Chapter 10: Slytherins
Ginny woke on Saturday morning with only the cold tip of her nose poking out from beneath the covers. At first she tried to fall back asleep, her mind attempting to drift back into unconsciousness. But the chatter of birds and the sounds of heavy winds blowing against the stone walls outside kept her awake.
Finally, she pushed back the sheets and placed her bare feet on the cold stone floor. She hurried to change into something warm and headed down into the common room. The Gryffindor common room was still slightly chilly. A grey morning light filtered in through the windows. There were a few students milling around, several still looked half asleep.
Shrugging her shoulders Ginny headed down to breakfast alone. The Great Hall was less than half full and Ginny took a seat on one empty end of the table. She tried to focus on her food, but more than half her mind was replaying her night with Draco. They had hardly spoken since then, but every conversation had been polite and considerate. Though they didn't speak about what had happened, Ginny could sense that something had changed.
She no longer felt that burning dislike of him. He had always been Harry's enemy, not her own. She'd hated him more because of his insults to her family and friends than anything else. But here she was, dreaming away about the touch of his skin on her and the feel of his lips as they moved against hers.
Ron would kill her if he knew.
But where was Ron anyway? And Harry and Hermione? Gone. They'd left her alone to do what they had to and she respected that, though she didn't entirely agree with it. And now she was, for the first time in her life, completely out of her brother's watchful eyes, truly on her own. And what was the first thing she'd done? Become strangely, unnaturally and irrevocably attracted to Draco Malfoy.
As his name resounded in her mind an image of his face went alone with it. And she saw quite clearly his sleek blonde hair, his hard, cold grey eyes that changed as he looked at her into a soft, almost gentle grey. Giving away a hidden innocence inside of him. She pictured his angled pale face and smirking, soft lips. And suddenly she felt a strange desire well up inside her, an awful aching twinge in her heart. As if she missed his very presence. As if he being near her was the only thing that could calm that aching twinge inside of her.
She had never felt this feeling before. It surprised her a great deal. She tried to picture Harry's face and only a dull pounding in her head was the result. Again her mind wandered to Draco and the aching in her heart gave an extraordinarily sharp pull. She actually wanted to see him.
She pictured his annoying little smirk and it actually brought a small smile to her face. Sighing she finished breakfast quickly. As soon as she was done, she wished she'd taken her time. Now that she was done eating, she realized she had nothing planned for the day.
She thought about taking her broom out for a ride, but the tell-tale clouds on the enchanted ceiling warned her of the approaching snow storm. Deciding she may as well work on the growing pile of homework she headed off to the library.
It was still fairly early and the corridors were shadowy and empty. A light snow fall was visible from every window she passed.
"Weasley!" Ginny turned around to find Nott approaching her, carrying a very large black book. "What are you doing here?"
Ginny slowed and allowed him to catch up before answering.
"Library," she said, "May as well get something done."
"On a Saturday?" Nott asked his tone slightly disbelieving. Ginny shot him a quick, dirty look.
"Nothing better to do, since pretty much everything normal has been banned nowadays." She said her shoulders faintly tensed and her stride becoming more pronounced. To her surprise Nott laughed.
"As if that matters. You actually think anyone follows those ridiculous protocols?" He asked his mouth tilted slightly in a small simper. Ginny had to look at him to be sure he wasn't joking before she could even think of answering.
"Theodore Nott. Not all of us are sneaking Slytherins. If I ignored a rule and you ignored a rule it would have completely different consequences. You're smart enough to know that."
"Yes, but if you disregarded a regulation while I was in attendance…" His voice trailed off temptingly and Ginny stopped mid step.
"What are you suggesting?" She asked honest curiosity and her instinct for adventure flaring up inside her. Nott seemed to be pondering the possibilities. His features were scrunched up slightly and his hand unconsciously brushed his dark hair out of his pale face.
"Well, foremost I must return this book to the Slytherin common room." He held up the large black book, it had silvery writing on the cover in a language Ginny couldn't read. "Care to join me?"
