Wow! A reasonably quick update. Amazing isn't it. Anyway, this chapter is INCREDIBLY long (34 pages! A new record for me) and bit of it were really hard to write, so constructive criticism and comments are especially encouraged for this chapter. Please!
Oh, and just a quick note about the timeline of this story, which is kind of odd. The Order of the Phoenix is there, so obviously at least the first part of the fifth book took place, but a certain charecter is still alive (I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but really, if you haven't read the fifth book yet, put down this fanfiction immeadiatly and go read it) so, the end didn't. So basically, its as if the end of the book never happened and Harry and the gang actually got a little rest. And, of course, I started this long before the sixth book came out, so all information from HBP is basically fully ignored.
The first sensation he felt that morning was one of extreme cold. At first, he dismissed it as the drafts of the cold, damp, dungeon. But then he was aware that it was more than moist, it was soaking wet. And not only that, but he could hear muffled snickers. He sat up, remembering he wasn't in the dungeon at all and intent on murdering whoever had woken him from his comfortable sleep. He opened his eyes, almost expecting to see Ginny, but instead he saw Ron and Harry, a few drops of water dripping from the tip of the redhead's wand.
"I am going to kill you both." He said slowly.
"Up and at'em, sunshine." Harry said with malicious cheer.
Ron snickered. "Nice pajama's Malfoy. You're whiter than the sheets."
Draco glanced down at his pale, bare chest and green and satin pajama pants, then at Ron. "Right back at'ya." He said.
Ron flushed, looking down at his own pajamas- a white t-shirt and a pair of long flannel pants with fire engines on them. "Hermione bought them." He mumbled.
Draco smirked. "Really, if you two wanted to see me all roughed up in bed…"
Ron flushed even worse and Harry looked disgusted. "Actually we've got better things to do, thanks."
Draco sneered. "Moaning Myrtle doesn't count, Potter," He said, "And neither do-"
Mudbloods. Mudbloods, he was about to say, but he had stopped himself just in time. If he said that, Ron would punch him, then Ginny would have found out, and then she'd hate him and there'd be no possibility of having any fun at all that holiday.
Ron was red again, his face rivaling the shade of a tomato. "What were you about to say, Malfoy?"
"It wasn't very nice, I'm afraid." Draco slapped his hand. "Bad, Draco."
"Malfoy," Ron said, advancing very quickly, "You'd better hope-"
"What's going on in here?" Ginny demanded, pushing the door open.
"Yeah," Draco said, "Thanks for the knock, Weasley."
"I could go back outside and let Ron have his way with you." She snapped, then, at the disgusted look of all three boys, she added. "That didn't come out right."
"No, no, don't let him touch me!" Draco said with mock desperation and a sneer. "Really, what is your family's sick fascination with my body, Weasley?"
"The better question is why are you still in bed? I came to wake you up forty-five minutes ago!" She said, "We're going to be late!"
Draco tried to think back forty-five minutes, but was quite sure he had no memories of her trying to wake him up whatsoever. He glanced at his watch; it was only nine o'clock. Nearly an hour earlier, when she claimed she had tried to wake him up, it would have only been eight. That was just criminal. The day didn't officially start until noon.
"It's still early." He said, lying back down and closing his eyes with the intention of sleeping another hour or two. "Go sleep."
"Oh no you don't, Draco Malfoy." Said Ginny as she snatched his blanket away from him. He screamed like a banshee.
"Oh, you great baby, get up." She said, sounding exasperated.
"Diagon Alley will still be there in an hour."
"But Seamus won't."
"Just one of the many advantages of going back to sleep." He said rolling over and pulling the pillow over his head. She promptly snatched that away as well.
"So help me, you will get up." She said.
"Better do as your mum says, Malfoy." Ron said snickering.
"And would you two get out of here and go get ready!" Ginny barked and threw the pillow at them, narrowly missing Ron's head. The two boys hurried out, having on more than one occasion incurred the wrath of Ginny.
"If you are not out of that bed and headed for the shower in forty seconds, you'll find out what if feels like to spend the day as a parakeet."
"Fine, fine." He said, and slowly slipped on leg over the edge of the bed.
"Five, six, seven, I'm waiting, Malfoy. Eleven, twelve-"
He got out of the bed; she followed him down the stairs and to the bathroom door.
"Do you need to follow me in there too?" Draco asked.
"No, I think you can take it from here." Ginny replied smiling sweetly. "Just don't take too long." And then she disappeared down the stairs.
Normally, he took short showers, but just for the fun of it, he added nearly twenty minutes of bathing time simply to annoy her. Then, in addition to his already extensive morning ritual of getting ready, he took extra care to insure that his hair was flawlessly brushed and jelled. Once he was sure he was not only groomed to perfection, but also late enough that Ginny would be suitably annoyed, he sauntered down the stairs. Not at all to his surprise, the entire Weasley family, with the exception of Arthur (who was still at work), and Percy (who had chosen not to participate in the family outing), was standing at the fireplace waiting for him.
"But Mother, really, why can't we just stay here with Percy?" One of Ginny's cousins's asked. It was one of the small, bookish-looking twins.
"Because, Jack, this is a family vacation and-" The woman Ginny had pointed out as her Aunt May answered. She was holding a crying baby and looked incredibly worn.
