1Chapter 15
"Something's Not Right"
"Cause I want you,
and I feel you crawling underneath my skin.
Like a hunger,
like a burning to find the place I've never been.
Now I'm broken,
I'm fading,
I'm half the man I thought I would be.
You can have all that's left of me."
-Nick Lachey "What's Left of Me"
Ginny raced down the hall, clutching her throbbing wrist. The sound of her feet tapping the marble floor echoed around her. Her breath came in deep pants, trying to restore to her regular breathing schedule. Sweet dripped down her hot face, splashing onto the floor below. Her wrist burned and stung in pain.
Ginny's mind was blank, suffocated by anger and confusion. Everything that happened seemed to be blurred into one strange shape. Where was she at? Where was she going? Why did her wrist hurt?
Ginny's feet tapped the floor and she ran faster. Memories flooded back into her mind. The image began to separate itself into bits and pieces. Everything came flooding back.
Draco had hurt her. Draco was hurt. Something bad was going to happen. She needed to figure it out. She was going to be hurt.
Ginny slammed up against the wall. Her back boomed against the solid mass. Pain shot down her spine and tingled all the way to her toes. She let out a scream as she fell to her knees, clutching her throbbing head.
What was wrong with her?
Spots flew before Ginny's eyes, a blinding white light piercing everywhere else. Her head boomed and throbbed in agony, and her back singed with pain.
Ginny held her head firmly in her hands, crouching down to the floor as if something was about to fall onto her head. Hot tears began to flood down her flushed cheeks.
"WHY!" she screamed, banging her fist onto the cold, stone floor. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO HIM!" Ginny sobbed, clutching her dark, wavy, red hair.
She didn't care about anything at the moment. She didn't care if the teachers came, she didn't care if she got in trouble, she didn't care about getting back into her room. All she cared about was laying in that hospital bed, writhing with pain.
A sob escaped Ginny's lips as she thought about Draco. What was happening? What was going on! He had been trying to tell her something, something very, very important. But somehow, he couldn't get it out. What was she supposed to do now? Sit here and wait while Draco suffered?
NO, Ginny thought sternly. She was going to find a way to wake him up. She was going to find a way to figure all this out.
She just had to.
----------------------
Someone was screaming.
Far, far away, a high pitched voice pierced into the night, chilling Ginny's bones. Darkness surrounded her. Everything was silent but the scream.
Suddenly, everything got lighter, as if someone had switched on the light. Trees engulfed her. Everywhere she looked there was a mountainous tree blocking her view from everything else. Everything else, but the figure standing in front of her.
It was a long, tall, shapeless figure, draped in a black cape. Bony clawed fingers stuck out of the arms. You couldn't see its face, because the hood of the cape shadowed it.
It turned towards Ginny, and with one cracking step, it began walking towards her. Ginny began to tremble, her feet, hands, and body growing cold. Her teeth clicked together, the only other sound heard now other than the crunch of the thing's feet against the ground.
Fear ran through Ginny's veins. This wasn't good...something was going to happen...and it was bad...
The figure stopped advancing towards her.
"Do you know why your here, Ginny Weasley?" the voice hissed, its tone freezing the blood in Ginny's veins.
Ginny seemed to have lost her voice. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that escaped was a gagging noise. Ginny could feel the figure in front of her smile.
"Answer me, Ginerva Weasley. Why are you here?" it hissed mockingly, smirking at Ginny's fear.
Anger boiled in Ginny's body. She could feel her strong voice coming back to her.
"WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU!" Ginny screamed, thrashing around trying to move. Something seemed to be stopping her from moving, as if she were tied down by invisible ropes.
The figure laughed. Not a comforting laugh, but a dark, demented, chilling laugh. One that went straight into your heart and froze it solid. Stopping everything and everyone from coming to it.
Ginny glanced behind the figure, and screamed.
Blood was everywhere. It stained the trees and grass around her. But that wasn't the horrible part.
