Sorry the review responses are short, but I really wanted to post this tonight. And I didn't proof read very well, because I'm super tired.
Torri-Chiobie- Haha, yep. You might be physic. Thanks for reviewing.
IMustNotChaseTheBoys- Well you'll just have to read to find out if you were right or not…
louey31- Whew! Glad Draco seems believable to you, because he doesn't to me. I'm trying though.
dragonlayer- Yes, please keep reviewing. I can't get enough of them.
ILOVDRACO- Well you're about to find out…
QueenThayet12990- Sorry if Draco is OOC, I'm trying to keep him in character. And I really don't want it to go fast, but it'll go how it ends up doing. (sorry, that doesn't really make sense.)
Disclaimer- Don't own.
Chapter10: Partners
Ginny's fortunes were improving.
Hermione had found her lying on the floor of her room that night. She had woken up in the Hospital Wing. Her brother, Harry, and Hermione had all been extremely apologetic towards her. They kept trying to make it up to her, for ignoring her as of late. And since Madame Pomfrey had healed her, she felt back to normal. Her throat still felt somewhat sore, but that was all. Her bruise had been gone before she woke up.
Ginny smiled. Everybody had been paying extra attention to her lately. And even better, Harry and Jenny had had a fight, which resulted in Jenny breaking up with Harry. Though Ginny felt terrible for Harry, she couldn't help remaining hopeful. To both her despair and joy, her feelings for Harry had returned somewhat. She had a plan that would ensure Harry noticing her. He would be proud of her.
She would find Trent Johnson…and the one who had taken him. She already knew who it was too: Draco Malfoy. Everybody seemed to know it was him. She just needed a way to prove it. Ginny thought for a while. Then an idea popped into her mind, and she smiled. It was perfect.
She knew Malfoy hated that people knew it was him; she saw it in his eyes when he had come into the Hospital Wing. She would team up with him in an effort to "solve the mystery". She would catch him at his own game. Then Harry would notice her in a different way. At least, that's what she hoped.
Ginny sent a letter to Draco that day. It told him to meet her in the Astrology tower. Ginny just hoped that he'd listen to the letter, since she hadn't signed it. If he knew he was going at midnight to meet a Weasley, there was no way he'd do it. And there was no way for Ginny to tell if he'd agree, anyway. He'll agree, Ginny reassured herself. He's desperate. He'll do anything to get these rumors to stop.
That night, Ginny went up to the tower early. She wanted to be there when Draco showed up, and she didn't know if he'd come early or not. There was little natural light that night, so Ginny lit a candle and sat down in the corner.
The time leaked by slowly. Right before midnight, she heard a noise. The door to the room flew in, and Ginny saw the tip of a wand enter the room. She stifled a giggle. Then Draco Malfoy was visible, cautiously looking around.
"There won't be any need for your wand," Ginny said calmly.
"You," Draco whispered. "What are you doing here?" he looked disbelieving.
"I sent the letter, didn't I?" Ginny asked. "I have a proposition for you. Sit down," she motioned towards a chair that was sitting on the opposite side of her desk. Looking warily at her, Draco sat. He kept his wand out.
"You have a proposition…for me?" Draco looked as if Voldemort had put on a pink dress and started dancing around the room.
"Yes, a proposition. I know that you've heard the rumors going around school…the ones that say you -"
"I know what they say," Draco snarled. "You think I don't know what people are saying I did? What they say I am?"
Ginny shifted in her seat and calmly looked at Draco. He was even more irritated by it that she had thought.
"Well," she continued, "what would you say if I could make them stop? Or, I should say, if we could make them stop."
"And just how would we do that?" Draco smirked at her. "Get your saintly Potter to stand up for me? Go crying to mummy and daddy? Hmmm….?"
"No. We work together. We find out who it is that took Johnson, and we prove that it isn't you. I'm sure that whoever took him also took Albert Harding, and they were just playing it cool for a while. Halloween was the perfect time to take someone. Everybody was so preoccupied with the feast and everything that they tended to ignore their friends…" Ginny trailed off, staring into the candle. Just like they forgot me, then, she thought. That could've been me…I could've been taken and I bet nobody would've even noticed. She cleared her throat and looked up. Draco was intently studying her face. His gaze wandered all over as if to detect any sort of deception in Ginny. She squirmed uncomfortably.