"Percy's our family." The other twin pointed out reasonably.
"Yes, well Percy is also an adult, and your not. Now you're coming." Said the woman, and behind her Fred and George were sticking their tongues out at the smaller set of twins.
"Bit of a disappointment to them really." Ginny, who had appeared at Draco's side, said quietly. "They were thrilled when they heard May was having twins. Thought they had two little prodigies on their hands, 'til Jack and Jim came out like two mini Percys."
"That's not fair." One said, sounding rather whiney. If he had to guess, Draco would have said the boys were about seven, eight maybe.
"Get stuffed." William muttered to his brothers, and Fred and George both patted him on the shoulder.
"William, however," Ginny informed Draco, still talking in hushed tones, "Is their absolute greatest accomplishment. He's only ten and he's already almost as bad as they've ever been."
"Would you boys stop? You are going and that's final!"
"Fine." They both said, sullenly.
"Okay then, you three go first. Stay there to meet the children." Mrs. Weasley said, addressing Harry, Ron and Hermione. They each took a small handful of Floo powder and disappeared into the flame. After them, the Weasleys departed one by one, the youngest first, with Draco going along last.
By the time he arrived, May was already in a panic, and the others were trying to calm her.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"William." Ginny answered. "William never showed up."
"And you're sure that you three didn't see him?" Ginny's uncle was asking Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"No." Ron answered. "He never came."
"Well, now don't worry." Mrs. Weasley said. "He probably just didn't speak clearly enough. He couldn't have gotten too far away. We'll just split up and look for him."
"We'll go this way." Fred and George both said and headed off to the left.
Draco was thrilled, watching the Weasleys head off. He hadn't known how he was going to sneak away and get to Seamus before Ginny did. This made for the perfect excuse.
"I'll go this way." Draco said, pointing off in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Ginny asked.
"I'm a big boy, Weasley."
She frowned. "But-"
"Red hair, freckles, about this tall-" He paused and indicated somewhere towards the middle of his torso, "and answers to the name of William."
She was still frowning, but he didn't really mind. He turned and hurried off, hoping he wouldn't actually find the boy. How inconvenient that would be.
It was a particularly crowded day, what with Christmas less than two weeks away. Draco had to fight his way through the horde to get to the doors of the pub, and once there he had to search for several minutes before he actually found Seamus. He was seated in a booth in the back, looking about casually. Draco really hadn't known if this was where Ginny and him were supposed to be meeting, but he had gone on a hunch. And he was right; Gryffindors really were pathetically predictable.
He crossed the room with a purposeful, elegant stride and sat down across from Seamus, who was looking shocked and none to pleased too see him.
"'lo Finnigan." Draco said nonchalantly, as if they had lunch together everyday. "Ginny'll be a little late."
"Malfoy." Seamus answered, almost, but not quite, maliciously.
"Now, what kind of manners did your mum teach you? Is that the all the greeting I get?"
"You're lucky your greeting didn't involve me hitting you across the head with that chair." The other boy said glaring.
Draco winced. "Can we just cut past this pathetic attempt at witty repartee, because, really, that's just sad. I mean, seriously, expecting you to come up with anything clever is kind of like expecting a movie like, 'Things You Would Never Have Thought to do With a Broomstick' to have intelligent dialogue and a well-thought plotline."
"So did you just come here to insult me or was there something you wanted to say?" Seamus asked through grit teeth. He really wanted to hit him, Draco could tell. In a way, Draco almost wished he would. At least then he could have some respect for the Irish boy. But no, like a good little Gryffindor, Seamus stayed seated across from him.
"Ginny Weasley." Draco said.
There was a long pause. Finally, against his better judgment, Seamus asked, "So what about her?"
"If you hurt her in any way, I'll kill you." Draco said simply.
Gaping, Seamus tried to say something, but Draco cut him off. "If you break her heart, or upset her, I'll kill you. I could come up with some stunningly clever threat of how I'd kill you, but, really, it would be wasted on you. Just suffice it to say it would be painful and would probably involve a pair of dull hedge clippers."
"You're insane." Seamus said, looking at him incredulously.
"Yes, well so I've been told. And I also suggest that you don't tell her about this." He stood and dusted of his robes. "Well, then, it's good that we've had this chat."
He hurried out of the building and wondered if he should at least glance about for Ginny's cousin. He scanned the crowd of people and stopped when he caught a glimpse of bright red. The crowd covered it now, but he had been sure he had seen it. Then, as the throng parted again, he saw Ginny moving in his direction.
"Oy, Draco," She called, "We found him."
Draco quickened his pace and met her. "Where was he?"
"Gambol and Japes Joke Shop. Not quite as impressive as Zonko's, but Fred and George have still told him enough about that he Flooed there instead. His mum was furious." She said, and she was grinning.
Ginny grabbed his wrist and checked his watch. "I'd best go meet Seamus, I'm twenty minutes late already."
"I'm sure he'll understand."
"I should be done by noon or so." She said hesitantly.
"Fine." He said. "I'll be at Flourish and Blotts."
Ginny couldn't tell if it was an invitation or not. It was one of the most amazing, annoying things about him, that no matter what he said it could have a thousand meanings.
Sensing her ambivalence, he smirked at her. "I'll meet you there." He said deliberately.
She smiled brightly, and then rushed off in the direction of the inn.