Bodies scattered the ground. They were mangled and seemed to be disconnected. It was as if someone had taken all the bones out of their bodies, and strewn them across the ground. Their faces were barely recognizable, seeing as how they were so bloody and bruised, but Ginny recognized every single one.
Harry.
Ron.
Hermione.
Her mom.
Draco.
Ginny screamed, tears rushing down her face.
"YOU BASTARD!" she screamed, her teeth clenched together in rage. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU FOR KILLING THEM!"
The figure looked down at her in laughter. It slowly bent down until it was even with Ginny's face. Ginny could feel it's putrid breath against her skin.
"You know why your here, Ginny Weasley?" it slurred. Ginny's eyes grew wide. Her heart stopped, frozen in place.
"For me to kill you..." it finished. As it said this, it ripped off it's hood, revealing what was underneath.
And that's the last thing Ginny Weasley needed to see.
All she saw was those haunting pair of red, snake-like eyes. All she saw was a nose with slits for nostrils. All she saw was a waxy, inhuman face. That's all she saw, before she was shaken awake.
"GINNY!" someone screamed frantically. People were rushing around the room, their shapes blurring together. Ginny couldn't see clearly. She couldn't think clearly. She kept remembering Voldemort's face. She kept remembering all those bloody, gashed, bodies.
Ginny felt bile rising in her throat. She leaned over the side of her bed and vomited all over the floor. Ginny could here people screaming and crying. She could feel someone's hand rubbing her throbbing back.
Ginny reached over onto her counter and grabbed the first thing she felt. A clock.
She picked it up and threw it across the room. It smashed onto the wall, shattering into thousands of pieces.
"YOU BASTARD!" she screamed, her voice croaky and unnaturally high. "YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED THEM ALL!"
"Ginny!" someone screamed, shaking her shoulders. Ginny tried to steady herself, but she couldn't. The person held her up on her feet, clutching her shoulders tight. Ginny's head rolled around on her neck. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, only the white part visible. Everything was so hot, so humid...
"HE KILLED THEM!" Ginny half-screamed, half-sobbed. Tears began to pour down her face. Ginny wiped her forehead weakly, only realizing that blood came off when she did. She sobbed silently, wishing nothing more than to just die to make all the pain and heart-ache go away.
"Who did he kill? Ginny, who did he kill?" a voice Ginny now recognized as Hermione asked frantically as she stroked Ginny's head.
"Hermione..." Ginny spoke weakly, her voice barely audible. "Hermione...he killed them all. All of them...everyone.." Ginny sobbed, clutching Hermione's shoulder tightly.
"Ginny it's okay. It'll all be okay," Hermione whispered, cradling Ginny's head as Ginny sobbed.
"Professor McGonagall's here!" someone spoke from behind Hermione.
"What's wrong with her?" Ginny heard the stern voice of Professor McGonagall speak.
"She had a nightmare. Something horrible. She said people died...everyone died..." Hermione spoke quietly.
"Let me take her to the hospital wing," Professor McGonagall spoke worriedly, grabbing Ginny out of Hermione's hands. Ginny could hear people's voices but they became dimmer. She could feel herself being lifted into the air.
"Hermione..."she whispered, before she drifted off into unconsciousness.
---------------------------
Draco could hear people, but he couldn't talk or speak. He kept battling to stay inside his mind, fighting an unseen force that kept trying to penetrate his thoughts. He wouldn't let it. He couldn't.
LET ME IN, the voice hissed.
Draco felt an intense pull, but he stood his ground. He wouldn't let it in. He would try and fight as long as he could. He had to warn Ginny, to tell her to go as far as she could away from him. He would keep fighting for her.
Watch my life pass me by in the rearview mirror.
Pictures frozen in time are becoming clearer.
I don't wanna waste another day,
stuck in shadow of my mistakes,
yeah..
