to spend together.
Sun beams danced on Ginny's eyelids, awakening her from a pleasant slumber. She had had one of the best nights in her life. Her sleep was peaceful and deep; still her dreams were haunted by someone with whom she wanted more than willingly to act in reality like in her dreams. Ginny looked at the clock beside her bed. It was ten o'clock. "Ten o'clock!" she yelled. "Why didn't anyone wake me up!"
Then she remembered what day it was; her day off and the special part about it was that she would spend it with Draco! She squealed in delight and ran to the bathroom. When she finished with her shower and other girly morning business, she started to look through her wardrobe for the dress most suitable for the occasion.
She threw almost half of her clothes on the bed, but then stopped. 'What am I doing?' she thought with a frown. 'Why am I dressing up? I am not going on a date or anything like it. Well, maybe a little like it, but not exactly the same. Stop it, Virginia! You don't want any dates right now! ' But her mind told her; 'Of course you want to go on a date and with HIM! Not anybody else!'
Ginny sighed with defeat. Yes, she wanted them to be together; to go on dates and do everything couples do, but not with any boy at Hogwarts. It was Draco Malfoy himself she longed after. She didn't know when her feelings towards him started to have a romantic shade. Well, practically, it is impossible to spend so much time with one of the hottest guys at school and not to begin to have dirty thoughts involving them together with nobody else around and in a very small space as well.
At last Ginny decided that putting on something different from the work-robe wasn't against the rules and chose a green dress, which fitted her curves perfectly, but still was quite modest. She thought of way to surprise Draco with her brilliant, to her mind, idea of spending their day off and, after some business concerning the props, went down to the laboratory. When Ginny entered the lab, it was completely silent. 'Must be asleep.' She moved to their living room, but it was empty. Ginny was utterly confused. She was sure that Draco stayed here, but now, where could he be? "Draco!" she yelled, not knowing what else to do.
Somewhere from her right came a loud groan of dissatisfaction, then a thud and a creak of a door. She almost jumped when a door appeared to her right, revealing a very sleepy, messy and bare chested Draco Malfoy. "What?" he snapped, looking around disorientated and wondering where the person who woke him up was.
"Oh, I am terribly sorry," Ginny stuttered, backing away. She wasn't ready for such a 'good morning.'
After a few blinks, Draco became more awake and focused his glance on Ginny. "Oh, it is you," he breathed out. "Sorry, I was sleeping and…uh…sorry."
"It's nothing, I can understand." She looked at him to say it, but then blushed and took her glance away, remembering and seeing that he was only in his pajama bottoms.
Draco rolled his eyes. "What are you blushing at? You've seen it all already. I'll be back in fifteen minutes," he said, disappearing into the room. "You may enter, if you wish."
And, of course, Ginny entered. She didn't know there was another room in the laboratory. What she stepped into turned out to be a middle sized bedroom with a large bed in the middle, a desk with a lamp on it and a closet. To the right was another door, where splashing sounds were coming from.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, Draco appeared from behind that door all clean, shaven and combed. His spirits were much higher now. "Welcome to my chambers," he announced.
"So you live here?"
"Sort of. I'd better say I sleep here. Almost everything else I do in the lab. Like eat, for example. And that will be the next deed today."
"I took care of it," Ginny said hesitantly.
"What do you mean?" Draco asked from behind the closet's opened doors.
"You promised to spend your day off with me, remember?"
"Yeh."
"Well, I decided to have a picnic at the Lake. You don't mind, I hope?"
Draco's shocked face appeared from the depths of the closet. Ginny had already got herself ready for an explosion of indignation about how stupid her idea was, but a small smile lit up Draco's face. "It's perfect," he whispered and vanished again.
After a few seconds he reappeared fully clothed in a deep blue outfit that consisted of a T-shirt and loose pants. Ginny quickly checked her lips for any drooling signs, it was right there, so she brushed the evidence off. "I'll get my cloak and we can go. By the way, you look good today," Draco threw, putting his hood up. Ginny blushed again. 'She is so cute with a blush.'
They went through the Main Doors and found themselves almost in Heaven. The picture of life and harmony opened to them. They found a quiet but cozy place in a clearing surrounded by bushes. They still tried to maintain the precautions about not being seen together by anyone. The basket brought by Ginny contained everything a real picnic needed; a blanket, dishes, napkins and lots and lots of food of different kind. Draco looked at all that with astonishment. "What's the occasion for such a feast?"
