"Gasping, calling, I saw - I'm all alone.
Grasping, crawling - is this not what you had planned?
Oh, I'm all alone.
Go on hero, you're faking no one not today.
Stop this - you're scaring me.
Don't even know you now,
Trying to rescue me,
go save someone else,
I'm way past gone..." -'Medicine', Guster
Ginny awoke the next morning to find herself on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. Apparently she hadn't made it up to her bed. She heard some footsteps coming from the dormitories, and she grasped the extra fabric from the cloak to pull it closer to her. She was nice and warm and comfortable, and didn't want to get up yet, even if it meant missing breakfast.
"Ginny! What are you doing down here!" She groaned, Ron was the last person she wanted to find her.
"Well," she said as she sat up, "I WAS sleeping, but I guess I'd better go get ready for breakfast..." She stood up and stretched, making the fact that the cloak didn't fit her obvious.
"Who's cloak is that?" Harry asked - she should've known, those two were never too far apart. Ginny looked down at her cloak and smiled. She couldn't exactly say 'Draco's'.
"Where were you last night? You weren't down here when we went to bed." Ron said with incresing suspicions. She rolled her eyes,
"Ron, calm down, I'm fine, everything's fine. This cloak is a friend of mine's and I'm giving it back today." She yawned as she took towards the girl's dormitories.
"Who's your friend?" Harry called out. Ginny didn't answer, but kept walking.
"Ginny! Come back here right now! You tell us where you've been!" She stopped and spun around.
"Ronald Weasley, don't you speak to me like that! I am not a child, and I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about! Please, just stop it!" She said, then she turned on her heel and stormed out.
Breakfast was an awkward affair, Ron was glowering in her direction when he thought she wasn't looking, Harry was staring at his food like it was the only thing in the universe, and Hermoine was looking utterly confused when her attempts to start a conversation were shot down. Ginny ate, trying to ignore her surroundings, and looking for a certain boy with blonde hair. She wanted to tell him she'd give him his cloak back tonight.
"So, Gin..." Hermoine began cautioiusly, "How's the Healing going?"
Ginny looked up from her plate and smiled, "It's going alright. I've started helping Madam Pomfrey diagnose the students in the Hospital Wing - she's even started letting me treat some of the minor injuries. It's not difficult work, really, you just have to know what you're doing."
"Oh? It sounds interesting."
"It's really not, but I'm living with it." Hermoine smiled sadly at her friend,
"I'm really sorry we couldn't get you out of it." Ginny winced -
"We?" Hermoine looked surprised at her response. It hadn't been too insulting, but it was a little.
"Sure, me, Ron and Harry."
"So do you mean to say that you're sorry you didn't do anything?" She emphasized, Hermoine stopped abruptly, and looked down at her own plate.
"I guess that's what I meant...I'm sorry, Ginny. You really don't like it there, do you?"
"No, I really don't. But I guess it will come in handy someday." Ginny stood up and took her leave from the table, leaving what she hoped to be a very guilty trio.
Her classes flew by, and she fell asleep in History of Magic - again. As interesting as the Goblin Rebellions of the 1400s were, she'd been missing out on a lot of sleep lately, due to her late nights in the library. When Colin woke her up, it was time for lunch.
Lunch was silent at her end of the table. She hadn't really come out and said she hated her Healing lessons before. So she decided to just get a sandwich and eat by the lake.
As she walked outside, she saw Draco walking briskly towards the gates, his left arm cradled by his right.
She ran to him, and when she got close enough that no one would over hear them, she called out to him.
"You'll find it behind the lion statue." He said forcefully as he turned to face her. "Now go away, Weasley."
"What's wrong with your arm?" She said, pretending to ignore what he'd just told her.
"Nothing," he winced, "It's nothing. Now go away."
"Is it the Dark Mark?" She whispered, and he cringed again.
"I said go away, Weasley."
"Follow me." She stated, and when he didn't move, she intentionally grabbed his right wrist and dragged him towards the Forbidden Forest.