The hostess smiled graciously. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Ms. Moreau should be expecting me." Draco said, smiling engagingly.
The girl's smile faltered slightly. "I'm sorry, sir, but Ms. Moreau did not mention any appointments and…" She paused, looking down at the page of her open reservation book, "You are not on the list."
"Not surprising, considering I didn't tell her I was coming. But trust me, she'll be expecting me."
"I'm sorry, but-"
"Let him come in." A girl said. She was standing at the top of a flight of stairs directly behind the reception desk. The stairway was dark, but the light from the room behind her made her figure a stunning silhouette, looking mystic and enigmatic in loose, flowing robes. She turned, and reentered the room, leaving the door behind her slightly ajar. Draco slowly climbed up the stairs and pushed the door open. The room was huge and lavish, extravagantly, but not garishly, decorated in sheer hangings and soft cushions and smelled of incense. On one wall, there was a single painting; it was a sunset, brightly lit with reds and oranges. In the middle of the room, lying like a queen awaiting homage, the girl was reclined. Her robes and hair fell over the side with a seductive air, and he was quite sure she had arranged it like that on purpose.
He grinned at her. "Always have to make an entrance. You've probably known for days I was coming and you couldn't even put me on the guest list."
"Well, I didn't make any other reservations. Now come here." The room was the one she used for special clients, ones who wanted a private room for whatever reason they might choose; she didn't ask questions.
He swiftly crossed the room, and stopped before her. Slowly, lazily, she lifted herself into a sitting position. Dutifully, he leaned down and accepted her kiss. Like always, kissing him was like something distant. Not cold, but instead like kissing an idol; something too detached and revered to be intimate. He didn't want her affection; instead he tolerated it. He managed to give the air that he was bestowing a great gift, to allow her to kiss him like that.
"You're looking well, Sylvia." He said.
"And you know you're beautiful." She said with a smile. "You don't need me to tell you that."
"Of course, but it's still nice to hear sometimes."
She wrapped her legs under her, making room for him to sit by her and laughed a musical little laugh. "Vanity, thy name is Malfoy. You weren't followed?"
"No. My father's cronies lost track of me at Kings Cross and haven't found me since."
She sighed serenely. "So tell me about her then."
"About who?"
"The redheaded girl. The girl you're in love with."
"Oh, Seamus, I'm so sorry I'm late. My cousin got lost, and I had to help look for him, and-"
"Oh, no, Ginny, it's fine." Seamus said, but he was looking rather fidgety.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, concerned.
"No, no, nothing's wrong. So where do you want to start?"
"I'm not in love with her." Draco protested.
"Hmm…" Was all Sylvia said.
"I'm not."
"Fine then, you're not. But tell me about her anyway." Sylvia said, and she seemed to be searching him for something. And then he did; he told her everything, from the first day in Knockturn Alley, where he had saved her and then given her the necklace, about Ginny's dreams and all he knew regarding Tom Riddle, and then staying the holiday with her. He was glad to tell her. He had considered many times telling Blaise, but after all was said and done, Blaise was really much too moral to be in Slytherin, and being Ginny's friend, he would have disapproved. And he had wanted to tell someone for a long time. Not just so he would be able to talk to someone about it, but also because in a very dark and Slytherin place in his heart, he was proud of himself. But Sylvia was like him. She would understand his pride without him having to explain it, and she would have answers, even though he really had no specific questions to ask. She said nothing while he recounted the past few months. He finished, and still she sat in perfect, brooding silence.
Finally she said, "So you could have done anything you wanted with her, and really, she had no choice. You have the means to find her, wherever she is, and bring her to you, and you never use it. You two have classes alone together, and yet you've never tried anything. You control her dreams and all you've done is sit back and observe? So basically, you have complete and absolute control over this girl, and what have you done?"
"I-"
"You, Draco Malfoy, are in love. And with a Weasley of all people. I can't decide whether it's too pathetic to be funny or not. Really, I think it probably is, but I still can't help laughing at the irony of it all." Her tone had a brittle tone to it, and he knew what she was thinking about.
"How about this one?" He asked, holding up a purple, imitation leather purse with a large flower print on it.
"Oh, Seamus," Ginny said frowning, "It's ghastly."
"Oh," He said, and then looked at it as if he were seeing it for the first time. "Oh, it is, isn't it?" He dropped it back on the shelf.
They had been shopping for about half and hour, and Seamus seemed horribly distracted. He kept picking up such awful, appalling things that Ginny began to wonder if perhaps he actually hated Hannah.
"Maybe we should try another store." Ginny said, steering him towards the door.
"Hmm… oh, yeah, another store. That'd be good."
"Seamus, are you alright?"
"Right as rain." He said, and held open the door for her. He followed after her, but missed the step and fell on the street.
"Oh, dear," Ginny said, looking at the small scrape on his arm. "You were saying?"
"I'm fine." He said, standing up and brushing himself off. "It's just…. you know we're not dating, right?"
Ginny stopped abruptly, and stared at him in utter disbelief, "Well, yes, I know that. Otherwise shopping for your other girlfriend would have been a bit awkward. Really, Seamus, what's gotten into you?"
The immense relief on his face was almost comical. "Oh, nothing Ginny, now, where to next?"