"Firstly, we have a picnic and in our family it means food, so here we are. Secondly, we are free from everything for the whole day, and professor Snape has returned into our lives. I think that's a good occasion."
"You are absolutely right." He took a jar of pumpkin juice, poured some into their glasses and lifted up his glass above his head. "For Professor Severus Snape, the best Potions' Master and teacher," he proclaimed.
"You are absolutely right," Ginny repeated in Draco's tone.
They playfully looked at each other and dug into the food. Even if Draco was always strict about manners and dignity, for this unusual moment he let himself loose a bit. The situation was quite new to him; he'd never had a picnic, even with his family. But he really liked the experience, especially with such a companion as Virginia.
'She really looks good today. No, not good, stunning. One must call things with their real names, especially such a perfect girl as Virginia. What are those guys in the castle thinking? They must chase like crazy after her, not ignore her! Wait! She isn't for them! She is, well, for somebody who is worthy of her. Yeh, that's right. And I am not jealous, absolutely not,' he even nodded for the emphasis and to be more sure that he was right.
"What is it?"
"Huh?"
"Why are you nodding?"
"Oh, nothing. Errrr, what do you think about father and Halflife?"
"And what about them?"
"Well, professors don't normally have love affairs."
"Why not? They are humans after all. If they are attracted to each other, which is obvious, why can't they be together?"
"Because…" he couldn't find a good reason.
"You see. If people love each other nothing can stand between them."
"You sound like an expert," Draco said suddenly very serious.
"Well, I…" now it was Ginny's turn to be lost for words.
"I mean, you said I didn't know what love was. You have a family who love you, had three boyfriends, who probably were madly in love with you. You surely must know what you are talking about."
"Of course. I love my family. I know what it is to love someone."
"But strangely love is the key to destroying Voldemort, so I must be introduced to it. Maybe you can teach me?" he suggested out of the blue.
"I can't!" she exclaimed too quickly. "I mean, I can't just tell you what to do and what not to. Look around. There are people who are in love, just follow their example," Ginny said, avoiding the task.
Draco remembered the way Ron acted around Hermione during their 'rehearsal' – protected her, always watched her back, was worried about her after she was hurt. 'But I'll do the same for Virginia even if I don't love her,' thought Draco with confusion. His conclusion was wrong, of course, but he didn't know it or dared to admit it.
"You seemed to be in much thought lately," Ginny commented, wanting to start a conversation on another topic.
"Quite unordinary things are happening around me. It isn't really easy to cope with them."
"Like what, for example?"
"Like Snape having a girlfriend."
"What is so alien about it?"
"I mean, he is distant, eccentric, sometimes cruel, far from handsome and gets such a woman; why can't I have one?"
"You want to have a girlfriend!" Ginny's shock was beyond limits.
"Why not? I am still human." Then he made a disgusted grimace. "No, not a girlfriend. The very word gives me the creeps after Slytherin sluts chased after me, wanting to proclaim themselves my girlfriend. I want a mate, a companion, a girl who will take me for who I am," Draco said, intently, looking into her eyes.
"I am sure you'll find her. Here or on the other end of the world," she answered repeating his words, said on the same occasion long ago.
But he didn't repeat her response to that phrase. "But I want to find her beside me."
Ginny locked her glance with his and for a moment they thought they saw in each others eyes the feeling they longed for. But then they decided that their wish was so strong that they must have imagined it. Unfortunately, it was another mistake of theirs. Their eye contact was broken by a hush in the bushes around them. "What the Hell?" Draco asked with irritation. 'Why can't I have a decent rest for once?'
Surprisingly to them, but, of course, not to you my dear readers (A/N: and rewires ;-)), none other than the Dream Team entered the clearing. Their reactions to the scene were different; Harry's look said, "I knew it!", Hermione looked scared and with a good reason as it turned out later. But Ron, Ron was furious. "What the Hell is going on in here?" he yelled.
But not giving time for anybody to answer, continued, "So this is the one you have been sneaking to for the whole year! Oh, now I see the reason for the thick mystery around your new boyfriend," he said in a disgusted tone. "A Malfoy of all people!"
"It is professor Malfoy to you," Draco said through clenched teeth.