"What the hell are you doing? Not only are you going to start vicious rumors that I don't have the time or patience to deal with, you're going to get us both killed!"
"I think I know something that can help the pain."
"I really don't care, Weasley." He spat at her as he yanked his wrist back to his side. She stood there, dumbstruck, as she watched him stalk off to meet...it. And the rest of them. She really did feel bad for him, but she'd never let it show - he'd never forgive her for it. She thought about why he wouldn't let her help him, but then again, he had no idea what she'd been up to in her Healing lessons.
She sighed as she looked at her sandwich, realizing she'd lost her appetite. She threw it into the forest, hoping she could be of some use to a poor, hungry animal or something.
She walked over to Hagrid's hut, which she would've needed to do anyway with her plan, and knocked.
"Well, 'ello there, Ginny. What are yeh doin all the way out here? Why aren't yeh at lunch?" He inquired as he welcomed her in.
"I could ask you the same thing," she smirked. "Actually, I could use your help." She confessed. They sat down and he put a plate of rock cakes in front of her on the table.
"And what is it that I can do for yeh?"
"I need unicorn tail hairs, Hagrid. And I really don't have the money or contacts to buy them. But I know you usually find some out in the forest, so I was wondering if you could help me out." He looked at her inquisitively, and she decided she'd need to elaborate. "It's for a potion I'm working on, for my Healing stuff." His expression immediately changed, and he scurried (as much as Hagrid ever scurries) over to his stock of unicorn tail hairs.
"Well, o' course I can help out!" He said amiably. "Anything yeh need, yeh can ask me." She smiled as she took a handful of hair and took her leave of the hut.
She walked back up to the castle, stuffing the hair into her pocket so no one would ask. She had gotten into Professor Slughorn's N.E.W.T. Potion's class, and wasn't exactly enjoying it, but she was pretty good at it. She'd been experimenting with Healing spells and potions, just to see for herself what they'd do, and she was working on developing a certain potion that, as of yet, had been unheard of. No one wants to help a Death Eater.
That night, she went to her Healing lesson as per usual. Madam Pomfrey oversaw her less and less as time went on, and now, if a minor injury came in, Ginny would just heal it herself. She was working her way up, slowly but surely.
She set up her things in silence, and began her potion. If she did this right, Madam Pomfrey wouldn't notice or care about what she was doing, and if she kept her cool and her ideas correct, the potion should turn out just as she'd expected.
She added salamander's blood to boiling water, and stirred in some powdered mandrake root. A unicorn tail hair or two slipped in, and she let the mixture simmer. She added a few more ingredients and watched the liquid turn a horrid shade of brown. She furrowed her brow- it was supposed to be viscous and clear-ish. She looked at the books spread out around the desk - encyclopedias of ingredients and their effects, what stirring different ways would do to certain potions, and even a few books on different potions she'd been taking inspiration from. She read carefully and skimmed different pages. Suddenly realization hit her - she'd missed an essential ingredient. Smacking her forehead in frustration, she hoped it wasn't too late to save the potion. She dropped in some hellesbore and stirred a bit more, in a counter-clockwise direction. This potion was going to make or break her, she knew it.
She watched intently as steam began escaping the brim, and she almost jumped for joy as the liquid became difficult to stir and turned clear. She stirred a bit more, just to make sure she'd done it right, and then siphoned some into a flask she'd brought with her.
"Miss Weasley? What are you up to in here?" Madam Pomfrey inquired as she entered the room.
"Just making myself a Draught of Peace, Madam Pomfrey." Ginny replied without hesitation. So what if it wasn't a Draught of Peace? No one needed to know that.
"Oh, lovely, I was running low on that myself."
"I'll be sure to make extra." Ginny sighed in frustration, she didn't count on having to stay to actually make the Draught of Peace. She quickly finished with her own potion and cleaned up her surroundings. She didn't want Madam Pomfrey to notice the books and pages that were open and start questioning her. Ginny could make the Draught of Peace with her eyes shut and everyone knew it. It was amazing that the older witch hadn't already noticed her lie.