It wasn't that he didn't kiss back, he always did. And Draco Malfoy was quite skilled; Merlin knew he'd had enough practice. But it was always an automatic bodily compulsion that he should react to her lips on his. Always he had a distracted air, that wasn't so much that he didn't care that she was kissing him, but rather that he was barely aware of it. As if her presence was barely a blip on his radar. She had known from the vary beginning that she was nothing to him, he had almost said as much, and at first, that was what she wanted. He was gorgeous, and confident, and perhaps a little younger, but skilled enough to make up for it. And it was simply amusement to them both, nothing more, and nothing less. Blaise was ecstatic about the pairing; he was convinced they would fall in love. And slowly, she did. But he hadn't, and she knew he never would. But that didn't stop her. She began to spend time with him apart from simple physical contact; she would help him with his homework, and eat dinner with him, and sometimes just sit in his room and watch him read. He read a lot, and she had loved observing him then, because he was too engrossed to notice. She could, for hours at a time study the sharp lines and angles of his face. Sometimes, he would catch her watching him, and smirk as if it was simply his due that she should love him, and then he would kiss her. But she knew.
He did care about her, even if it was never in the way she wanted. When she had been younger, and not able to control her visions, she had often had fits. He was always first at her side, holding her hand when she had one of those episodes. And, sometimes, very rarely, he talked to her openly, without his shield of sarcasm.
One day, during the summer after his sixth year, and he had come home particularly upset. She was there, waiting for him as she often was.
"What's wrong?" She had asked, noticing the anger in his eyes.
"Nothing." He had snapped, and then he had kissed her. There was a hunger and a need in that kiss that had never been there before. She was just another out; a way of avoiding what was bothering him, a drug to numb the pain. She knew it and she didn't care, because for once, she could feel something in him. He grasped at her so hard it almost hurt, slipped his hands under her shirt, sliding them up and down her back, and it shocked her because in the five months they had been dating he had never gone farther than to kiss her.
"Draco." She couldn't help herself from saying it. She had said it so many times in her head. "Draco, I love you."
He had stopped, pulled back, and was, if only for a second, shocked. Then his face had grown cold again, and emotionless and distant. "Sylvia, I don't think we should do this anymore."
"I know, Draco." And she had turned right then and left, because she knew if she hadn't she would have lost him forever. Two days later, she found a bouquet of roses on her doorstep; they were yellow, the color of friendship. She cried for three days straight, and then, she had gone to see him. And they just talked. When she left, he had caught her by the arm. "I do-I do, Sylvia, if not in that way."
And that one sentence had made her so immeasurably sad that, even now, she couldn't bring herself to think about it.
"Listen, Sylvia, I need to ask something really important of you. I need to know what you've Seen." He asked, leaning forward and taking her hand.
"Nothing." She said quietly.
"There must be something- anything you've told him, everything. I need to know." Draco said, he sounded pleading, even to his own ears, but he knew there was something wrong. There was no reason the Dark Lord should have taken such an interest in Ginny Weasley, and, having grown up in his father's house he knew dark magic when he felt it. The dark energy of those dreams was almost tangible. He didn't know what it meant, but he knew it meant something. Besides that, there was still whatever his father was planning to consider. If it was important enough that Snape had wanted him a safe distance away from even the school, it had to be something major.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"You know I only remember parts of what I See." The girl said looking horribly-was it ashamed?
"But, your scrying mirrors, you must-"
"No." She said quietly, and this time he was positive that the emotion in her beautiful blue eyes was guilt.
"I don't understand." He said bluntly.
"I block it, Draco, I block it all. My mirrors, the crystal balls- I don't use them anymore. I've even stopped drinking tea." She said suddenly, sounding desperate. "I don't want to See it, Draco. I don't want any of it. I don't want to know. When the Dark Lord- when he needs me, I tell him what I know and then- and then I obliviate myself." She had a wistful, almost dreamy expression as she said the last part.
"You-you what?" He sounded incredulous, bordering on disgusted.
"You don't understand what it's like!" She said savagely. "You don't know what I See!"
"But, if you used your visions, you could change things! You could go to the Order. I would take you. Hanging around with the Gryffindors is no picnic, but it's better than working for the Dark Lord. They could-"
"No, I can't betray him. You know what he'd do to me- to my family!" She grasped at him in sudden desperation.
"And besides," She added after a moment. "I can't change the things I See. That's not how it works. What I See- it will happen. It must."
"But there must be some way-"
"No, Draco. There's not. You don't know what it's like, what I See. I See horrible things, Draco. Why-why do you think I had those fits when I was a child? It's like living in a nightmare, only I know its real. Draco, you have to understand…" She broke down, unable to say anything further. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, needing him to understand what she was doing.
"Coward." He spat, and she could see the disappointment in his face. He was cruel at times, and he stepped over lines. But that had always been in anger. Never in this…disgust. It made her angry; he had no right to accuse her of anything. "You're running away, Sylvia. You-"
"Shut up, Draco. You have no right, no right." She could feel hot tears streaming down her face and she couldn't tell if they were of anger or sadness, or self-loathing. She had gotten to her feet at some point. "Don't dare stand there and think you're better than me. What have you ever fought for? You're me; you're just like me. You can think whatever you like, but at the end of the day we both know it."
She stood, panting, waiting for some response.