Draco's memories seemed to be frozen, waiting to get taken away. He should have never have let this happen! Why did he let himself get like this? And now he was going to hurt the one person he loved unless he could stop it. He sat here, hour after hour, drowned in regret and hope. Hope that he could just have one minute, one second, to talk to Ginny and tell her to run. To run far, far away.
And this was all his fault.
Cause I want you,
and I feel you crawling underneath my skin.
Like a hunger,
like a burning to find the place I've never been.
Now I'm broken,
I'm fading,
I'm half the man I thought I would be.
You can have all that's left of me.
He should be stronger than this! He was a MALFOY. He was supposed to be able to block out everything and everybody. But for some reason, he couldn't do it. Ginny was always there in his mind. He couldn't block everything out, without blocking her. And that was something that he just couldn't do.
He wasn't sure how long he could hold on. He HAD to. He had to talk to Ginny! He needed a miracle...
I've been dying inside little by little,
no where to go but going out of my mind.
And in this circle, running from myself until,
you gave me a reason for standing still.
He was dying. His memories were fading, wasting away, one by one. He couldn't escape. It was like he was in a room, banging on a steel door, trying to get someone to hear him, but no one could. The only thing that kept him from slipping away was the thought of Ginny. He still had those memories with him. The memories of him and her kissing. The memories of the love they shared. That's what kept him going.
Memories of love...
Cause I want you,
and I feel you crawling underneath my skin.
Like a hunger,
like a burning to find the place I've never been.
Now I'm broken,
I'm fading,
I'm half the man I thought I would be.
You can have all that's left of me.
He wondered what she was doing right now. Was she trying to help him? Had she understood his cry to warn her of danger? Draco could feel inside of him that she did. She knew that something was wrong, and she would do anything to save him. In his mind he smiled. That was his Ginny. Strong, fighting, and fiery.
That's what made him love her.
Falling faster,
burning, grieving,
give me something to believe in,
tell me it's not all in my head.
Take what's left of this man,
make me whole once again.
But what if she didn't know? What if she just thought that he had hurt her, and that he was going crazy? Draco felt a pang of sadness stab his heart. She wouldn't– She couldn't–. She knew he loved her, and that he would do nothing to harm her. Right? He would never hurt Ginny. He would never hurt the one he loved.
Cause I want you,
and I feel you crawling underneath my skin.
Like a hunger,
like a burning to find the place I've never been.
Now I'm broken,
I'm fading,
I'm half the man I thought I would be.
You can have all that's left of me.
Draco felt another pull as another memory, another feeling of hope, was swept away. He would be torn into bits. Only the anger and rage that burned inside of him would be left. He didn't want Ginny to see him like that. She had to know that he loved her, that he would do anything to save her.
Anything.
I've been dying inside you see,
I'm going out of my mind,
I'm just running in circles all the time.
Will you take what's left,
will you take what's left,
will you take what's left of me.
Will you take what's left,
Will you take what's left,
Will you take what's left.
Take what's left of me.
"Ginny Weasley is hurt," Draco heard a voice say as the hospital door swung open.
Ginny was–
She couldn't be–
Those mere seconds that Draco felt grief swarm into his heart, those mere seconds that pain overtook him, those mere seconds that he lost his concentration, he lost his last memory.
And darkness overtook him once more.
------------------
"Ginny wake up. Ginny, please, wake up..." Ginny heard Hermione's soft voice speak to her. Her eyelids fluttered opened, and her vision began to clear. She was in the hospital wing, surrounded by Hermione, Harry and Ron. A wide smile spread across their faces as Ginny awoke.
"W-what happened?" Ginny moaned. Her head throbbed and her stomach hurt badly.
"You had a horrible nightmare. You threw up, and, and–"
"But your okay now," Hermione finished for Ron, smiling slightly. Ginny sat up in her bed. She looked from Hermione's happy face, to Ron's joyous one, to Harry's worried one.
