Chapter 8 – All Hallows Eve Has Arrived

Ginny awoke the next morning dazed and confused. For a few blissful seconds she neither remembered falling asleep on the comfortable chair nor the events of the previous day, and night.

She came to her senses slowly, but surely. She remembered that her father had been attacked and captured by death eaters the day before, and that she had spent the better half of the evening being held by a warm Ferret.

Erg, how in the world did I end up crying in Malfoy's arms? If Ron had seen me…

"Mornin' Gin" said a not so chipper Ron. He was sitting in the chair next her, and had been waiting for her to awake. "Don't worry about the time, the house-elves sent up some breakfast. We aren't expected to attend classes today if we don't feel up to it, and by the looks of it, that was a wise decision on their part."

Ginny stared blankly at her brother, sadness setting in to the pit of her stomach, sharing its company with a feeling of hunger.

"Well, that works for me. I'm simply famished."

"Wonderful." He motioned to the table placed in between their chairs. A tray of assorted breakfast pastries and beverages were set out for them. "Mum'll be coming to see us this evening, so I guess no time with Ferret-boy tonight, eh Gin?"

Ginny's eyes darted to her brother's "You know?"

Ron leaned over and touched Ginny's hand, "It's okay Gin, I'm not angry. At least, not anymore, that is. I had a long talk about it with Hermione after you fell asleep in front of the fire. I know he's changed, but he still irks me. He's not a threat right now, though. If he ever hurts you in any way, it will be goodbye Malfoy. Do you understand me? This is not a game, Ginny. We are at war."

Ginny looked down at the plate in her lap. She sighed audibly, and told her brother that she understood just fine and that if he did not mind she would like him to kindly shove off.

She was in no mood for protective older brothers this morning and simply wished to be left alone to her thoughts.

Blimey, Thought Ron, She's even worse than she was when she was getting over Harry this summer.

Despite his best efforts, Ron could not speak to his sister that morning. She was beyond approach, and he knew that it was in his best interest to give her space and time to calm down. He still did not understand why she had let a Slytherin like Malfoy comfort her and not even her own brother. It made no sense to his prejudice-filled mind.

Ginny had stormed into her dorm room and flopped onto her bed. She pulled the curtains closed around her and hugged her pillow tight to her chest.

What'll I do? She wondered. It's Halloween.

Ginny had always enjoyed the holiday, especially since she had entered Hogwarts. She loved the beautiful decorations placed in the great hall and around the enormous castle, and she felt a little regretful of having missed her opportunity to see the things she loved that morning at breakfast.

While Ginny was lying on her bed thinking of all the festivities she was missing, Draco Malfoy was down in the great hall admiring the decorations. He remembered Ginny mentioning once how much she loved Halloween and the decorations that come with it. He stealthily picked a bat shaped cookie and a black rose off his table, and put them in his book bag, before anyone could see what he had done.

That evening he waited for Ginny in the library, but she never came. He needed to talk to her; to be honest with her. He sat and waited for a bit over an hour and then decided that she was not coming. He went back to Slytherin House and locked himself in his private chamber. Left alone with his thoughts, his mind wandered until he was no longer aware of the goodies stashed in his bag or the absence of the redheaded witch he had been waiting for. All he could think about was the owl that had come to him at the breakfast table.

His owl had appeared with a note in its beak, addressed simply 'Draco.' He had recognized the stationary right away as his father's private stash. Even in prison, he still had access to the more luxurious items such as personalized stationary and a quill. This was highly unfortunate for Draco.

He read the note quickly, and stared at it in disbelief. If he had read it correctly, he now knew why Arthur Weasley was targeted and that it really had nothing to do with Harry Potter and his plight against the Dark Lord. Lucius Malfoy had ordered the attack and kidnap, in order to show his son that despite the fact that Draco was a blatant traitor it was still his right as Draco's father to teach him a lesson about blood ties and the importance of family history. It had come to Lucius' attention that his son had been spending a little too much time in the company of a certain freckle-faced, red-haired Weasley.

It had been clear to his father what he had to do for his son. It was now clear to Draco just how much he loathed his father. He knew that news of this would break Ginny's heart, but he had to let her know the truth. He had promised her in one of their last conversations before the tragedy that he would never lie to her, just as she had never lied to him.

Draco Malfoy hated his father.

Ginny Weasley loved her mother, but it was terribly frightening to sit and watch her cry like a four year old.

Molly Weasley was a very homely, no-nonsense kind of woman, but today she was more of a blubbering blob than anything else. Sitting in the Headmistress' office with her youngest son and daughter that evening, she was slowly recounting the sight she had come home to the previous morning.

"I had stayed the night at the twins' after helping them settle in at their new flat, you know how that must have gone, knowing your brothers… But, that's beside the point. I flooed over to The Burrow, because, as you know, we had the apparition fields blocked in case of attack. Whole lot of good that did! Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes, I had come home by floo, and I was bustling about in the kitchen making tea and crumpets for Arthur, you know how much he likes his tea and crumpets in the morning, I wonder what he will possibly do without them? Oh dear…" Molly was crying again, and her son was patting her hand in a gesture that screamed 'Go on, mum.'

"Right, right, the kitchen. I was in the kitchen when I realized that all I could hear was my humming, when usually I could hear Arthur tinkering about with his muggle things in the other room. That was when I knew something wasn't quite right. I quickly checked the clock and that's when I knew. The clock said that Arthur was 'Kidnapped by Death Eaters, and Worse.'" Molly buried her head in her hands and sobbed deeply.

Ginny could not listen any longer. The pain that her mother was going through was unbearable, and she could see the anger building up in her brother. Ron's face was so red that it was hard to tell where his hair ended and his forehead started.

Ginny knew it was going to be a long night.