Title: Blurred lines

A/U: Starting in Chamber of Secrets, making its way through Ginny's years at Hogwarts; Ginny and Draco's POV.

TW: Mentions of abuse and addiction

Rating: M for Violence, Grief and Sexually suggestive content.

Chapter 8. The Cup and the Snakes Within.

"Gordon Bennet!" Ginny squealed as she jumped a half a metre into the air. An incredibly old, incredibly dusty and incredibly ugly house elf had appeared in front of her and Draco with a loud crack.

"Hello Gerald," Draco said, not at all phased as what could only be described as a scouring pad looked up at him. "Is it dinner already?" The elf nodded and Draco looked at Ginny with an amused smirk, "It's only a house elf Ginny."

Ginny was flustered and tried to keep her voice level, "I wasn't expecting him to just appear in front of us." The elf bowed; with a snap of his fingers he left the room with another loud crack.

"We should probably go to dinner, I wouldn't want to keep Mother waiting." Draco said, standing up and straightening his shirt.

"But what about our chess game?" Ginny countered, pointing at the board.

"Oh that," Draco said, another smirk rising on his face, "Knight to F4, your Botez Gambit lost you the game before turn five. I'll be glad to play you again some time." As he said this the Knight's horse reared up and charged towards the F4 square, knocking the rook right off the table. Holding his lance up to the king piece's throat, the knight looked like he was laughing triumphantly as the king doffed his crown and layed it by his feet. Draco and Ginny left the room and headed to the dining table with her arm through his.

It had been 3 weeks since Ginny had arrived at Malfoy Manor and the routine was quite the same: Breakfast every day at eight-thirty, lunch was self prepared any time between twelve and three, and finally dinner was at eight — apart from tonight. Tonight Gerald, the battered and ugly old house elf, had informed them that dinner was ready at six-thirty. Lucius answered their question the moment they both sat down.

"Early night tonight," he said "I want you both up early, we need to get Mrs Weasley dress robes and then head to the World Cup Stadium." Lucius had his hands together with his face against them looking at Draco "You've grown so much, boy I doubt yours will fit from last year so we will get yours too." The amount of contempt Lucius put into the 'boy' made Ginny a little shocked. She knew he wasn't exactly kind to Draco but this open almost hostility nearly knocked her back like a powerful smell. She could even see Draco's eyes darken as the walls closed in on his world just a little bit more. She couldn't make any obvious reassuring gesture for fear of creating a scene but she did move her knee against Draco's leg, breathing a little easier when his eyes opened a little wider and he pushed up against her in gratitude.

The rest of dinner was a silent affair, with the tension between the two men almost palpable.

An hour later and 3 courses down, Ginny returned to Draco's room arm in arm with him . She wasn't sure it was still necessary to take his arm at this point but she had started doing it habitually and only hoped the habit wore off when they got back to Hogwarts. Despite Ginny's best efforts to comfort Draco in the presence of his father, he still let out a shuddering breath as he fell down onto his black leather couch and spread his legs onto the coffee table. Ginny sat down a little more eloquently, shifting her legs and feet under her and leaning against Draco's left arm. "I knew he wasn't very nice. But that was, well..."

Draco looked much older than fourteen as he swept his hand over his face with a sigh."He's a massive prick, I know. Good thing Mother is decent or I might end up like Theo." The moment he made the comment about Theo, Ginny saw him seize up a little bit, "You didn't hear me say that though, he promised to make me swear to secrecy."

Ginny patted his arm reassuringly, "I won't say anything. What does Theo's dad do?"

Draco wasn't sure but finally came to the conclusion that he could trust Ginny, especially after she didn't make a scene at dinner, "We both know that although Theo is a little crazy with all his talk of pre marital naughtiness he isn't exactly what we would call a ladies man. Most men would call him a shirt lifter. Well his Father suspects this and it's pretty commonplace to have him bounce Theo off every wall in the house." Ginny sat up looking a little outraged.

"What?" Was all she could say.

"I know, whenever he talks about it he always plays it off as a joke but you should see him in the changing rooms the first week of term. He looks like a football team used him for kicking practice but he will never actually tell us why."

