Disclaimer: nothing nothing nothing. My ego is quickly evaporating into the vapours of artistic licence. Woe is me. So anyway… on with the story.

Chapter Eight, Flinch and Recoil

Ginny woke to the feel of soft sheets and plump pillows. Her throat was dry, but it was the pounding in her that she could not ignore. The daggers behind her eyes were not a side-effect of the potion that she appreciated, however the pain in her arm had subsided and she should be grateful for that at least.

Opening her bleary eyes, Ginny found herself face to face with a pair of cold grey eyes. He peered over the covers of her bed, staring at her face and apparently waiting. Ginny gasped and sat bolt upright in bed, clutching the sheets about her person and curling her hands into tight fists. Lucius Malfoy now sat casually reclining in a chair beside her bed. His hair was slightly ruffled and judging by the state of his appearance he had apparently been there for quite some time. His expression combined impatience, idleness and a hint of relief.

Ginny swallowed hard, trying to ignore the bile slowly rising in her throat. She appeared to have lost control of her voice as she found herself asking timidly,

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" Ginny did not trust this new-found courage to last and so quickly closed her mouth and retreated further back into the bed. Lucius Malfoy sneered at this saying, "You see Draco, she is fine."

Looking her directly in the eye he continued,

"This is in fact not your bedroom my dear. My son has kindly forgone the luxury of his bed so that you may recover. It appears that you have improved over the last few hours however, so I hope that he may return soon. We will have to arrange your own sleeping arrangements later today. Until then I would like you to make yourself presentable. The Dark Lord desires your company."

Ginny sensed sarcasm and grimaced at his sneer, his eyes boring into her. The grip on her sheets was almost painful and her fingers tingled from the blood loss, inevitable when gripping sheets very hard (A/N therefore I advise against it).

The adult Malfoy rose from his seat and left the room without a parting word. Ginny sank back into her covers only to be roused once more by a faint cough in the corner of the room. The younger Malfoy sat hunched in a chair, his hands in his head.

For a moment Ginny's heart went out to the figure. His posture was forlorn and she could not imagine what had brought on this change of heart. It had only been a few hours since she had been cursing his name fluently.

He did not move and his voice was muffled as he spoke. "You had a bad night. You nearly died. Some kind of reaction. Your body refused the potion and healed by itself." There was a long pause in which Ginny dried to comprehend what it was he was saying. Draco seemed to be gathering his thoughts before continuing. "You went into a fit and nothing we did could help you. Father blames me of course. I should have been more careful, I know. Won't be making that mistake again I assure you."

Ginny took in a deep breath and swallowed hard. Here was a meek and defenceless creature and she did not know what to do. She had never seen him like this before and this did not comfort her.

Ginny climbed out of the bed and walked cautiously across the room towards him. Draco did not move as she stood beside him. She reached out and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder. What else was she supposed to do? Draco flinched and recoiled from her touch. Looking up she saw his face for the first time, but it was not filled with the sorrow she had expected, although why he would be sad she could not imagine: her death would surely have been something to rejoice about.

Draco Malfoy's face was covered in bruises. His face was a mask of pain and Ginny's shock was nothing compared to his. What was he doing, revealing his weakness to a muggle-lover? She was the enemy and she had almost seen him cry. He stood up abruptly, knocking her body away in his haste to move away from her.

She could see from the way that he moved that his bruises must continue down his body. Ginny felt a foreign emotion for her enemy and she was frightened by the rise of sympathy within her towards the self-important, pureblood bastard walking away from her.

A/N not much happened, but you may have noticed that this chapter was kinda important.

Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate your support. You may have realised that this is my first fic so I'm still finding my feet. It's fun though.