"It doesn't matter to me! Be it the Minister of Magic himself!" He turned to the stunned figure of Ginny. "And you! My own sister! You want to waste your honor on him? To become one of his whores! What a disgrace, Ginny. Father will surely disown you for such a choice. You are forbidden even to look at him and you are sitting here behind the bushes doing Merlin knows what! I am ashamed of being related to you, you are not a Weasley," Ron finished, spitting on the ground, missing Ginny by only a few inches.
It was the last straw for Draco. He stood right up and slapped Ron with so much force that Ron backed away a couple of steps. "You, filthy pig," Draco began with a quiet, but full of venom tone. It didn't matter to him if he cut his hand after that. "Virginia is an attractive, intelligent young woman and must be treated as such. And who has another opinion will deal with me, and you know that messing with me isn't a good choice for a living. So if I ever hear you speaking to Virginia in such a tone I won't restrain myself. Once I gave you life, but I won't hesitate to take it from you if you make Virginia cry again."
Ron opened his mouth to make a comeback, but was shut up by Draco's strong voice. "And for your information, we were having a picnic to celebrate an event which is very important to us, but is meaningless to you, of course. We are having a meeting of the colleagues. Nothing more." But he still added, "Nothing less. So take your disgraced ass out of here, you have already ruined the only day off of my life!"
Ron stood speechlessly gaping for a few seconds, until Hermione tugged on his robes with a pleading look to somehow move Ron out of there. Harry, representing the neutral side, asked, "So what's the occasion?"
'The only sane person of the group. Well, he is MY student after all.' "Professor Snape has recovered."
That stopped even Hermione from hurriedly leaving the place. "You did it?" she asked with disbelief and fascination at the same time.
"Yes, we did it. When Ronald snaps out from his stupor, thank him from my behalf for the only occasion when making Virginia cry was worth it."
Harry was the last to leave, but on his way he turned and winked at Draco. Draco in return cocked one eyebrow in his infamous manner as if asking; "What's that all about?" But Harry left with a twinkling eyes and a knowing smile on his face, but not a word of explanation left his lips.
Half way to the castle Ron returned to his grunted self. "Did you hear him? He threatened me! Threatened to kill me! Just like this!" Ron shouted.
"He was right, by the way," Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"You take his side in this matter!" Ron felt betrayed and by whom? By his own girlfriend!
"If, for example, Harry calls me a slut, I wouldn't mind if you beat him up, even if he is my friend. It would be the matter of my honor, a woman's honor."
"But he is Malfoy! He can hurt her! Rape her for Merlin's sake!" Ron yelled with desperation. "I only want to protect her!"
"But the way you've chosen to do it was awful! She is your only sister! The only family here! What were you thinking saying those nasty things to her? If I had been in her place, I would have probably fainted from shame, not for myself, but for my brother, who had insulted me in front of other people and boys no less!"
"Uh, maybe I really was too hard on her," Ron declared with shame and defeat. "But if he hurts her," he said with a new rush of anger.
"He won't," Hermione said. "You heard him, he'll kill for her."
'Argue like an old-married couple.' "If I remember properly, professor Malfoy told us they were having a meeting of the colleagues, two Potions professors," Harry the-voice-of-reason cut into the conversation.
"Yes, but it still looked suspicious to me," Ron muttered.
'More suspicious than you ever imagine, Ron,' thought Harry, coming to a conclusion that the ability to see other people's souls was far from useless.
Ginny released the breath she was holding. The tension started to leave her slowly but steadily.
"How can he be your favorite brother?" Draco asked, flopping down next to her.
"He loves me too much, that's all," she answered with a sigh.
"You call this love! He did the dirty on you and you say he loves you too much!"
"Well, you see, Ron is the most emotional of us. Of course, he overreacted seeing us together, but what else did you wait for? A welcoming hug?"
"Apparently not. But he could've chosen a better opponent for his insinuations. I would've showed him where his weak point is," Draco said with a sneer, already picturing the scene. "I have so many names in mind."
Ginny giggled, but then gasped. "Your hand! Give me your hand!" Draco obediently gave her his right hand, which was pretty swollen and red by now.
"This is for calling my dear brother a pig," Ginny scowled at him like a baby, but still squeezed his wrist gently and it turned back to normal.
"I thought that having the day off from everything, old prejudices would be included, I was very wrong. Ronald talked about me like I was a demon, born to seduce pretty girls," Draco said with a snort.
"Well, Ron is very sensible on the subject of Family Honor. Especially after Percy's leaving. He, as other family members now, thinks we must stay together to be strong. The Family Spirit is very valuable to us. My father and your...and Lucius are still rivals and my associating with you will be considered as the betrayal of the family," she finished hopelessly.