Ginny looked bewildered, "What's football?"

"Oh, it's a muggle ball sport played on the ground. Blaise's mother had a muggle husband at one point; Blaise went to a game with him a day or two before his corpse was mysteriously found in a lake."

Draco was parting all of this information off very casually and it made Ginny a little scared. Was all of this so commonplace amongst pureblood families that talking about it took as little effort as talking about a disappointing quidditch game? Draco noticed her look of concern and remedied it slightly by putting the arm she was resting on around her shoulders. "Don't worry about it though. It's not the best solution but as long as Theo doesn't purposefully wind his father up he doesn't have anything to worry about."

"What about you?" She asked.

"What about me?" he replied one eyebrow cocked. Rather than using words Draco could deny, she raised her hand quickly to the side of his face. He flinched so hard he nearly conked heads with Ginny and his wide eyes started at her hand before darting back to her. "You really need to stop doing that." He said with a stern but wavering voice. She brushed his aristocratically high cheekbone with her thumb and put her hand down and leaned back into Draco as he answered her silent question. "I'll be fine too, I have a mother unlike Theo and it's much the same for me anyway. As long as I don't purposefully anger him, he's not that bad. Just a bit condescending."

"Whatever you say. I can tell you're not sleeping right either, the bags under your eyes are more akin to school trunks than bags." Ginny commented maybe a little too sharply

"Yea well, I've been taking too many dreamless sleep potions recently so I've had to cut down," Draco said with a hint of defensiveness to his voice.

"Are they really that addictive?"

Draco nodded.

They spent at least 2 hours in a slightly sad but mostly comfortable silence before Ginny noticed Draco sag a little, his breathing lightening up and his eyes firmly shut. Ginny remembered that while she was not necessarily allowed to use magic here, she wouldn't be punished for it, so she decided rather than leaving him to go stiff on his couch to instead attempt to levitate him into bed. Although she made a valiant effort to levitate him all the way, the simple levitation charm Wingardium Leviosa was unfortunately not enough to move him completely. She dropped him with a thud on the polished wooden floor.

"Bloody hell, Ginny." Draco said, rubbing his head. "I reckon it would have been better just to wake me up.

"Whoops — I'm so sorry." Ginny said genuinely, before realising he wasn't actually hurt. "Though that does count as pay back for dumping me in the black lake."

"Silly bint," Draco grumbled as she playfully smacked him round the back of the head.

"Call me a bint again and I'll hex you," she said with a grin. Knowing better than to mess with her Draco simply grumbed a bit more and fell into his bed. "Whatever you say, love."

Ginny was nearly out of the door when he said 'love,' but she still heard it and it made her think as she went into her own smaller, bare-walled guest bedroom. After she crashed out onto her bed she let the words knock about her brain for a little while. She really liked Draco. He was good looking and funny and they were bonding really well while together. But there was also the massive issue of his bigotry towards muggleborns and, more importantly, her own family. On the other hand, she had found herself thinking a little more about Draco recently, even more than before, about how he feels and if he actually thinks that she's funny, pretty et cetera. On the other hand, if he did like her he would have let her know, whether implicitly or explicitly and surely he knew that going out with her would cause a rift between the rest of the group. Not only from the way Pansy would practically explode at her but also from the fact that if they broke up it would be about as awkward as it had been right after her accident. That bout of non communication was incredibly difficult for Ginny as it was, she knew, for Draco.

Eventually however, she chalked it up to just the way he spoke and finally tried to calm her wiring brain. After all, she had to be up early tomorrow.

Ginny woke up with a golden ray painting her bedroom walls with sunlight as she stirred. She was groggy but instantly felt excitement bubble within her. Today was the day of the Quidditch World Cup and she was going to go shopping and see the most amazing final match between the two best teams in the world, Ireland and Bulgaria.