Draco smirked and leaned back in his seat. His eyes never left Ginny. "And why would you do this?" Draco asked quietly. "Incase you forgot, we hate each other's guts."
"Well- "Ginny stuttered. She hadn't thought of this question. What was she going to say? Certainly not the truth. "I, uh- " She glanced up at Draco, and he was still staring back. "Um, I just don't think it's right that everybody is blaming you when they don't have any real proof. They all seem rather quick to put the blame on you, don't you think?" Draco was staring at her suspiciously. "They're so ready to blame somebody, they just go for whoever seems most likely to them. Like they know you."
"And you do?" Draco retorted, standing up quickly. He looked angry. "You don't know anything about me, Weasley. Don't pretend like you do."
Ginny stood up too, and moved around the desk to stand in front of him. "You're right...I don't know anything about you, but I can help you. You can't prove yourself innocent by yourself, and I can't do it alone either. We have to work together." They were both silent for a moment, staring at each other. Draco started walking slowly towards Ginny, closing the space between them.
"After we're done, we can go back to trying to kill each other," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "No strings attached."
"Uh-huh," Draco said. "And what is your brother going to say when he finds out his baby sister is working with a Malfoy?"
Ginny gave a small laugh. "You thought I was going to tell Ron? If we do this, we can't tell anybody. What would anybody say if they knew we were working together?" Draco nodded his head slightly. So slightly, that Ginny doubted it even did. He put his wand away, and folded his arms over his chest.
"So does this mean you'll agree?" Ginny asked, trying to keep the hopefulness out of her voice. She stuck out her hand. "Partners?"
Grudgingly, Draco shook her hand. "Partners."
The next day went by quickly for Ginny. She and Draco had agreed to meet in the Astrology tower that night to form a plan. The most logical place to start looking for clues would be down in the tunnels where they had found Albert, but they would discuss all that tonight.
Ginny was sitting in the Gryffindor common room with Hermione, Ron, and Harry. They were all doing homework. She would continuously sneak peaks at the latter over her Potions book. He was always looking down though. Ginny didn't talk too much about Harry's breakup with him. He had told Ron all about it, and she had heard about it from him. Apparently, Jenny and Harry had gotten into a fight over Quidditch teams when Harry had been teaching her how to fly. "It was stupid, really," she had heard Harry telling Ron. "One minute I'm telling her to hold on, and the next we're arguing about which team is better, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."
Outwardly, Ginny appeared to be consoling Harry. She would try to say nice things, about how their break up was for the best, and that he could do so much better than Jenny, which, in Ginny's opinion, was entirely true. Nobody had seen much of Jenny since then. Occasionally they'd see her sitting at the Ravenclaw table, laughing and eating as if she had never even gone out with Harry. Though Ginny was glad they were no longer a couple, she couldn't help but be mad at Jenny for hurting Harry.
The night approached quickly for Ginny. Before she knew it, it was midnight, and she was making her way up to the Astrology tower. When she got there, Draco was already waiting.
"You're late," he said.
"No I'm not," Ginny sniffed. "You're just early."
"I'm never early…" Draco mumbled. He was sitting where Ginny had sat the night before. This time, he had lit many candles, and there was a fire in the grate so there was plenty of light. He sat back and folded his arms, looking up at Ginny expectantly. Ginny sat down across from him.
"Well?" Draco asked.
"Well what?" Ginny retorted.
"Well what do we do now? I came, didn't I? Now what."
"Now," Ginny said, irritated, "we make a plan. Like what we do first, who we think is a suspect, where do we start looking, that sort of thing." They were both silent.
"Look, Weasley, if you think I'm going to come up with everything, you can just forget it. This was your idea."
"Fine then," Ginny grumbled. "I think we should start by searching that tunnel where Albert Harding was found. Then we can see if there are any clues left behind. Someone must have brought him there; they might've left something."