Draco looked like he'd been slapped. He sat in silence for a moment, and then finally he stood. "I guess that's it, then."
He was halfway to the door before she stopped him. "Draco-"
She crossed the room and grabbed at the frame of the painting, and after a brief struggle, the painting swung forward on old hinges with a creak. Inside was a single item: a shallow stone basin with a single string of runes inscribed around the brim. Carefully, the girl pulled it from its hiding space, and, like a child carrying a bucket too full of water, slowly brought it too him.
"It-It's not a very clear vision. But I thought you should have it. It's got your girl in it. I would have just told you myself, but, Draco, it's so heavy."
"Thank you." He said, and carefully preformed a shrinking charm and wrapped it gingerly in a silk handkerchief.
"And, Draco- once you see it, if you want to forget-"
"I won't." He said firmly.
"Take this then." Sylvia said, and took from under her couch a bottle.
"Firewhiskey?"
"1845 Firewhiskey. Not nearly as permanent as obliviate but, trust me, you'll forget."
He nodded and then left, closing the door behind him. She sunk down on the floor, and silent tears began to flow down her beautiful, impassive face. She sat there for a moment, before she finally collected herself, and stood, smoothing out the wrinkles in her robe. She took a deep breath, and then another, fighting down another wave of tears. There was a small knock at her door.
"Yes?" She called, her voice perfectly unaffected.
The door slid open only a slight bit. "Miss?"
"Yes, Sarah, you can come in."
The receptionist from downstairs opened the door and offered Sylvia something. "The young man from just a moment ago left it. He said to bring it up to you."
Sylvia smiled; it was a single yellow rose.
Ginny smiled to herself. After its initial awkwardness, Seamus had gotten very pleasant, and the outing had been extremely enjoyable. They had ended up deciding upon a simple, pretty necklace for Hannah, which she was sure she would love. They had parted around twelve thirty, and she was now making her way through the crowd the Flourish and Blotts. She hurried inside, welcoming the warmth. It was not hard to find Draco; he was seated in a large armchair on the second landing of the store, a large pile of books at his side.
"I wouldn't have taken you for much of a reader." She said breezily, reading the page over his shoulder. It was a very dull history book, an in depth examination of the events that lead up to the goblin wars.
"What, you think just because I could get by with just my devastating good looks that I neglect my intellectual side?" He asked, acquiring a look of mock offense.
"Actually, I rather thought you'd have better things to do than spend you're Saturday nights reading about goblins. Then I remembered who I was talking to."
"Well, it does get awfully busy between torturing the innocents, kicking orphans and coming up with the eleventh plague." He said, smirking slightly, "I take it you're not much of a reader, then."
She shrugged. "Not really. I do what I need to get by in school, and I like romance novels- don't look at me like that, nothing trashy- but aside from that, not really."
"Well if romance is what you want, there's a horribly romantic scene in here between Eargit and Urg, but it might get just a bit too graphic for you." He said very solemnly.
Biting back a smile, she asked, "And how's that?"
"Well, they don't call Urg the Unclean for nothing."
Ginny laughed. "I'm going to look around a bit, you can keep reading if you like. I'll get you when I'm done."
He nodded and returned to his book. Ginny, who was miserably behind on her Christmas shopping, searched the shelves for something appropriate for Hermione. She picked out a book on the twenty most influential wizards of the era; it was enormous and Ginny couldn't have read it in five lifetimes. She also got two books on Quidditch that had just come out; one, an in depth biography of any player of any team from the year 1100 and on, the other a rather horrifying but hilarious book that play-by-played the world's greatest Quidditch accidents. Ginny would wrap them up together and simply address it to Harry and Ron, because she knew within a month the two would have passed them both back and forth so much between them that they wouldn't remember which had been whose in the first place. She also picked up the latest book in the romance series that her mother had recently become addicted to. It was a trilogy entitled The Wrong Side of the Wand. Mrs. Weasley had read the first book (Point Me) and blushingly forbidden Ginny to go near them.
"Done?" She asked, coming back to Draco's chair. He had made surprisingly good progress with his book and, again, Ginny was surprised. She had never thought of his a dumb, but she had also never pictured him sitting around reading for pleasure.
He closed his book and gathered the three or four others he'd picked out, and stood. "I though you said you didn't read much." He said, quirking an eyebrow at the books she carried.
"They're gifts." She said, and hoped he wouldn't notice the title (Wands Arise!) of her mother's book.
Once they'd paid, he and Ginny simply wandered around. Ginny really had nothing in mind to get for anyone, so she simply went from store to store, looking around and buying whatever interested her. Draco was pleasant, or at least as pleasant as he always was, but after two hours he began to get impatient. He kept touching his pocket, as if assuring himself that whatever was in there hadn't been lost.
"What are you doing?" She'd asked.
"Nothing. Really, Weasley, how much longer do you expect to be? Just get everyone some nice candy, and maybe some contraceptives for your parents and be done with it."
She slapped him gently on the shoulder. "I will not. Give me just ten more minutes. Oh and don't look so pleased about it, I'm not saying that for you, I just promised mum we'd meet her at four to go home."
Ginny was very pleased with herself; she'd managed to cross everyone off her list in just on day. She was carrying at least seven bags full of Christmas presents waiting to be wrapped and then opened and she couldn't help but grin, thinking about Christmas morning. It was, by far, her favorite holiday.