Ginny was evidently late for breakfast as the three Malfoys were already at the table with foodstuffs in front of them. She took her seat next to Draco and when she went to pat his arm in a morning greeting kind of way she noticed that the part where his fingers met the rest of his hand were bruised and red. Something had clearly happened but Draco shook his head slowly indicating that now wasn't the time for questions. Luckily Mr and Mrs Malfoy were both reading the morning paper and didn't notice this action. She felt like she had to do something and felt a little bit responsible. If he wasn't playing a blood traitor for house guests then he probably wouldn't be getting these looks off his father but she remembered about not making a scene and Lucius was the type of man who would grill her for giving odd looks. What she did do was shift her knee over to Draco and pressed her leg reassuringly into his. She was relieved when he lent his leg into her touch and his eyes brightened slightly.

Thirty minutes later, breakfast was finished and Lucius spoke up. "In 20 minutes we go out and take the flu in the foyer to Borgin and Burkes — I need to pick some items up in Knockturn Alley. Narcissa will take you two to Madam Malkins to get dress robes fitted, and then we can go for an early lunch before returning to the Manor and apparating to the stadium. Any questions?" His inquisitive tone was mixed with a dash of contempt that implied any stupid question would mean trouble for whoever asked it, so no one risked saying anything, instead simply nodding politely. As they all stood and walked out of the dining room, Ginny, arm in arm with Draco, snaked her hand down to his and brushed her thumb against his knuckles. Lines of hurt plagued Draco's aristocratic features as she did and when they reached his room he dropped to the sofa, dragging a hand down his face as he had the night before.

"So are you going to tell me how that happened or are we not gonna talk about it?" Ginny asked, her voice stern but not unsympathetic.

"He was unhappy about having to go into Diagon Alley so early to spend money on a blood traitor. He blamed it on me and, well..." he trailed off, pointing to his hand, "he bent my fingers back. So nothing too bad, really."

Ginny's eyes expanded with outrage. "Nothing bad?!" She shouted loud enough to shock Draco but not loud enough to be heard through too many walls. "Nothing bad? Draco, you're one wack away from flinching when someone raises their hand in class. You have this pained expression whenever Lucius even looks at you too hard. And I know you're not blaming me but you can't say it's not my fault that this is happening to you."

"Listen, Ginny." Draco said, looking a little bit distressed. "I don't have it nearly as bad as some people. Just look at Theo you even mention his Father he gets this look like he'll flip a table."

"That's the thing though," Ginny interrupted. "It shouldn't be 'not that bad' that you should have to compare yourself to others to excuse what's happening to you."

"There's nothing you can do. Not yet at least. We are all underage." Draco cracked a smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry; when we're both 17 we can blow up or do whatever dastardly Slytherin scheme you can come up with. For now though, we just gotta take it in our stride. In my stride at least. Sure your parents aren't your number 1 fans right now, but I doubt they'd do this." He waved his hand in front of his face making his bruises catch the light and contrast awfully with his natural alabaster skin tones.

Diagon alley was packed. It always was, it was after all the wizarding heart of london. Now, however, it was completely rammed. You could barely walk forward more than a few paces without having to stop, and even the most ardent pusher and shover got nowhere fast. It took then 10 whole minutes of doing not a whole lot to get to Madame Malkins luckily not many people needed dress robes in the middle of the holidays and so it was pleasantly empty when they arrived. Another 10 minutes elapsed and they were out of the shop, bags ladened with dress robes and accessories. Next stop La cœur purfor their lunch.

Ginny never quite appreciated how prestigious the Malfoys were until they sat down in public for lunch with them. Not only did they get first service, jumping right in front of at least 5 other couples and family, but they also got a special menu. On said menu were fancy French wines that Ginny hadn't even heard of — nor could she pronounce — nor could she comprehend the price tags.

Ginny was expecting something small but when she was also given an entree menu she knew she was in for some pampering from the kitchen staff. For starters she had french onion soup. Start off with something familiar to ease herself into the fancy french cuisine that she would no doubt be having. For the main course she had a lamb shank navarin of lamb stew. For dessert she decided to share a slice of hazelnut dacquoise with Draco.

