Misconception

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other characters/materials. Everything is Pre-HBP!

Author's Note: Wow. I am very, very sorry for taking a million years to update. School has been sucking away my life, and I am extremely nerd status. I hope you understand. But hey! GoF is coming out soon..everyone excited! I am.So I figured I'd start going really fast with this story, but I'll cover all the good stuff. I'm thinking this story will be at least 35 chapters (seeing that my chapters are rather short…) I WILL finish this story. I promise! Before the 7th book comes out! Haha. Okay, I'll stop..No one reads these things anyway. Or do they?

Chapter 16: Untrustworthy

When Draco went inside his room, Ginny was still curled up in sleep. He felt his heart ache at the sight of her—beautiful and peaceful. The door quietly closed behind him, and Draco lied beside Ginny, stroking her silky hair. She subconsciously snuggled close to him, a small smile on her lips. Draco gently kissed them and felt that he could just die from the anguish he was feeling. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Draco looking at her. She smiled.

"Good m-m-morning…" she said with a stifling yawn.

"Morning, Weasley," said Draco quietly, smiling uneasily at her.

She looked at him, frowning at his robes. "How long have you been up?" Ginny asked, looking at the clock nearby.

"Not long," lied Draco, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Ginny frowned even more, noticing that he was shaking. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're shaking--are you feeling all right? Do you need to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Oh," said Draco. "It's--nothing."

Ginny, though still unconvinced, did not ask anymore. She was used to short and rather meaningless answers from Draco, it was just part of his personality. With a nervous smile, she went inside the bathroom to change, while Draco sat on his bed and thought of what he would say. He felt weak, like a huge chunk of him had gone missing. Was he really stupid enough to think happiness would last with him? Draco was not Harry Potter--he didn't deserve happiness.

Dumbledore's words rang inside his head, almost commanding him to get it over and done with. After he had gone out of Dumbledore's office, he went outside and sat near the lake, chain-smoked one whole pack. It was over.

Ginny came out of the closet in her school robes, and she was struggling to put on the necklace. Draco got up from the bed and helped her with the necklace.

"Thanks," she said.

Draco didn't say anything.

Ginny frowned but did not inquire anything. She got her bag, as did Draco and they both crept down the stairs to the Slytherin common room. Thankfully, no one was there and they hurried out of the room, into the dark corridors of the dungeons. When they were far from anybody hearing them, Draco stopped her.

"Ginny," he said quietly, "We…we need to talk about something. Let's go outside."

"Okay," she said, her eyes looking fearful.

They went outside, silently. Her hand did not reach for Draco's like usual, and Draco knew that she knew something was wrong. He felt his heart breaking already, and he swallowed the great lump in his throat. Draco led them far from the castle, where no one could see or hear them, by the lake. Draco made sure that they were even far away from Hagrid's hut, so the giant would not be able to hear them…

Draco sighed and looked out into the lake, seeing the sun was already half raised. Ginny looked apprehensively at Draco, biting her bottom lip in nervousness. He shoved his hands in his pockets and inhaled a shaky breath.

"Ginny…" his voice cracked. Draco swallowed, fearing that he might break down again. No, he must not let her see…

"Draco, what's wrong?" she asked gently, putting a hand on his arm. He flinched at her touch and quickly drew away, alarming Ginny. Draco could not bear her touch…

"I don't know how to say this," said Draco, trying to keep his voice even. "I have to go." Ginny frowned, not understanding. She began to speak, but Draco interrupted. "To war."

"What?" Ginny did a double take and opened her mouth soundlessly. "What?" she repeated.

"This has to end, Ginny," said Draco, after a bit of struggle, but with clear control. "I can't—" Draco stopped and closed his eyes.

"You can't what?" said Ginny, her voice cracking.

He opened his eyes and saw her eyes already watering. Why did she have to cry? If only she could understand that it wasn't his choice...it really wasn't...

"You're fighting then?" she said regaining a calm tone that almost killed Draco. "For which side?"

"Not for the Order," said Draco, shaking his head.

Ginny looked horrified and lost all calmness. "Draco if your father is making you do this, and you don't want to…then don't! Go to Dumbledore, he'll help—"

"No, he won't." said Draco dully.

"Of course he will!" exclaimed Ginny, clutching his hand. "Oh, Draco, you can't fight for the Death Eaters…it's the wrong side…And I know, you're good…and Dumbledore will know too that you don't belong with the Death Eaters. If you're worried that the Order won't accept you…Dumbledore will!"