Ginny glanced over at Draco who was walking along facing the ground, looking rather distracted. He was swinging his Flourish and Blotts bag back and forth on his arm, and it struck Ginny as an oddly childish gesture. She smiled.
"What are you so happy about?" He asked, catching her off guard.
"Oh, nothing. You could help me carry my bags, you know."
Glancing down at her burdens, then at the single bag he held in his own hand, he looked as if the thought had never occurred to him, which, Ginny was quite sure, it hadn't. "Yes, I suppose I could." He said, it wasn't sarcasm, but he didn't move to take her bags.
As they approached the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny could already see the large mass of red that was her family standing out against the crowd. Her mother rushed forward to meet them.
"Finally. Let's go, you two. Ron, what are you waiting for, help your sister with those bags!" Mrs. Weasley called.
Obligingly, Ron came and took several packages from under his sister's arm.
"Now don't look in those." Ginny snapped, "What's got mum's knickers in a knot?"
"Going barmy, I'd say. She met up with us about an hour ago and wouldn't leave. She kept saying she thought someone was following us." Ron said, looking annoyed. Ginny pitied her brother; she'd had enough shopping trips with her mother to know it was not always a pleasant experience, especially when he wanted, as she was sure he did, to say things he would prefer his mother didn't know.
"Come on. What in Merlin's name are you kids doing back there?"
Ginny had never been very good at wrapping presents, but it was a fun way to pass the time. Her room was beginning to resemble the North Pole, for all the presents and wrapping paper she had in there. Of course, her floor was impossible to navigate and her bed was so covered she'd probably have to sleep on the couch, but still. It was nice. She'd already gone over her mental checklist twice before she'd left Diagon Alley, to make sure she hadn't forgotten anyone, but just to be on the safe side, she thought it all through again. She gotten presents for Ron, Harry and Hermione, all her brothers, all her cousins, and even some sweets for other Order members. Remus and Tonks had been easy, because of their upcoming marriage. Sirius had been a bit more of a challenge, because really, what was there to get for a middle-aged ex-convict? But she'd found something eventually, and that, she was quite sure was everybody. And even if it hadn't been, between her mother and Malfoy she would have had to leave anyway.
Immediately Ginny paused. Draco.
She hadn't even thought about Malfoy. Was she supposed to be getting him something? There were, as far as she knew, no rules of decorum that would cover this particular situation. They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't really enemies anymore either. There was really no word for her relationship with Draco. A week ago, she would have called it mutual tolerance, but it had moved apart from that somehow, in a way she could quite describe.
She'd been studying him, trying to figure him out, and found that she couldn't. Every time she thought she had him pinned down, he did something completely out of character. She'd basically just resigned herself to the fact that she would never quite understand him.
"Ginny?" There was a soft knock on the door, right before her mother started to open it.
"No, Mum! I've got presents out!" Ginny yelled, rushing to the door and knocking it closed. She heard her mother's aggravated sigh.
"Well then come out here."
Ginny slipped out the door and closed it behind her.
"Seamus is in the kitchen fireplace. He wanted to know if you could talk."
"Seamus? But I only just saw him a few hours ago." Ginny said, puzzled.
Mrs. Weasley smiled and winked. "I know. Maybe he just wanted to thank you for such a pleasant time."
"Mum. Seamus and I are not dating."
She frowned, and then, her face lit up with a glimmer of hope. "Does that mean that you and Harry-"
"Uggg! I'm more likely to date Snape than I am to date Harry. We've been over this before."
"But you two would be so love-"
"I have to go. Seamus is waiting for me downstairs." Ginny said, and hurried away.
Through the fire, Seamus smiled when he saw her. "'lo Ginny."
"Hey, Seamus."
He looked around nervously. "Err…Ginny, Malfoy's not around is he?"
"No, I haven't seen him." She replied, baffled.
"Good. Look, I know it's none of my business, but are you and Malfoy dating?"
Ginny couldn't have been more shocked if he had announced his undying devotion to Ron and asked for her assistance in wooing him. "What?"
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't get involved, but really, Ginny, I just think you deserve better." Seamus said.
"I- I mean- we are not dating."
"You're not?" He asked, looking relieved.
"Of course not. Really, Seamus, what's gotten into you today? You're behaving so bizarrely."
"It's just that, this morning, when you were out looking for your cousin- there aren't any hedge clippers at your house are there?"
"What?"
"Hedge clippers." He said solemnly.
"Have you gone mad?"
He sighed. "This morning Malfoy came over and basically threatened to kill me if I hurt you."
Ginny felt as if she'd been struck. "He what?"
"Ginny, I don't know what's going on between you two, but-"
"Thank you Seamus, but I think I have to go have a word or two with Malfoy."
There was a bit of a panic in Seamus's voice. "But Ginny-"
But Ginny was standing up and headed in the direction of the door. "Thanks, Seamus. Have a happy Christmas."
Seamus was about to try and stop her, but she didn't look like she was in any mood to listen. And besides, what were the odds that Draco Malfoy could really find him all the way in Ireland where he was staying with relatives? It was only a slightly reassuring thought.
Ginny was on her way out of the kitchen when her mother came bustling in.
"Done already? What did Seamus have to say?"