Not used to the rich food Ginny had to give herself a solid moment to just sit, thinking back to what she had just eaten. It couldn't have been better than one of her Mothers home cooked meals. Back at home, she cooked because she loved it and she loved to feed her children. Here however, their only concern is money. Turning a profit and her Mother would never do that. Just look at the house they were staying in. Draco seems do have done a lot better than her he's sat reading through the menu to occupy his eyes and brain from the silence that now rang over the table until, "I think we should get moving it's nearly time for the final collection of people to arrive at the stadium and there are some people I wish to talk to before the games begin anyway." With this he settled the bill by placing a check, written for an obscene amount of money, under a whiskey tumbler and headed out of the door, Narcissa on his arm and Ginny on Draco's.

Generally the spectators of large sporting events like the Quidditch World Cup would assemble days or sometimes even weeks in advance. However, due to either the Malfoy's elevated status or, more likely, their incredible contribution to the construction of the stadium they only need to arrive hours before the games begin and stay in a private lounge area attached to the Ministerial box.

When they got back to the Manor instead of going their separate ways like they generally did when arriving then stayed by the fireplace in the foyer. Lucius pointed and said, "you're going to 'The Mitchum Camping Spot,' some large field muggles use to camp."

Ginny nodded, took a handful of floo powder, dropped it into the flames, and said loudly, "The Mitchum Camping Spot!" Instantly, the warm lick of flame erupted around her and she was jerked from her spot and whizzed sickeningly around and around, glimpsing the fireplaces of other wizarding families. A small boy on a broom, a small pet like a cat and finally a giant ugly dog she thought was called "Fat Head" from the shouting until she stopped spinning and landed nearly toppling over in a muddy field. Thankfully she knew the impervius charm so her nice shoes and the hem of her dress wouldn't be dragged through the ankle deep mud. She cast the charms on herself and stepped out of the way just in time as Draco emerged, then seconds later Lucius and Narcissa.

When Ginny took the time to look around she realised that it was pretty thick mud but only a few feet around the fireplace and about 100 feet away there was a tent with white jacketed servers sitting on a crate outside of it smoking from pipes and drinking from bottles. Inside the tent the noise was probably incredible but the din was blocked by the thick curtains. While the curtains blocked the sound greatly they didn't block the incredible smells leaking from the structure. Smells of barbecuing meat starchy pasta baking breads. Must be where the hor d'oeuvres are being prepared. Suddenly she feels her arm being grasped and she's being led out of the trodden up mud and into the campsite.

"We won't be staying in this area long, I need to find someone-'' Lucius started calmly but stopped talking when he spotted who he was looking for. Bartemius Crouch Sr was standing waving at some brutish looking fellows who she recognised as foreign ministers, though she didn't pay enough attention in History of Magic classes to place exactly who. Lucius approached in his important aristocratic stride and waited while Barty Crouch dispelled the foreign minister. "Mr. Crouch I understand we need to be escorted."

The bumbling head of International Magical Cooperation let out a stressful stutter and spoke brusquely, "Yes so you are, give me a moment." He took his wand out and gave it a wave but nothing shot out other than wisps of smoke. He enunciated Expecto patronum but again, nothing but wispy smoke. "Oh never mind, I shall escort you myself." He clearly didn't relish this prospect but Ginny couldn't understand why. Anyone in any sort of position of power in the Ministry licks the proverbial boots of the Malfoy family in hopes their next political campaign gets lobbied by their immense riches. Ginny had no time to think more on this issue and just proceeded with Draco at the heels of his parents.

No more than 30 minutes later, it was hard to tell as the sun had set not long after they set off, they came to the mouth of a tunnel leading through the hill into the stadium rows of wall sconces were set into the walls of the tunnel equidistant from each other and illuminating the way forward. Mr Crouch stood at the mouth of the tunnel and hoped the Malfoys wouldn't be opposed to walking down a brightly lit tunnel by themselves. "Someone will be waiting on the other side for you, I must get back to my duties I feel this whole event may colapse around my ears if I leave some of the more incompetent members of staff to their own devices for long." He said and without waiting for permission he swiftly left the Malfoys and Ginny and swept off, disappearing with a crack.

"He didn't seem too excited." Ginny whispered as loud as she dared to Draco. She was slightly afraid when Lucius answered her.