"He wasn't necessarily brought there" Draco said. "He could've just wandered there by himself and bumped his head or something. Or somebody could've found him there and cursed him. Maybe he went there by himself…maybe nobody even took him in the first place."
Ha! Ginny thought. Trying to cover up, are you? "Then how do you explain the disappearance of Trent Johnson? Hmmm? I suppose he just wandered off too, didn't he?"
"I don't know," Draco said through gritted teeth. "Why do think I have all the facts?"
"I thought Malfoy's knew everything," Ginny said smugly. "I guess I was wrong."
"Of course your wrong, Weasley!" Draco seemed triumphant that he could prove her wrong. Then he seemed to realize what that meant for him.
"So you admit that you don't know everything?" Ginny grinned at him. "I never thought I'd see the day when a Malfoy admits he's wrong."
"That's not what I meant, Weasley, and you know it." Ginny merely smirked at the obviously irritated Draco.
"Are we going to do this or not?" Draco was in a bad mood now. "I didn't come up here at midnight just to have a pointless conversation. Especially with a Weasley," he sneered.
"Well, I already said what I think we should do," Ginny commented. "What do you think about my idea?"
"Whatever," Draco mumbled. He looked towards the fire, then back at Ginny. "Is that all? Because, honestly, I'm tired. I want to sleep right now. That's what normal human beings are meant to do this time of night, you know…sleep."
"No, that cannot be all," Ginny said. "What time are we going to meet to go down there? It obviously can't be anytime during the day, because people would know about it."
"I don't know when," Draco said. He remained silent for a moment, thinking. "What about now?"
"Now?"
"Yes, now, Weasley."
"What happened to you being tired?"
"I changed my mind," Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Besides," he added with a smirk, "there's no time like the present, right?"
"Ugh, Malfoy, how much farther?" Ginny whined as they slid along the corridor. They had silently made their way underground and were traversing the same path they had about a mother earlier. The light was poor, and both students had their wands lit. Even so, Ginny tripped more than once on loose gravel, and was forced to hold on to the wall for balance.
"What did you expect? A five-minute walk?" Draco sneered as he led the way.
"No," Ginny grumbled, "I just don't remember it taking this long. Are you sure we're going the right way? We're not lost again, are we?" she taunted.
"That wasn't my fault, Weasley. It was dark."
"Whatever," Ginny replied. Soon they reached the end of the hallway. "This is it, isn't it?" Ginny asked. "I mean, isn't this where we found him?"
"Yeah, I think so," Draco replied, walking around. He was examining the walls. Ginny turned to her left and right. Draco seemed to be doing a good job of pretending he was just as curious as she was. She started gazing about, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
"Do you see anything?" Draco asked without looking up.
"No…you?"
"No. I don't see anything," Draco walked toward Ginny and folded his arms over his chest. "There's probably nothing here to see." That's what you want me to think, Ginny said to herself.
"Oh come on, Malfoy. I'm sure there's something." Ginny started moving into the shadows. Soon, Malfoy was far behind her, and the only light she had was her own wand. That didn't reach too far.
"Don't get lost, now," Draco sneered, his voice echoing in the tunnel.
"Bugger off," Ginny muttered.
"What was that, Weasley?" Draco demanded. Ginny still couldn't see him.
"I said- " Ginny was cut off as she tripped over a rock and fell forward. Before she hit the ground, however, someone caught her.
"You do that a lot, don't you?" Malfoy said as he helped her up from behind. His arms were around her waist, holding her up, and Ginny's cheeks grew hot. However, nobody noticed since it was so dark. Ginny started to retort but was silenced by Draco.
"Do you hear that?"
"Malfoy, I don't hear any-" Draco slapped a hand over her mouth and shushed her. Ginny grunted in indignation, but then she heard a noise. It sounded like shuffling feet. Cocking her head to the side, Ginny listened harder. It was coming their way.