Ginny smiled. "Oh, you were right, he just wanted to thank me for helping him again."
"Oh, wonderful. Here, help me carry all this food out." Mrs. Weasley said, handing Ginny several platters. "Dinner's ready!"
The Weasley boys came rushing down the stairs. After a moment, Ginny's Aunt and Uncle appeared too, and then last, ambling down the steps came Malfoy. As Ginny set the food down on the table, Draco came up beside her.
"What's the likelihood we can get out of dinner two nights in a row?" He asked quietly.
Ginny glared, but didn't say anything.
"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of." He said, and took a seat next to her, and she didn't even look at him. In fact, the only time she responded to him at all throughout the whole dinner was to pass the salt, and even then she remained silent. After about twenty minutes, she looked up from her plate and asked, "Can I be excused, Mum? I'd really like to head up to bed."
Her mother looked slightly startled. "Already? Are you feeling well?"
"Fine. Just a bit tired." She said, and then stood and disappeared up the stairs.
Draco waited for a while before he too excused himself and followed her. He stopped at her door and knocked.
There was no answer.
"Weasley, it's me. Let me in."
There was a long pause, and just as he was about to give up, she threw the door open. "What on Earth gives you the right to just go about threatening my friends?"
"What- I-"
"Seamus said you threatened him." She said sharply. "Is that true?"
"Bloody awful Gryffindors. Can't keep their mouths closed. Too bloody courageous for death threats." He mumbled.
"So you did, then?" She turned around like she was about to close the door in his face, and then thought better of it and wheeled around for a second wind. "How dare you! It's bad enough having six ruddy brothers to ward off every boy I come within six feet of me, but now, apparently I have you too, to get rid of everyone who doesn't measure up to your pompous standards. I can pick my own friends, thank you very much. And if Seamus and I want to- I dunno- run off to Bermuda together, you'll just have to accept that!"
"Well-"
"He thinks we're dating. What did you tell him?" She demanded.
Draco sneered. "Oh, so that's what this is all about, your precious reputation."
Ginny called him a name that he was quite sure she would have never said in front of her mother, with a hand gesture to match. "Well forgive me for not wanting people to think I've invited my boyfriend to spend the holiday with me! I don't care what you do or say, just make sure that next time it doesn't involve me!"
She slammed the door. He stood in shock for a moment, then, just as he turned around and began to leave, she threw the door open again. "And it's more than that. Where are you going? I'm not through."
"Sorry, but impassioned door slamming usually tends to indicate the end of a discussion."
She called him another rude word, and this time he smirked. "No, despite popular belief, my parents were married. I have my birth certificate if you'd-"
"Why is it you are incapable of having a serious conversation?"
"It's not so much that I'm incapable of it-"
"Oh, just shut up. See, here's what I don't get. We're not friends are we? Because, really, I didn't think we were. In fact, I think last time I said anything along those lines you laughed in my face. So, why exactly do you care who I spend time with? The way I see it-"
"Are you dating him?"
"What?" She said, stunned. It seemed people were asking her that question a lot that day.
"Seamus. Are you dating him?"
Taken aback, she stared, open-mouthed for a second. "No, no I'm not-"
"Good." He said finally, then turned around and walked away.
Draco sat down on his bed and carefully pulled his handkerchief from his front pocket. He'd waiting until he was sure everyone else would be asleep. He restored the Pensieve to its normal size and stared at it rippling surface for a moment. He didn't want to use it. Sylvia was the most stable, fearless person he knew, and whatever had caused the pain and terror he'd seen in her eyes today, he was about to see too. He thought back, almost regretting his words. It had not been an easy life for her, while Blaise (whose mother had at one point been blasted off their family tree and was only re-added when her net worth totaled over seventeen million galleons) had been brought up in a fairly kind household, Sylvia's upbringing was much like his own. She was seven, and at a dinner party when she'd had her first vision. Draco liked to think that had she not discovered her abilities in a room full of Death Eater and their associates, that her parents would not have brought her to Voldemort, but he doubted it. The next morning they'd taken her for an audience with the Dark Lord and she'd been giving him predictions ever since.
She had, like many of the Death Eater's children he knew, no desire to serve Voldemort. They had decided what their parents could not see; he would ultimately fail and the pureblood family names, which had once been so revered, would have been dragged through the mud in the process. He hated Lucius, because no matter how he evaded punishment, everyone knew what he really was. The Malfoy name was blighted, and it was entirely his father's fault. Sylvia hosted much the same resentment for her parents. But she loved them, and she knew what Voldemort would do to them should she ever stop serving him.
Without a moment's more hesitation, Draco dipped his fingertips in the silver liquid.
For a second, he felt as if he was falling. It would have been fine after that, had the vision not been so garbled and broken. It was something like watching a slideshow from a conveyor belt. The images jumped past him in a morbid procession; a dark, foreboding castle on a hill; a tall, hooded figure; Ginny in strange, green robes; Snape and his mother, looking down at something. He heard a harsh, muffled laughter that chilled him, and then, intermingled with it a horrible, dry scream. Then he saw Harry, and he was holding Ginny tightly, whispering something into her ear. And then he just saw Ginny, lying motionless, looking battered and beaten on a hard, stone floor. Then, with an almost painful pulling sensation, the images smeared and moved away and within a moment he was sitting on his bed at the Burrow.