"No, he's never really been a fan of us, has he Narcissa." Lucius said as Narcissa shook her head in agreement. "But not even being able to produce a corporeal patronus, that's awfully disappointing isn't it." Ginny swore he gave a knowing smile before he set off at a brisk pace down the tunnel.

As promised they met a man named 'Rexxar' according to the Ministry Protection Badge attached to his suit lapel and they were escorted up a flight of stairs to a door labeled: Ministerial Box entrant by special invitation only. Before they entered however Draco spotted someone and shouted after them "Hey Potter!" Harry Potter stopped climbing the stairs and leaned over the railing. He looked awfully full of himself. "What's the air of confidence in the aid of Potter? Did mummy dearest have to sell everything before she died to give you enough money for this?" Harry turned angry at this, although his family did leave him more than enough to buy tickets for himself; he was actually here by invitation of the Weasleys. When Harry's redheaded entourage came into view it was Ginny's turn to look shocked. Molly wouldn't even look at her.

"Ginny?" Ron said not seeing Draco until seconds later, "What are you doing with them?" He continued to look down his nose at Draco.

"I was invited by Draco to come to the Quidditch World Cup, hence why I am here." Ginny snapped at Ron.

"Well you should have just come with us, save you the trouble of being seen with… them" Ron said, continuing to look down at Draco like he'd just stepped on a particularly large bug. "And we have seats in the top box."

Draco howled with laughter. "Wow Weasel. The top box; how many times did your parents have to mortgage the house to afford you tickets up there? Well since my family isn't poor," he dragged out the word poor to needle Ron further, "we got seats in the minister's box and by we of course," he put his arm around Ginny's shoulders and pulled her in close to his side, "I mean Ginny and myself."

Ron's face had never gotten so red in Ginny's living memory. He looked like he was about to vault the stair rail and fly kick Draco off the side of the Stadium but his Father pulled him away and pushed him up the stairs. Both parties continued to where they were supposed to go.

The Malfoys were supposed to produce an invitation when they reached a door marked Ministerial Box, invite only. However since so many people know exactly who the Malfoys were and more than likely are in their positions of power because of them, they needn't produce anything and were let straight in.

The sight was dazzling, with none of the support struts visible. Deep red velvet carpet spanned the entire room. There were luxurious black leather sofas accented in red to match the carpet. Vast glass coffee tables and a bar stretching along one side of the room. Drinkers sat at the bar swallowing serving after serving of smoking amber fire whiskey and small hor devours. Ginny cringed in place when she heard Pansy Parkisons voice. Pansy looked incredible no matter how you looked at her. Her hair was split dyed a bright white and cut in a mussed bob that barely reached her shoulders. She wore a red silk pencil dress that stopped a scandalous number of inches above her knees, and flat red shoes to tie the look together. Ginny was a little stunned and a little annoyed at her beauty. Draco wouldn't survive a quidditch game with that in the room. Ginny wouldn't tell a soul but she was jealous. She herself didn't know whether it was at Pansy's gorgeous appearance or at how Draco was clearly going to give her most if not all of his attention despite begging Ginny to take her place on his guest list.

"Hello Draco." She said. Even her voice was different. When Ginny last saw her she spoke in a higher pitch and trilled whenever Draco was in the room. Now however her voice was slightly deeper, more calculated and much more seductive. None of the girlish trilling or the angry jealous snipes. All maturity, all beauty. On closer inspection Pansy was wearing barely any makeup at all. Quite the contrast to her usual bright lipstick; intricate eye-shadow blends and long eyeliner wings. Still the effect was dazzling. "Oh, hello Ginny," Pansy said, giving the impression she hadn't even noticed her. There is always something you can count in in a person no matter how much they appear to have changed. With Pansy, it's her childish jealous dislike of Ginny. She was pretty sure Draco didn't know whether to squirm or take Pansy by the hand then and there but he settled with a gracious smile and a, "Hello to you to Pansy. You look great."

Although he was smiling Ginny could tell that his heart wasn't all in the compliment. His features were friendly but none of the masculine fawning or lustful stares in her direction. Maybe he was moving on from his childish crush just like she was. He wouldn't have had to be embarrassed and placed into a different house to have lost it though. So why was he acting differently?