"Welcome to the real world," Draco spat. "The day is ruined. Why were they here in the first place?"
Ginny checked her watch. "It's lunch time."
"Do you have any more fantastic food in your basket?" Draco asked impishly, still hoping to restore the carefree atmosphere. It wasn't hard when the pleasant company remained beside him.
After some time of eating, Ginny asked the question she really wanted to receive the answer to; "Did you really mean everything you told Ron?"
"Of course. I always answer for my words," Draco stated, as if it was absolutely obvious.
"You mean you'll really kill him if he hurts me?" she asked with slight disappointment.
"I didn't do it the last time, but with your permission it is quite possible. I mean, if you don't kill me afterwards for taking away your favorite brother who loves you too much. If he almost beats you up, you may need my assistance to stop him."
"He'd never do that! He is only overprotective. I was always under his care. He still can't forgive himself for not looking after me in my first year. He blames himself for the fact I wrote in Riddle's diary because he wasn't with me, didn't fulfill his brotherly duty."
"It's only partly his fault, Lucius gave it to you."
"So you knew it? Knew it all along!"
"No, I found out only two years ago, while receiving another lecture about the Dark Lord's almightiness and the damn Weasleys who spoiled all the fun. He just briefly mentioned your name and how Potter ruined Voldemort's brilliant plan of conquering the world. I myself found head and tail of the story. My first thought was; "Voldemort is an idiot." How can anybody put all their hopes on an unstable, small girl, who could do anything with that damn diary? You could throw it through the window the moment you came home. And bye-bye brilliant plan."
"You are always so rational about everything. I was so young and vulnerable; the diary was so beautiful and different from my other hand-me-down books. I couldn't throw it away, I treasured it. I even kept it under my pillow before starting to write in it. I was so lonely back then," she finished with a fallen face, recalling her home-sickness and fears in her first year.
"But you are not alone now, right? You have friends and family beside you," Draco said reassuringly.
"And you," Ginny said with a smile.
"Huh?"
"And I have you."
'Oh, yes. You have me entirely,' Draco thought after looking at her smiling face and shining eyes.
"What are you going to do in the future?" Ginny asked, opening another bottle of butterbeer.
"I will do everything for Potter to win."
"No, I mean after school. After the War is over."
"I am not sure that I'll still be here after this mess is over."
"Stop these dreadful thoughts right now!" Ginny reproached. "Don't you have any dreams at all?"
"Well, if we discuss this from this point of view. Let's see. My future depends on many people. For example, right now I am considered to be a drop out, so I must seek permission to pass N.E.W.T.s with the other seven years."
'He is rational as always. I asked him about his dreams and he tells me about his problems.'
"Well, I suppose that if I pass the exams, I'll go to the Academy of Magic to receive a degree in Potions."
"A degree in Potions?" Ginny asked frowning; this was definitely a new piece of information to her.
"Well, Potions' Master isn't just a signature. It's the second degree in Potions. The first is Potions' Maker. I'd found in father's desk his work for the third degree: Potions' Immortalizer. It's really interesting. It's about the interaction of several poisons in one body. His conclusion is that when several poisons are united in one organism they can become harmless and even work as a medicine. It is a big loss for the scientific world he hasn't defended it. Probably, didn't have time. But, what else? Maybe I'll teach here, at Hogwarts, maybe not. I can't see so far."
"Nothing personal?" Ginny asked intrigued. As any other girl, she was interested more in the romantic perspectives in his life.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, wife? Kids?"
Draco smirked and shook his head to hide a faint blush. "Always be a gossip hen, won't you, Virginia?"
"I don't hear the answer," she said in a sing-song voice. She knew she had embarrassed him, but seeing him defenseless and lost for words was a rare experience, so she took all the laugh out of the situation.
Still his answer surprised her. "I must have an heir, so a wife and a son are certainly in order. And what about you? A bunch of kids, running around you, a little cottage somewhere on the South of England?"
"You've read my thoughts, but you forgot to mention my dear husband."
"Oh, Potter. Sorry, my mistake not to fit him into the peaceful picture."
Ginny sighed. "Draco, how many times should I tell you that I am not interested in Harry romantically. My crush on him ended more than three years ago. We. Are. Just. Friends."
"Really?" Draco asked, practically beaming.