"Harry are you okay?" Ginny asked, her voice cracking.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad your okay..."Harry spoke softly, patting Ginny's hand while he spoke.
"Thanks," she smiled.
Ginny leaned back up against her pillow, her back gushing into the feathers. It felt so, so good.
Memories from the night before flooded back to Ginny, and suddenly, the soft pillow felt rock-hard. She had witnessed a horrible nightmare. Another one concerning Voldemort killing her. These dreams HAD to mean something! Why couldn't she just figure it out! If only Draco were awake...
"Where's Draco?" Ginny asked suddenly, wondering if maybe he had woken up. Hermione nodded towards a bed at the opposite corner of the wing. Draco lay there, motionless, only the rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was still alive. Ginny sighed. There goes that hope...
But maybe there was something else that could wake him up. A spell or a potion...
Ginny hopped out of her bed, ignoring the pain shooting through her legs.
"Ginny what are you doing! It's after dinner time, you can't be up!" Hermione shrieked, jumping out of the chair she was in.
"I have to do something!" Ginny yelled after her as she sped up to a run. Her bare feet slammed against the cold stone, running down the empty corridor. Everyone was at dinner or in their common rooms.
Good, Ginny thought. Then no one would be able to see her.
Ginny turned a corner and began thundering down the stairs leading to the dungeons. The air became increasingly colder as she ran down, but she didn't notice. She was looking for something...
Ginny rounded another corner and saw exactly what she was looking for: Snape's storage closet.
Ginny threw open the door and began rummaging through the potions. There had to be something in here that could wake Draco up!
Ginny shifted through random potion bottles. She saw Polyjuice Potion, and other oddly colored potions that she couldn't name. She remembered going through this and sorting things out when she had detention.
Ginny came to a small, pear-shaped, black bottle. The bottle looked familiar. Ginny looked at the name printed on the label.
Confidences Decouvert
Yes, she had seen this potion before! It had been the first potion bottle she picked up when she had detention! Ginny ran her fingers along the label and flipped it over to the back.
This potion has the power to make anyone reveal their darkest secrets. Even if they are succumbed by unconsciousness or raging between life and death, this potion will still make the person conscious, but only long enough for them to tell you the darkest thoughts that plague their mind. It is very rare to find this potion, and it is hardly ever used, because it seems to be overlooked.
This was exactly what she needed! Even if Draco was unconscious this potion would make him be able to tell her what he was trying to the first time!
Ginny heard approaching footsteps, and she came back to her senses. She had to get out of here.
Now.
Ginny ran out of the closet, and shut the door quietly behind her. She took off in a sprint towards the direction of the hospital wing.
She had to get to Draco. She had to get to Draco.
Her heart thumped dangerously, threatening to explode out of her chest. Sweat dribbled her face. Pain shot through her legs, but she didn't notice it. All she cared about was getting to Draco.
Ginny skittered to a stop as she saw the entrance to the hospital wing. She flung open the door and raced to Draco's bed. Thankfully, no one was in the room.
Ginny kneeled by his bed, looking into his pale face. This wasn't the Draco she knew. The Draco she knew always had a smirk plastered on his face. He always was saying something, rude or decent. His face now was motionless and fake. It was unnatural, and it scared Ginny.
Ginny unscrewed the cork that held the potion in the bottle. She slowly reached towards Draco's head, grabbed his chin, and lifted his mouth open. Using her arm, she lifted his head up and gently poured a couple of drops of potion in his mouth. She laid his head back on the pillow and waited. Her eyes bore hungrily into Draco, waiting for him to jump up and tell her what was wrong.
But nothing happened.
Ginny looked to see how much potion she had used. All of it. There hadn't been barely any in it, and she had used the rest up. Maybe it hadn't been enough.
Ginny clenched her teeth. Tears threatened to pour down her face. Why didn't it work! It was supposed to work!