Quickly and efficiently, Ginny made an actual Draught of Peace. She corked her finished product, put them into the cupboard and cleaned up her supplies. She was now running low on just about everything, and made a mental note to ask Professor Slughorn to help her replace her ingredients after explaining her situation.
After saying goodnight to Madam Pomfrey, Ginny didn't even bother going back to her dormitory for the invisibility cloak, and made her way to the library. She nearly collapsed onto her sill as she tried to gather herself. Flask in hand she waited for Draco to arrive.
He didn't show up to the library that night, or the next night, or even the next night. She was curious, because although he didn't have to come, he usually did. She didn't know what had happened to make him just stop coming all of a sudden, and at meals he'd seemed quieter than usual.
Finally, a week later, she got so frustrated with his absence, that after dinner one night, she took Harry's cloak and followed Crabbe and Goyle back to the dungeons. She got the password to the Common Room, and left.
An hour or so later, she went back. Now he'd be done dinner, and homework and everything. Or at least, he should be.
She whispered the password to the portrait, momentarily removing the hood of the cloak, and walked invisibly into the Slytherin Common Room.
She looked around and took in the surroundings. Pansy Parkinson was sitting with a few of her friends on the couches by the fire, Crabbe and Goyle were playing a game of Exploding Snap on the floor, Blaise Zabini was sitting at one table doing his homework, and Draco was at another, hunched over his.
She walked over to him and pulled out a chair to alert him to her presence. He looked up and looked confused. Right - he couldn't see her.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" She whispered. He smirked,
"I should have known you'd do something this stupid." Blaise looked up, confused. He hadn't heard Ginny, so it sounded to the room like Draco was talking to himself.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" She whispered again.
"Why aren't you in Slytherin? Seriously, you'd do us proud." He chuckled, turning back to his homework.
"Draco, answer the question." She was still whispering - if she'd talked at a normal volume, someone could identify her voice, but as long as she whispered, she could remain anonymous.
"Draco, who are you talking to?" Blaise inquired, still looking for Draco's friend. Ginny grinned, she loved this!
"No one, Zabini, don't worry about it." He called back. He turned back to his homework. "You shouldn't be here, go away."
"I want to know why you stopped coming to the library."
"Because I didn't feel like it, ok?"
"But why? You seemed fine before," she hissed.
"Watch what you say W-...Red." Ginny raised her eyebrows. Red? Where had that come from?
"Red?"
Dracorolled his eyes at the air in front of him,not realizing he was staring at her face.
"Should I use your name instead? Then you'd get us both in trouble." Ginny thought it over for a second. It was new and different, and it didn't have anything to do with her being a Weasley...except that it pertained to her hair. She decided she liked it.
"I like it." She whispered. He rolled his eyes again,
"I really don't care."
"Mate?" Blaise had gotten up from his seat and was walking towards them. Draco rolled his eyes...again. It was a bit amusing to Ginny - his frustration and annoyance was about to become anger if the world didn't watch out and she knew it. But he'd rolled his eyes so much in the last few minutes, she was surprised he didn't have a headache.
"Go away, Zabini, I'm fine." He stated.
"Malfoy, you're talking to yourself. What's up?"
"Nothing's up, I told you - I'm fine." Ginny poked his arm so that he knew she'd moved by his side. He turned his head and hissed at her.
"Now you're making me look crazy - go away!"
"Seriously, Draco - who are you talking to?"
"None of your business."
"There's no one there." Draco rolled his eyes and glared at where Ginny was, even though they still couldn't see her. She had to stifle a giggle, but a chuckle escaped and Draco heard it. He smiled and started laughing himself.
"Now you REALLY look crazy." Blaise stated. "What's going on?"
"Zabini, seriously. Shut it and sod off." Draco's tone had turned serious and although Blaise didn't look satisfied, he obeyed. Ginny put the flask of her potion onto the table and Draco stared at it.