He was covered in sweat, and he could still hear the laughter ringing in his ears. He didn't normally drink, with the exception of the occasional wine with a meal, but the firewhiskey he'd stashed under his pillow was, at the moment, extremely appealing. With a deep sigh, he pulled the bottle from its hiding place and took a deep swallow.
An hour later, the Firewhiskey gone, and feeling as if he weren't nearly sloshed enough, Draco made his way down to the stairs to the kitchen looking for something else to drink. He found three bottles of butterbeer and drained them. The actual alcoholic content of butterbeer was approximately the same as a piece of butterscotch, but either way, he didn't really care. He began ransacking the cupboards, looking for something else.
"Malfoy?"
He wheeled around to find Ginny standing in the doorway staring at him, holding an empty bottle.
"What are you doing up so late?" He asked, impressed by the clarity of his speech.
"The baby was hungry and I told Aunt May I'd feed him." She said, gesturing weakly to the bottle in her hands. "What are you doing?"
Sneering, he answered, "Running away, what's it look like, Weasley? Isn't that what I always do?"
"What are you-"
"Yup, just sit back, look pretty and make snarky comments. Really, it's all I'm good for."
Ginny gave him a long, hard look. "You're drunk."
He shrugged. "Maybe. Does it really matter?"
"Yes it matters." She snapped. "You're down here staring at the bottom of your bottle, pitying yourself for Merlin knows what reason-"
"Because I'm a coward." He interjected helpfully.
"Oh quit being so melodramatic." She snapped.
"Melodramatic?" He asked, the faint ghost of a smile playing on his lips. There was no hint of amusement in that expression. "I'm being entirely serious. A complete coward, I am. What have I ever fought for?, and all of that."
"Oh, do stop-"
"I mean, for Merlin's sake, I've been here three days and I haven't even done anything with you." He said, and she opened her mouth to say something when he grabbed her tightly by the arms and pulled her up against him, pushing his lips on hers with a fierce intensity that was almost painful. She could taste the remnants of alcohol on his hot breath, and his skin was moist with feverish warmth. For a moment, Ginny was too shocked to react. It was as if she had forgotten to move. And then, suddenly remembering herself, she wrenched away.
She pulled out her wand. "Sobriest," she snapped, and immediately, Draco felt his drunkenness fading away, the spell purging the alcohol from his body. In its place came the crashing headache and nausea that he normally would have had at least another few hours to look forward to.
"You're not supposed to use magic outside of school." He said reproachfully.
"Yes, well, it was better than listening to you wallow about in self-pity." She said coldly.
"Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed. I always thought I could hold my liquor better than that." She didn't smile, and he didn't say anything.
"You kissed me. You were drunk." She said after a long pause, as if maybe he didn't remember. He was struck by how callous and remote she sounded.
"Obviously." He said, rubbing his temples. Really, what was the point of coming up with a spell that made you sober, if there was still the hangover to deal with?
She stiffened, and for a moment Draco didn't see why. And then, of course, he understood and barely restrained himself from sprouting out several rude words. "Ginny," He touched her wrist. "Ginny, that's not what I meant."
She said, shaking and pulling her hand away sharply. The barely controlled anger in her eyes was startling. "Don't." Was all she said.
"I didn't mean it like that. I just meant I wouldn't have done it like that if I had been…not that I wouldn't have done it." It could have been sweet, but instead, he sounded weary, as if the fact that he had to explain it to her was vexing. "I've wanted to do that for days now. It- it wasn't just because I was drunk. Ginny-" He stopped and very softly, he put his hands on her shoulders and drew her to him. Slowly, he closed the space between them and kissed her gently. She didn't move under his touch. "I'm sorry." He whispered, brushing his lips against her ear.
"Just because you're sorry doesn't make it alright." She said, turning and leaving him standing there in wonder.
When someone apologized, didn't the other person have to accept? Wasn't there some sort of rule about that? Maybe not necessarily an official one, but he was quite sure it was one of those unwritten things.
He stood, looking at where she had been for a long while. Finally, he went upstairs, his most pressing need, that of a bathroom in which he could vomit in peace.
So...yup. There's chapter 34 for you. Please review or I'll cry. Really. Well probably not literally, but I'll be crying on the inside.
Oh, and err..I forgot to disclaim earlier, so here's that too: I own nothing you recognize for JKR's works or WB movies.
And now an added note (which is, if you get another Chapter Update thingy, the reason for that). Someone (Hyper Bee)pointed out to me the similarity of the end of this chapter andoneof the chapters from Draco Sinister, by Cassandra Claire.I actually had read that story before, but well over a year ago, so I really don't remember itthat well. Any similarities were completely unintentionaland the intent was not to copy or steal any of her work. I just wanted to clarify that a bit, and thanks for pointing it out.
I do own Sylvia, who origianlly had a much larger role in the story and just sort of disappeared. I have several "deleted scenes" of her, you know, talking to Voldemort and what not, but I never found a place to fit them in. Really, though, she's a lovely charecter, so you can steal her if you like. Also, the poor Weasleys (the unknown ones, likeWilliam, and May)had a much larger role in the original plot (which has changed so much from my first ideas that it's basically not even the same story anymore), but they've sort of gotten cut out and neglected.