A single tear ran down Ginny's cheek. She turned around and began walking towards the exit.
Suddenly, Draco shot up. Ginny jumped. She slowly turned around, her eyes wide. Draco had his hands out in front of him, his pale eyes opened wide. He was gurgling, sounding as if he was trying to catch a breath of air underwater. His hands shook violently, and his face was deathly pale.
Ginny ran over to him and clutched his hand. Draco still gurgled and choked, trying to find his voice.
"Draco, hurry, tell me what's wrong. Tell me what's going to happen," Ginny spoke softly, gripping his hand tightly. Draco slowly turned his head towards her. His eyes grew wider, and his voice gurgled out.
"Run..." he choked.
"What–"
"RUN!" he screamed, as he jerked his hand away from Ginny and clutched his head in agony.
"But Draco–"
"RUN!" Draco screamed desperately. His voice echoed and vibrated off the white, marble walls. His whole body shook and his eyes rolled back in his head.
"Run, run, run, run, run," he chanted crazily, rocking back and forth. He gave a sudden violent twitch, clutching his hair in pain.
Ginny jumped up and ran out of the room, her feet flying behind her. Chills ran up her legs and arms. Her heart thumped frantically. Tears poured from Ginny's eyes as she ran. A hard lump seemed to be lodged in her throat.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no.
This was bad.
So, so bad.
Ginny ran as fast as she could away from the hospital wing. She skittered madly around corners, not stopping for anyone to explain herself. She had to get as far as she could away from Draco.
Ginny rounded a corner and flew into something hard. Spots filled her eyes as she slammed into the wall. Pain flew up her back and into her head.
Ginny panted heavily. Her vision slowly became clearer.
"Hey Ginny," a icy voice spoke.
Ginny froze. Her heart thumped madly in her chest. It couldn't be–
Ginny slowly turned her gaze away from the floor and onto the man standing in front of her. His electric-blonde hair hung neatly in his face. His grey-blue eyes stormed over to her, chilling her bones. A small smirk appeared on his pale face.
Draco Malfoy stood in front of her.
"D-Draco. How did you–You were just in the h-hospital wing– "
"I've been here the whole time?" Draco spoke as he raised one of his eyebrows.
"I just saw you in t-the hospital wing–"
"Are you okay Gin? You seem a little tense," Draco spoke soothingly, rubbing Ginny's shoulder. Ginny jumped back.
"This can't be–"
"Gin, It's okay. Let's just go to my room or something. You need rest," Draco spoke politely, smiling at Ginny. Ginny gazed into his eyes. Something wasn't right. Draco's eyes weren't normal. Something behind the gleamed evilly. His smile was unnatural, and didn't fit his face. His pointed teeth showed underneath his pale lips.
"Um, no, I'm okay. I think I'll just, uh, go back to my common room," Ginny stammered. Her heart pumped furiously in her chest. Chills bumps still rose on her arms.
"Why don't you just go with me?" Draco asked, that fake smile still plastered on his face.
"No that's okay–"
Draco lost his smile. The wicked gleam Ginny had seen earlier now came on full-force. Draco grabbed her roughly on the arm.
"We're going," he hissed, his teeth clenched together in anger.
"STOP DRACO! YOUR HURTING ME! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Ginny screamed. She thrashed around and screamed, slinging her arms every way possible trying to hit Draco. But it was no use, he was to strong.
"HELP!" Ginny screamed again. But no one came. No one heard her. Her petrified voice just bounced off the cold walls. She had ran to far, and she was a great distance from any place where people were.
Ginny began to sob helplessly as she fought against Draco.
"Help..." she cried. But it was no use. Draco was already dragging her across the cold floor, one step at a time.
A/N: Ugh. I had chills writing this. I kept looking over my shoulder. Glances behind her shoulder again. Well, REVIEW! Two chapters left! Oh and..
Confidences- French for secrets (I think French)
Decouvert- French for revealed.