"Yes, Harry won't be the father of my five children."
"Five children? Are you nuts?"
"Why not? Mother had seven; she equally loves all her babies."
"Your husband must be really rich to support such a large brood."
"He must love me and our children, nothing else matters."
"Aha, and your brothers must love him too. Dearly. I already sympathize with the poor bloke."
"Yes, that isn't an easy task," Ginny said with slight sadness, looking at the horizon. 'Why can't you be him, Draco? Why can't you be him?' "Where is this Academy situated?" Ginny asked, but didn't receive any sound in return. She looked at Draco and found him lying asleep on the blanket. She didn't even remember him lying down. "Draco? Draco," she shook him a bit.
He slowly opened his eyes, finding himself facing Ginny, whose face was too close to keep his thoughts innocent, but he restrained himself. "Sorry, I haven't got much sleep recently," he sat up, after Ginny moved away a distance which allowed him to do so. "These five days were terrible. And Potter drives me mad, literally," he said tiredly.
"There is something wrong with your dueling lessons?" Ginny asked with alert for both Draco and Harry.
"Quite the opposite. It's part of the training. I must make strong his mind and will. So he can become immune to any influences: persuasion, temptation, bribery of any kind. You've got the picture." Ginny nodded. "To reach the result I need, so to say, rape him mentally. It takes so much stamina that I can barely walk after these lessons," he fell back on the blanket.
"Harry doesn't look so exhausted lately."
"It doesn't drain him so much. I mean, he only defends himself right now. But I need to conjure attacks for him. Mental attacks. Horrors, visions of the Death Eaters' raids, bloodstained bodies, you don't even want to know." Ginny paled, she really didn't want to share such knowledge. "After classes, those visions haunt my dreams, so sleeping doesn't restore my strength."
"Is it really necessary?" Ginny asked with concern.
"Yes, it is the most important step," Draco said, massaging his temples. "Do you mind me sleeping for a bit?"
"No, of course not," she looked around. "But I don't have any pillows."
"It doesn't matter; I am trained to be able to sleep in a desert, so the blanket is like a feather bed to me."
Suddenly wry sparks appeared in Ginny's eyes. "I have another idea. You can put your head on my lap."
"Are you serious?" he asked impishly, thinking she was just flirting with him, which happened quite a lot between them recently.
"Of course. Make yourself comfortable."
Still with a shocked expression, Draco lay down closer to Ginny and cautiously put his head onto her lap. He almost closed his eyes, when Ginny asked, "Can I ask you a very personal question?"
"How many children do I want?"
"No."
"Spill."
"Have you slept with all your girlfriends?"
"Where did that come from?"
Ginny moved her glance towards the sky. "Just curious."
"No, I haven't". Ginny sighed with relief. "Only with one of them."
"With who?"
"It is the second one already."
"Common, Draco, don't you want to boast about your victories?" Ginny pulled up her knee, so Draco's head jumped and landed quite painfully.
"Ok, ok, it was Carolina Macintosh."
Oh, Ginny remembered her. Every boy in Hogwarts had that girl in his fantasies. The seventh year Slytherin gothic queen. The opinion that she was beautiful was an understatement, she was gorgeous: long black hair, shapely legs and rightly placed curves, adding deep dark eyes which told you that she knew all the right ways to please you, made her a sex bomb of Hogwarts. Not many, of course, reached her bed, but everybody wanted to. "You liked her so much?"
"No, she was the suitable one, she was my fiancée."
"But she was the Slut of Hogwarts with the capital letter!"
"I told you, it didn't mean anything in Slytherin, she was to go to alter with me, not her lovers. I bet she would've continued it after giving me an heir."
Ginny made a sound of disgust. "So you don't want a girl who will be completely yours? So that her heart, soul and body belonged only to you?"
"Sounds like a slave.'
"It will be a woman who loves you."
Draco didn't answer. Ginny thought he had fallen asleep, but still asked without hope to get a response. "So you really think that I am attractive and intelligent?" she asked his crown.
"You're gorgeous," he muttered half asleep, it was barely audible and Ginny didn't hear him.
During the two following hours, Ginny stroked his silver hair, not noticing when her legs went numb or when the cool breeze came from the Lake. She guarded his peace, praying for his nightmares to go away, and for strength to return to his tired body.
On the other end, Draco had colorful dreams. Even in his slumber, he decided that his current pillow was the best one from any other he had slept on.