"If that isn't Firewhiskey, I don't want it." Ginny smirked.
"And what if it is?" She retorted in a low hiss. "Nevermind, I don't want you trying it. It's not meant to be consumed."
Blaise stood up again, "Where did that flask come from? What's in it?"
"Zabini," Draco said warningly. "Back. Off." Blaise faltered, unsure of whether or not to listen to him. Ginny stifled another giggle, which got her another glare from Draco.
"I'm going to bed." Draco stated as he got up. Ginny was in his way - somehow he knew it, reached out and found her shoulder, and pushed her lightly aside.
"G'night, Red." Ginny laughed and Blaise looked at where she was, alarmed at not seeing her, but realizing that there was actually someone there.
Ginny followed Draco to his room, and as he was shutting the door, she stuck her foot out to stop it. It swung back open, and he looked at the air, alarmed.
"Dammit, Red - leave me alone." He said, exasperated. She walked into his room without removing the cloak and sat down in a chair by the fireplace.
"Your father pay for all this? Fancy room all by yourself, complete with a fireplace and all?" She said in her normal voice. Suddenly Pansy was at the door, waltzing in like she owned the place.
"Draco? Blaise said something was bothering you. What's going on?" She said in an overly sweet tone. Ginny stifled a giggle as she watched the scene unfold. She would move closer to him, as he would find something that absolutely needed his undivided attention at that moment, be it removing his cloak, hanging it up, making his papers neat, or lighting the fire - anything that would let him back away from her. Ginny was finding it increasingly hard to keep her laughter inside. As Draco finished lighting the fire, he walked by the chair where she was.
"Make her go away!" Ginny hissed, trying to hide the amused tone in her voice. Draco just smiled and tried to stifle his own laughter.
"If only I could."
"What was that, Draco?" Pansy asked.
"Nothing. Now, if you don't mind, I'm not feeling so well, and there's a Quidditch practice tomorrow. I really need my rest. I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?" He sounded as if he were speaking to a child. It was so obvious to Ginny that he was blowing her off, but she seemed oblivious to his feelings.
"Oh! Yes, of course! You need your rest." She said as she exited the room and shut the door.
"Finally." He sighed. She burst out laughing.
"That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen! Is she always like that?" Ginny asked through giggles.
"She's not usually that accepting, actually. She must've been doing something when Blaise told her to check on me. She obviously didn't want to stay."
"What?" Ginny said, laughing harder. "You mean that's her when she's EASY to get rid of? Wow, I really do feel sorry for you."
"So why are you still here?" He asked, looking at the fire.
"Because you still haven't answered my question."
"So just because I stop sneaking out late to look out some stupid window, you think I'm avoiding you?" He said sarcastically.
"Well, it just so happens that you stopped coming to look out that stupid window right after I fell asleep with your cloak on and tried to help you with your arm." She shot back.
"Yeah, well, I didn't need your help." He growled.
"Is that what this is about? You're too stubborn to accept help when it's offered, so you completely cut someone out of your life? Draco, even for you - that's ridiculous." He glared at the fire, like it was all the fire's fault. She finally removed the cloak and set it down next to the chair. "Seriously, Draco. Look at me." He continued to glare at the fire.
"You are too stubborn for your own good." She said as she got up and moved next to him on the couch. She sat facing him, and forced him to look at her. "I just wanted to help. That's what the flask is for." The flask lay, almost forgotten on the coffee table in front of them.
"I don't need your help. Or anyone else's." He said through gritted teeth, now turning his glare to the flask with the unknown liquid inside.
"I never said you did, I just said that I wanted to help you." He seemed to begin to understand that she wasn't trying to hurt his pride, and began to soften up a bit. "Look, would you at least hear me out?"
He turned away, "Fine." She frowned, she hadn't thought this would be so difficult. She'd never encountered anyone who turned away offered help. She took a deep breath as she tried to gather her thoughts. If she didn't present this in the exactly correct manner, she'd never know if her potion worked.