"Be very quiet," Draco whispered in her ear, and he pulled her further into the shadows. They were invisible, just standing there quietly. The noise was getting louder and closer, and now Ginny could hear heavy breathing as well. Ginny moved as far from Draco as she could while staying hidden.
After a few more seconds, a figure became visible in the distance. Ginny couldn't see his face well since he was too far away. She strained her eyes, and then gasped as she recognized him.
Argus Filch.
"What's he doing here?" Ginny hissed at Malfoy. He glared at her, as if silently telling her to shut up. They both focused on Filch. Mrs. Norris was creeping alongside him; Filch was talking to her.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Norris, we'll find them. Rotten dirty little kids…they always leave a path behind them, don't they? Yes, don't worry….we'll catch them. Then maybe Dumbledore will finally listen to us…"
Filch was soon past them, walking further and further away. Mrs. Norris glanced back once, and almost appeared to see them, but she kept trotting on.
"Come on," whispered Draco, shooting out of the shadows and running down the corridor. "Let's get out of here."
Ginny ran after them. If they were caught out this late and in the tunnel where Albert Harding was found, there was no telling how much trouble they'd be in.
So they ran. After about ten minutes, Ginny had to stop. Draco, very reluctantly, agreed. Sliding to the ground, Ginny closed her eyes and panted heavily. Her whole body ached with the effort of running. Draco's patience didn't last long though. He was soon dragging her to her feet and they resumed the running once more.
"Stop-" Ginny panted, slowing down. "I'm not running anymore." Draco growled and turned around.
"What do you mean, you're not running? Do you want to get caught?" Draco looked furious.
"In case you didn't notice," Ginny said, her own temper rising, "Filch ran the other way! I think we can walk now!"
"This is all your fault, Weasley," Draco pointed accusingly at her. "If you hadn't decided to come down here, we wouldn't have to run in the first place!"
"My fault?" Ginny asked incredulously. "It was your idea to come here in the middle of the night! I did nothing wrong."
"Whatever, Weasley," Draco scoffed. "If you want to stay down here and walk, that's perfectly fine with me. I, however, will not be caught." Draco Malfoy then started running again.
"Fine!" Ginny shouted after him. "Leave! I don't care. I will walk, and I'll get back just fine." Ginny stood up. "I won't get caught-"
"Stop right there," said a voice behind her. Ginny froze as she recognized Argus Filch's voice. Must've shouted too loudly, thought Ginny. She turned around.
"Aha!" Filch squealed, looking gleeful, "And what would you be doing down here at this time of night? You better have a good explanation or it's expulsion with you."
"I was just filling in for my brother Ron, is all," Ginny lied quickly. "He's Head Boy, but he wasn't feeling well enough to make his rounds tonight. I offered to help. That's all I was doing," Ginny tried to hide her anxiety. Filch looked skeptical.
"He's supposed to get one of the prefects to do that, isn't he?"
"He is, but he couldn't find any of them. It was kind of a last minute thing," Ginny said.
"Fine," Filch said gruffly. "Next time, you tell one of the teachers. Otherwise, you'll get a detention, whether it was a favor to your brother or not."
"Thank you," Ginny sighed. "I promise it won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't."
Ginny started to leave; she still had a ways till she got out of the tunnel. She stopped when Filch didn't follow her.
"Aren't you coming back?"
"Yes." Filch said while staring off into space. "Yes, I was just thinking that…." He looked up suspiciously at her.
"What?"
"Nothing. Come on, let's get back."
Once they finally exited the tunnel, Ginny left without a word. The sooner she got away from Filch, the better. He seemed to suspect her, and Ginny didn't like it one bit.
She silently snuck into the Gryffindor House and crept into her room. Damn that Malfoy! She thought angrily. He would be in trouble too, if only he hadn't run away like a chicken. She cursed under her breath, careful not to wake any of her roommates. Then she climbed into bed and pulled the curtains closed around her. Tomorrow was another day, and she'd figure everything out then.
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A/N: Finally, an update. I got writers block after a while, and then when I almost finished writing it, I changed my mind about stuff and when and re-wrote a bunch. I didn't really like this chapter, but oh well. Review, please!
Lauren