Draco took his hand away from hers and hissed, "Listen to me!" He felt a stab of bitterness each time he heard it, and he knew he shouldn't have taken it out on Ginny. Shaking his head, he sighed and whispered, "You don't know what I've done…"

"You haven't done anything!" said Ginny exasperatedly. "Draco, please stop listening to what other people are saying about you at Hogwarts—they don't know you like I know you…they don't care for you like I do…"

"You don't know me, Ginny," said Draco coldly.

Tears began streaming down her face. She looked away from Draco and choked out, "Draco, you just can't! This is the Dark Lord, we're talking about! Tom Rid--" She stopped, unable to continue.

"Ginny, this is why you should have never gotten involved with me," said Draco, harsher than he had expected. "I told you I'd only hurt you."

"I love you," she whispered.

Draco felt his heart stop. For a moment, he felt nothing but happiness and he just wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her. However, when the moment passed, he felt his heart breaking even more. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself. This had to end. It will end. This is over.

"No, you don't," said Draco, "You only think you do."

"I do, Draco!" she said earnestly, tears pouring from her eyes. "What can I do to prove it to you?"

"Stop it, Ginny," said Draco weakly, feeling his knees give away. His voice was cold and commanding, but he could feel his insides writhing in pain. Tears began blurring his vision, and he furiously blinked them back.

"I love you, Draco," she repeated. "Why can't you see that?"

Draco buried his face in his hand, not wanting her to see the tears. His heart was shattering, and it was so painful. His body began shaking with sadness, but he wiped away the tears quickly. He breathed, shakily and trembled as his hand moved to the sleeve of his arm.

Ginny watched him in bewilderment, but he did not saying anything. He rolled the sleeve up slowly, feeling his heart pounding loudly. He put his hand over his forearm and looked at Ginny, who only looked back with a slight frown. He took his hand off and revealed the Dark Mark, etched into his arm.

Ginny let out a small scream of terror and jumped back fearfully. She stared at the mark on his arm. The alpenglow of the sunrise made the Dark Mark seem like it was on fire—the very resonance of Hell. Ginny began sobbed quietly. Her whole body shook…trembled…as the reality began to sink into her, burn into her. Draco stood there, feeling numb and dizzy. He saw the fear in her eyes; she feared him, and she would surely hate him now. He felt someone had cut open his chest and taken out his heart; it killed him to see her like this.

"I trusted you!" she said, angrily.

Draco swallowed down a lump in his throat. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. He let the dark, sadistic side of himself take over; he managed a small smirk, as he let the sleeve of his robe fall to cover his shame.

"All the things they've ever said about you…were they true?" she asked.

He shrugged and said, "Guess so." Draco determinedly stared at the ground and appeared to be indifferent.

"Don't start that!" said Ginny angrily through her tears. "God, don't you dare start acting like you don't give a damn."

"What do you want me to say, then Weasley?" said Draco, slightly raising his voice and spreading out his arms exasperatedly.

"I want you to say that you care about me…God forbid, even love me…" said Ginny, looking away sadly.

Draco didn't say anything. There was a long, deafening silence.

"Forget about me, Weasley," he said, keeping his voice even and clear. He laughed and said bitterly, "Maybe you can even team up with Potter one day and chuck me in Azkaban."

"It's always Harry, isn't it?" snapped Ginny. "Merlin, Draco…is there no one else? Michael Corner…Dean Thomas? Always Potter this, Potter that!"

"What's your point?" said Draco, feeling his temper rising.

"If you didn't care, you wouldn't have mentioned Harry!" said Ginny, almost exasperatedly, desperately. "Draco, I may not know everything little thing about you…but…I know you do care…"

There was a pause.

"I don't care." Draco said scathingly. He looked away from Ginny and bit his lip.

Another pause.

"I just want to know why you even bothered…" whispered Ginny, almost choking on her tears. "If you never cared, why did you save me from Blaise? Why did you stay with me on the Quidditch stands that night? Why did you kiss me under the mistletoe? Why did you buy me this necklace? Why were you willing to spend six months—"

"Shut up!" shouted Draco. Ginny winced and bit her lip to hold back a sob. "Don't you understand, Weasley! I can't be with you!"