"In my Healing lessons, there's not much to do. Things in the Hospital Wing have been pretty slow, nothing usually worse than a bloody nose or a cut or something. A girl can only deal with that crap for so long. There's nothing challenging about Healing at all, until you get to the higher levels of stuff, which is too dangerous for little old Ginny Weasley." She caught herself getting bitter, and tried to change her tone. "So I started working with potions that heal. Draught of Peace for nerves, things like that. I was never very good at Potions, but now I could do that one with my eyes shut." Draco eyed her suspiciously.
"You're kidding, right?" Ginny snorted,
"Don't I wish. Seriously, how difficult is it to say 'Episkey!' over and over and over again?" He considered and nodded a bit, acknowledging how correct she was.
"So I started working with potions, which were never my forte, but with all this practice - three or four times a week - I've been getting a lot better. So then I started thinking about combining different things, and what effect they'd have on each other, what their combining would produce." He lifted his eyebrows,
"And?"
"And most of the time I get explosions of some sort." She smirked and that brought a smile to his face.
"Are you having fun destroying the Hospital Wing?"
"Actually yes, I am. But I don't usually get that far. I have a bunch of books, so I can check the effect each ingredient will have on the other, and what stirring which way will do, and so on. So I thought about something that could be a serious challenge - your Dark Mark." His face contorted in shock.
"You did what?"
"What?" She inquired - all she'd said was that she thought about his Dark Mark.
"You thought about my Dark Mark?" He said, still completely in shock. She hesitated for a moment - was that a trick question?
"...yes," She said, a bit confused. "Anyway," she continued, nonchalantly, "I thought about your Dark Mark, and the fact that there's no potion to make the pain stop when he calls you or something happens or whatever, and how original it was to have something like that. So I started working on a potion in my head that would help ease the pain."
"Ever consider the pain isn't supposed to be eased?"
"Look, Draco, you may not need my help, it seems as though you don't even want my help. But there's no reason for you to suffer every time a meeting is called or something happens. This is simply self-preservation, right? So help yourself, for crying out loud."
"I can't come running to you every time something happens - I won't."
"That," she started,pointing to the flask, "is why I made that. Nobody knowswhat it is - remember when Crouch impersonated Moody in my third year? Everyone thought he was carrying around Firewhiskey when it was actually the Polyjuice Potion - no one's going to question a flask in your pocket.There's no danger, here, Draco - just take it."
He looked over at the flask, and picked it up. He eyed it, and she waited with bated breath for his approval.
"You said it isn't to be consumed, what do I do?" He asked with reservation. She sighed, happy to finally be getting somewhere.
"Put some of it on a handkerchief or something and apply it to your arm. It should feel cool and calm your nerves to the point where you don't feel the pain at all anymore."
"Should? You mean you haven't tried it?" She looked at him like he was a child.
"Of course I haven't tried it - I don't have a Dark Mark, remember? This was made specifically for that, and in my opinion, it came out perfectly. I wouldn't present it to you like this if I thought it had a chance of not working. Trust me, it'll work." She didn't really have all that confidence in her potion - she didn't really know what the Dark Mark was, just that it was...bad, and painful. She'd done her best, and it ishould/i help, but she wasn't going to use that sort of 'just trust me, it should work' logic with him.
He eyed her, then the potion before replying. "Fine. Thank you." He said stiffly. "Now if you don't mind, go away." He repeated.
"I do mind! I thought we were...well, I don't think I'd go as far as 'friends', but you weren't mad at me, humiliating me, mocking me or teasing me. I kind of liked it better that way!"
"Alright, but I really do have to get to bed." Ginny stopped, stunned. She hadn't expected it to be that easy.
"So just like that, we're ok?"
"We're ok." He said nonchalantly. She sighed and picked up the cloak. She put it on and began to walk to the door. As she opened it, he said,
"Goodnight, Red."
" 'Night, Draco." She said as she scurried back to Gryffindor Tower in elation...