Chapter 7 – Celebrate "Good" Times, Come On!

Ginny had not slept that night. She sat in front of the fireplace thinking of her father and of all the horrid things that death eaters could be doing to him at the moment. She was so afraid for him, and she was worried how her mother was coping with the tragic events of the day.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she had not noticed Ron and Hermione walk into the common room and sit down in the chairs next to her. They did not speak, but just sat together, watching Ginny.

After a few minutes, Hermione asked Ginny if she needed anything. "You know, Ginny, if you ever need anyone to talk to or if you need anything at all, I'm here for you, and so is your brother." She patted Ginny's hand for effect.

"It's Halloween tomorrow, 'Mione. It's supposed to be a happy day! Why did they have to take him now? I was so looking forward to the celebrations at tomorrow's dinner! I know it's childish and selfish to be thinking about this now, but I need to know that things can go back to normal even though there's all this bad stuff happening, what with the war and…" She never finished her point; she just sat there staring into the fire, tears rolling down her face.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other in agreement. They knew they would have to do something to help get her mind off her father's kidnapping.

Hermione knew that Ginny always forgot about everything in her life when she would sit in the library, even if it meant sitting next to the bouncing ferret-boy.

Ron was not so keen on the idea of his sister spending time with an alleged death-eater but he knew that Malfoy had changed over the summer, and was not what he had assumed him to be for so many years. He was having trouble getting past his house prejudices, though, and made sure never to let Malfoy walk by without a snide remark thrown his way. He was always surprised to see that Malfoy never reacted and never threw back a snide remark of his own.

He had heard rumours of Ginny and Malfoy spending their evenings together in the library doing homework and talking together, as if they were friends or something. He had chosen to ignore the rumours, thinking that maybe people were just making it up as a way of getting to Malfoy.

However, earlier that night he had gone to check on Ginny in the library and had witnessed the most peculiar vision; that of Malfoy holding Ginny so tenderly and comforting her, in the back of the library. He was shocked to find that Malfoy had even known how to comfort someone. He had thought Slytherins heartless and incapable of feeling.

That had truly been a revelation for Ron, and he was surprised at how well he had taken the shock, despite his initial feelings of rage. He had been angry with Malfoy, but it had been misplaced. He was angry with the death eaters who had taken his father, and upset that Ginny was so distraught that she had been driven to crying on Malfoy's shoulder of all people.

Looking over at the chair in front of the fireplace, Ron saw that Ginny had finally fallen asleep. It was late and he decided not to wake her to move to her room. Instead, he summoned a blanket and covered his sister on the chair. He kissed her forehead in the cute brotherly way he knew annoyed her and motioned to Hermione to leave Ginny to her dreams.

Draco had gone up to his room after making sure Ginny had returned safely to her tower. He had spent those few hours with her in the library trying his hardest to stop her tears. He never knew that a crying girl could make his heart hurt so much. He ached for her, and wished that there were something he could do for her, aside from comforting her with his words and gestures. Sadly, there was nothing he could do, seeing as death eaters were searching for him, too.

"Come off it, mate, tell me what's gotten into you!" Blaise yelled at his best friend. "You've been sitting here for hours already just staring at the wall. You've got this strange look of concern on your face. Since when do you, of all people, get concerned about anything?"

He answered his friend without even looking at him. "It really is none of your business, Zabini. If I wanted to share this with you, I would tell you everything that is going on in my pretty head. I obviously don't, so just shut it, alright?"

Blaise was surprised at his friend's tone of voice and the words he had spoken to him. It was not like Draco to be so rude to him. Sure, it had been a normal occurrence for Draco to be rude to everyone in the past years, but never to him. He always saved his friendliness for Blaise and Blaise only.

"Does this have anything to do with that Weasley girl you're always spending time with? I was informed of her little breakdown in the hallways today."

"Don't even go there, Blaise. Not now, not tonight." Draco did not intend to share the day's happenings with his friend, at least not right then. He was in no mood to share his feelings with anyone, even if it was his best mate.

"I need to be alone. I need to think."

Blaise got the message and picked himself up off Draco's bed. He walked out of the room, stopping at the door to turn back to his friend and offer a smile. "You know where to find me."

With the click of the door, Draco took his journal out from its usual hiding spot. He opened his trunk and said a spell to unlock the secret compartment. He would not share his feelings with his friend, but he would share them with his journal.

He wrote down everything that had happened that day, and all the things he had wanted to say to Ginny, but had not had the heart to let out.

He closed his journal and set it down on his bedside table. Lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, he said no one in particular, "I may not be able to do anything for you, but I can, at the very least, be there for you, Ginevra…"