She didn't have enough time to ponder this because Blaise had come through the door with his mother and a portly man dressed in plum purple suit and tie, white shirt and gordy gold and diamond set pocket watch which he checked periodically like a nervous tick. He clearly had more money than sense; especially going out with Mrs. Zabini.

Blaise approached Ginny and Draco, stooping so he could whisper in our ears without being overheard, "I think we should leave my town bike mother and Mr. Heavenestra to get refreshments don't you think?" Both Ginny and Draco nodded.

"Your mother always freaks me out a little bit, you know," Ginny said side-eying Mrs. Zabini. "The fact she can kill all those men and frame them as accidents so well."

Blaise laughed and countered:"You're telling me my mother is a genius for excuses like, Slipped on the top of the stairs, did 5 cartwheels and broke his neck, an arm in two places and both legs in 4. She's not smart, just incredibly attractive and even more powerful." It was no secret to anyone who wasn't enraptured by Mrs. Zabini's beauty that she married men with more money than sense and killed them, leaving behind their piles and piles of gold to their one true love. Which made it even more frustrating to Ginny because all of the men that married Blaise's Mother were idiots. Mr. Heavenestra was no exception. He leered openly at Mrs. Zabini, something left for the privacy of their own homes in pureblood tradition.

Luckily Blaise had the good sense to clear out with Draco and Ginny before Mr Heavenestra had the chance to engage in the irritating step father conversation that an out of place step parent and a reluctant step child commonly bring forth. Neither knowing how to deal with or wanting the other's company. At the bar on the far side of the box a man is wearing waist-coat suspenders and an impeccably clean cloth slung over his shoulder. All three ordered butter beers and took a seat at one of the dozen scattered snazzy black leather sofas, this one unfortunately didn't have a coffee table. Common conversation passed over the trio. Familiar, inoffensive and interesting enough to fill the half an hour gap before the games started. However, Mr Malfoy came over to the trio just before the minister took his place at the podium to make his pre game announcements and introductions and said to all three of them, "When the games are over you three or at the least you and Ms. Weasley are to return to the fireplace and go straight home. No exceptions, you just go." Draco was going to retort and say they wanted to stay for the after game festivities but his father cut him dead with a look and then cracked a sly, evil smile.

Five minutes after their, rather one sided, conversation with Lucius the game was set to start. Ginny could have sworn one of the sides of the box had rumbled silently and dropped a fraction. It must have been done in some capacity because the once quiet and gentle chatter of the box was drowned out by a cacophony of raucous chanting and singing and screaming. Moments after that, the wall shifted again slightly and slowly, dramatically glided down and revealed a humongous stadium with 3 hoops at either side and easily over 200 rows of seats starting 10 feet up from the green floor. It was magnificent and the ministerial box was centered in the middle with a perfect panoramic view of the whole stadium.

From the veela nearly knocking Blaise and Draco unconscious the moment they stepped out to introduce the bulgarians;= to the wronski feint expertly executed by the bulgarian seeker Victor Krum, the whole match was a spectacle. The trio had to relocate to a sofa with a coffee table as they were downing butter beer after butterbeer, getting most in their mouth or splashing some over their faces and finally becoming sorely disappointed as Ireland won against Bulgaria. Krum catching the snitch was only a minor victory.

As the match got to a close and the front screen was raised to shield the delicate upper class ears from the din of the stadium they looked around for Lucius and Narcissa but they were nowhere to be found. They only found Mrs. Zabini ushering Blaise out of the box. With a swift goodbye and a squeeze that made Ginny's ribs feel like they were being crushed he made his exit with his Mother.

"She seems nice," Ginny said, taking Draco's arm as they themselves finally made an exit after realising that they would not find Draco's parents.

"She definitely is. A little twisted but a lovely lady for certain." Draco said calmly.

"Almost as lovely as those veela girls?" Ginny raised her eyebrows in mock innocent questioning.

"Almost as lovely as you can be when you make a bit of an effort," he retorted playfully making no attempt to hide the smirk on his face. For the first time in the public eye as Draco, the son of Lucius Malfoy, he dropped Ginny's arm from his own, slid it around her back to her other arm and gave her a squeeze. "You're going to make a great Slytherin, you know. Hell, you already have made a good Slytherin. A lot better than anyone else."