He fought the urge to tell her exactly why. However, he shook his head and turned from her. Draco felt her eyes on his retreating back, and he found himself picking up his pace. For several minutes, he was listening for her footsteps that would run after him to try and stop him. None came—only the haunting echo of her voice followed, and it would follow Draco forever.

Draco decided that he hated train stations. There was always a cold and foreboding quality that emitted from train stations. The one in Hogsmeade wasn't any better than Platform 9 ¾ . Although the air was warm with summer, he felt cold. His whole body was shaking from heartbreak, shock, misery…Nothing winsome ever happened at train stations. He was always coming back from a horrible Death Eater's deed or leaving behind someone…

He wondered what she was doing right now. The scene from yesterday morning played over and over again in his head. Draco regretted the last thing he said to her, but it was the only way. Shaking, he lit up a cigarette with much difficulty. After six months of not smoking, he felt almost awkward, smoking again.

"I thought you quit."

His heart skipped a beat. Was it--? Before he could even think her name, he threw down the cigarette and whipped around.

"Ginny, I—" He stopped. The elated feeling disappeared as soon as it came. Draco found himself face to face with Luna Lovegood.

She cocked her head to the side and observed Draco for a moment. The glow that he had always seen in Luna was gone; she did not greet him with an enthusiastic smile. On the contrary, she held a lopsided grin—almost a smirk—and merely said, "Hello."

"Hello Lovegood." Draco replied dully, reaching into his pocket for another cigarette.

"I see you're packed," said Luna, nodding toward his trunk. "School's not over yet…"

"What do you want?" snapped Draco, glaring at her.

"You thought I was Ginny." For the first time ever, Draco thought her voice was monotone. "You two have been together…"

"Yeah, all right, tell her brother. I could care less." Draco said, fighting the urge to blow a ring of smoke in her face.

"No, I won't tell Ron…" Luna said, shaking her head. "I just wanted to ask you why you're leaving her."

Draco did not say anything. He continued smoking, as if he didn't hear a word she said.

"She's locked herself in her room, you know." said Luna, as if she were talking about the weather. "Crying and refusing to talk about it with anyone."

Draco closed his eyes, feeling the void in him grow bigger and bigger. There were no words to describe the pain he felt for her. Much restraint rooted him to the spot, so he would not run back to her.

"She has Potter." Draco said firmly. Potter's always there for anyone…he'll help her…won't he?

"You're just going to leave her, then?" said Luna. "You can't—"

"Look," interjected Draco, "I don't know how you found out about—us, but it's really none of your concern if I leave her or not."

Luna opened her mouth but closed it again. She sighed and looked at the empty tracks of the train station.

"When I said you weren't alone, I meant it…" she said quietly, "You're not alone."

"I am now." Draco said bitterly.

Luna shook her head and said, "No, you aren't. Ginny still loves you, and she will no matter what happens…And I…" She trailed off and hesitated. "I—I'll always be there for you too."

Draco looked at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. He opened his mouth, but words failed him. She nodded, as if understanding that he did not know what to say. She smiled sadly, torn between the want to say more and the compulsion to go back to Ron. There became a greater understanding between the two, although Draco couldn't find the right words to say.

"These past six months, I've never seen you or Ginny so happy." Luna said, almost with a small hint of envy.

"What about Weasley?" asked Draco.

"Ron? Oh, I love Ron…" said Luna, using the dreamy voice he knew so well. She sighed dreamily and said, "I just have a feeling he doesn't feel the same about me."

Draco opened his mouth to ask why, but he was interrupted by the oncoming train. It clanked quickly onto the tracks and came to a hissing stop. Draco felt his stomach tighten, breath constricted. This was it. He looked at Luna and nodded a farewell. He began to drag his trunk toward the train, when he felt a tug at his sleeve. He turned around, with a frown of bewilderment. Before he could do or say anything, Luna flung her arms around him and hugged him. He staggered and a few seconds passed before he could register what had happened.

"Come back," she whispered into his ear. "For Ginny…"

"And for you?" He said before he could stop himself. Draco faced her, but she only smiled and shook her head. Without another word, she walked away, leaving Draco staring after her.

He was grateful for Luna coming to see him at the last minute. However, he couldn't help but to wish that had been Ginny. Everything was going to change now. With one last look around him, he picked up his trunk and walked toward the train.

(A/N: Sorry this was a bad chapter, but I just really wanted to get this through so I can got on to the main point, and wrap all the random stuff in the beginning up! Review, rant, whatever.)