Chapter 2: Slithering out
Three boys stood immobilized on the staircase to the owlery. They had just committed their very first murder. All eyes were fixed to where the youngest Weasley had just tumbled down the entire staircase.
Draco Malfoy gulped. He hadn't expected to follow his father this early in his footsteps. His stomach churned, he didn't really want to know what mess awaited him at the bottom of the stairs. But it was to late now. "We're Slytherin, boys. Just pretend this as an exercise for our initiation." Draco knew from his father that cool and collected demeanour is an important step to success. He had the means, he knew what has to be done, namely to slither out of this mess, question was just how to pull it off.
But first things first, find the guilty party. Meaning in Slytherin logic, "This is all her fault", Draco stated haughtily, being confirmed right away from Crabbe and Goyle. "Why did she get in our way in the first place? Clumsy Gryffs!" He slowly descended the spiral staircase not knowing if it was the constant turning or his wild imagination of the corpse which made him slightly sick. How could this perfect day turn out so miserably? First Snape had awarded him 50 points for Slytherin in Potions. Then he had had the great opportunity to embarrass the Weasel King in front of half the school population and best of all Slytherin had won a training match against Gryffindor. Never underestimate a Slytherin! Unfortunately this led up right to his present disaster with the sprawled unconscious form of one Ginevra Weasley. For a good minute no one uttered a word, they just stared at the girl.
"Well." Goyle spoke up, "She looks fine to me, you know."
Draco and Crabbe looked at him, back to Ginny, back to their friend. "Are you kidding me?" Draco raked his hand through his hair. "There's no way that she survived a fall like this one."
"Well, there's no blood." Goyle insisted. Crabbe only shrugged. This didn't look good. They somehow had to get rid of her. Draco raked his brain frantically for possibilities. 'Should I just dump her somewhere? Leave her here?' Draco was too busy coming up with ideas on how to make the Weasley girl disappear that he almost jumped when Crabbe hit him slightly on the shoulder.
"What if Goyle is right? It looks like she's still breathing." Both boys stared at Ginny.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Draco climbed over the girl's still form trying to check for a pulse. To his amazement it beat slow and steady. The blasted girl was alive. 'Must be the Weasley genes to survive a fall like that', he marvelled. While being busy with the girl he had made one serious mistake though, he didn't pay attention to his surroundings. So when Draco looked up to see the concerned face of Dumbledore stare down at him, he almost had a heart attack. 'Well, shit!' He swore in his mind.
Aloud he said: "Sir! Good that you're here." Draco scrambled to get up and away from the girl. "We just came here to the owlery when we found her like that. She probably slipped and fell."
Dumbledore looked from the boys to the girl. "I see. Well, Mr. Malfoy being a prefect obviously suits you. Please make sure that Miss Weasley gets to the infirmary quickly. I will check with her in a minute." The headmaster disappeared as suddenly as he came, leaving the boys in a wreck of nerves.
"Christ Malfoy! That was close", said Crabbe. "You're one damn good actor."
Draco didn't look convinced. "I don't trust that old fool. He always has his nose in things he shouldn't know about. Well, you heard him. Let's get her to the infirmary." He levitated the girl's body up with a simple spell and the three made their way to the infirmary trying to come up with a way to make the girl shut up when she regained consciousness. When they arrived Madame Pomfrey instructed them to wait in a corner urging them to tell her what happened. The nurse did a thorough check-up while Draco retold his version of the accident.
"Hm, it looks like she hit her head pretty hard in the process besides some bruises and some bumps she appears to be fine. I cannot rule out a concussion yet. We'll just have to wait until she wakes up."
Draco nodded in agreement, chose to ignore the "we" and made his way to the door. But obviously bad luck didn't intend to strike once but twice today since he ran headfirst into Weaslette's brother, the mighty Weasley King himself, who actually looked quite murderous. Draco backed away quickly looking for his cronies.
'Damn. Just really where are they when you need them.' He thought darkly, spying the Mudblood and Potter just behind Ronald Weasley. He wasn't one to back out of a challenge but what's the point if one's going to loose? He wasn't a fool like those Gryffindors. But before Weasley could actually hurt him in a serious way, a moan came from the newly admitted patient.
"Ginny!" Forgetting about beating up Malfoy to a bloody pulp, Ron rushed to the bed looking over his sister's injuries while his friends kept a close watch on Malfoy. The girl in the bed groaned and carefully touched her head. Slowly she opened her eyes trying to get the world into focus coming right nose to nose with the freckled face of Ronald Weasley.
"Ginny. How are you feeling? I swear I will kill Malfoy to avenge you." He seethed and balled up his fist in her face. Ginny's reaction was not quite what he had anticipated since his baby sister let a scream loose that nearly rendered them all deaf. "Aaaaaaahhhh!!! Get away from me you freak!" Ginny pushed almost violently her brother away from her to hide under the covers. Ronald in turn was almost reduced to tears. Harry run to his side to comfort him, while Hermione tried to pry the younger girl from under the covers. Draco and his reappeared cronies strolled highly amused over to the bed to watch the whole drama enfold.
Hermione was currently trying to pull the cover from Ginny. "I only want to help you Ginny. Please be reasonable!"
But Ginny seemed to think otherwise and shot upwards in bed. "NO!" She yelled at the surprised face of Hermione. "Leave me alone you mudblood! I don't want to see your face!" That definitely got all their attention. Madame Pomfrey had dropped the vial she was holding. Hermione stared quite unladylike with her mouth hanging open. Ron looked shell-shocked. Goyle and Crabbe couldn't quite process what was going on and Harry was being Harry. "But Ginny! What are you saying? Who do you want to see then?" He stared uncomprehending at the girl.
Ginny only glared at him and settled her eyes on the three boys to her left. With determination she pointed her finger. "Him."
Draco Malfoy just gave up on the thought that his day couldn't get any worse. It just had.
Hi guys. Sorry, that it took me so long to update. I moved to the Netherlands. My writing got quite rusty and writing for this fandom is quite new to me. Just some explanations. The whole thing is set maybe around the fifth book. They are still young and Draco is bratty and out to get Harry & co. in trouble. I wanted to get a bit away from the mature Draco I read about in so many stories. I will also write from his point of view. Let me know what you think as always.