This compliment makes her face go red. Not as red Ron's can get, but still noticeably pink in the cheeks. A warm feeling that had nothing to do with the numerous butter beers she had ingested that night ran up through her chest and into her face fueling the blush. Ginny did what only felt natural. Maybe having so many butter beers, no matter how little alcohol they have in them, has made her a bit incoherent as when she realized Draco's arm wasn't going from behind her back any time soon she crossed her own arm around his back and rested her hand on his waist.

The flights of stairs felt endless as they stepped a little bit tipsy down them. One by staggering one. When they finally felt the harder concrete floor of the tunnel entrance they were getting a little better at walking. Escortless, Draco and Ginny decided to just walk by themselves. "Sod waiting, might as well go ourselves. Not like there's anyone waiting for us on the other side anyway." And with that, they made their way down the tunnel and into the marsh which had to have only gotten worse as it had rained on and off three times during the two and a half hour match.

The end of the tunnel had, as expected, been soaked in mud. It took all of Draco's efforts not to get dirt on the hem of his robes by hoisting them up like a girl in a wedding dress but just managed to get his socks and trousers muddy and let the robe hem drop getting soaked through also. Ginny was alright, the heels were closed and not too high and she didn't have socks to contend with, her dress also came up above her knees, though not to the extent that Pansy's did.

It was then they both heard the screaming and whatever alcohol that was left had drained out immediately. There was screaming in the stadium and, no doubt, even in the camping ground following the games. This was different however. Awful blood curdling screams that turn your blood to ice and your heart into overdrive. The wind sliced through the moaning and crying like the prayers of dying men, howling making a persistent effort to ramp the tension even higher than it already was.

"Ginny we have to get to the fireplace," Draco said, trying to get her attention. "Come on, let's go!" He ended up shouting as he removed his arm from around her back, clutched her hand in a white knuckled death grip and nearly wrenched her arm out of its socket as he dashed in the general direction of where he remembered the fireplace being.

Every tree looked the same, every tent identical from the outside and every turn feeling more and more wrong until they both saw it simultaneously. Floating, no, writhing ten feet in the air were three bodies. A woman, a man and a boy, no older than ten. Flailing and writhing and in tremendous pain. It finally made Ginny's heart sink further than the pit of her stomach when she realized that most of the screaming was turning into mad cackling from the eight figures clad in black pointed hoods and grotesque masks beneath the family.

Now added to the din were the rush of footfalls, turned into wet thuds from the mud as people rushed toward them in droves. Everyone from men, women , children and pets were all either being carried, running, or stumbling over the many people making a dash for any exit they could find.

So much was going on they almost didn't notice the giant green mark in the sky. It was a skull easily 50 foot wide and a snake protruding from its mouth making it nearly 3 times as long as it is wide. Draco's face lost almost all of its colour at the sight of it. He knew exactly what it was, and exactly what was missing from his fathers closet. Right at the back hidden under a false panel. "Ginny, we have to go. Right. Now!" As he said this he didn't wait for her assent before he scooped her up, one hand under her knees, the other supporting her back, and sprinted as fast as his long robe and dress shoes would allow. In a blind panicked sprint he managed to find the fireplace he had been looking for and threw Ginny into it. Draco grabbed a handful of floo powder, dropped it into the fireplace and shouted: "Malfoy Manor." When Ginny was taken by the safety of the emerald flames he too did the same. Throwing himself this time into the empty fireplace, dropping the power and shouting as if the fireplace needed to hear him over the noise: "Malfoy Manor."

The world started spinning, and finally flooded with familiarity.

A/N:Sorry to cut it off here but if I didn't it would be nearer to 8k words and I don't think my beta could take the strain.

I saw that you all like the longer chapter lengths so I dropped a sneaky one on ya.

Thanks very much to knopflerfan for betaing this chapter yet again and thank you all for your support and your lovely reviews :))

I hope you all have a lovely day thanks for reading

-Asmo