A million thoughts flashed through Ginny's mind at the suggestion. It was almost unheard of to visit another houses common room. It was against every rule and most certainly an enormous risk with the current administration. And the Slytherin common room of all places. It was the riskiest thing a Gryffindor could do.
She was on the verge of saying no when the strange twinge pulled every so lightly on her heart. Draco's face appeared briefly in her mind. The arrogant sneer in place. A sudden rush of adrenaline pulsed through her and a daring recklessness took hold of her mind.
Nott was staring at her analyzing her every move, as if he could read her very thoughts. He smiled at her as soon as she had made her decision and tilted his head in the other direction, the direction of the Slytherin common room.
Taking a deep breath Ginny followed him. They were silent until they reach the entrance to the dungeons. When suddenly this didn't seem like such a good idea. Her eyes traced the dark stone walls downward. Nott sensed her hesitation and looked back at her.
"You don't have to come. I'll be back in a moment." He said half smirking at her coward ness.
Ginny looked behind her, if she was caught waiting here outside the dungeons she'd be in just as much trouble as she would if she was caught in the Slytherins common room. She looked back at Nott's patient face, carrying the large volume under his arm. He appeared confident and collected. So sure that nothing could go wrong. Allowing herself to trust him for just a moment, she followed him into the darkness.
She had never been this far into the dungeons before and the cool, damp air sent a tiny shiver through her. She felt as though her Gryffindor colors were standing out so much more in this dark area then in the lit corridors above. Finally, Nott stopped at a blank stretch of wall.
"Snake eyes." He said simply. Apparently this was the password, because the stone wall began to move and then slide aside. Nott walked through the stone archway and into the Slytherin common room. Ginny squared her shoulders and followed him.
The Slytherin common room was a low ceiling room with greenish lamps that hung from the walls. There were several green chairs around the room and grouped around a shadowy fireplace. Skulls were placed decoratively around the room adding to the eerie feel of the place. There were two stone archways against the walls, leading into other rooms.
Surprisingly no one at all was there. Ginny realized Nott was staring at her and she raised her eyebrow questioningly. He smiled simply, choosing not to acknowledge her unasked question. He led the way to one of the stone arches and she followed slowly. In this circular room were seven doorways spaced evenly around the room. In each doorway was a set of stairs leading up to a different dormitory. Nott led the way up a stairway with 7th Years written next to the doorway. Ginny followed cautiously. Her heart racing slightly in her chest.
The seventh years boys dormitory was decked out in green and silver. It hung from every bedpost. Two of the beds had rather large messes around them as though the ocupents were careless and disorganized. Clearly they belonged to Crabbe and Goyle.
Nott made his way over to the neatest bed. Several large books were stacked on the nightstand and piled up next to his window. He placed his book at the top of the pile and began searching through the titles for another volume. Ginny observed the large silver and green trunk at the end of his bed. The name, Theodore Nott, was written in silver on the side.
She stole a glance at the bed next to his. The trunk held the name Blaise Zabini. The things around Blaise's bed were fairly orgainized and clearly showed that they belonged to a seventeen year old boy.
On Nott's other side was a neatly made bed also covered in silver and green. The large, new trunk at the foot of this bed read, Draco Malfoy. Curiously, Ginny took a step closer. Several of Draco's things were piled lightly on the lid of his trunk. As though he'd been too lazy to properly repack them.
His black broomstick leaned against the nightstand, which held a shiny golden watch and an assortment of other little trinkets. Ginny glanced back at Nott, who was still pouring over his books, apparently undecided about which to read next.
Cautiously, she edged around his bed until she was at Draco's nightstand. His things seemed to have been carelessly placed there. She picked up a piece of a broken quill and studied it for a moment before placing it back on the table.
Next she picked up the golden watch, it was surprisingly heavy and she held it with both hands. The little hand ticked around its complicated cycles. She turned it around to see the words D. Malfoy, carved gracefully into the back of the watch. She rolled her eyes at this unnecessary expense and placed the watch carefully back on the desk next to a magic razor.
"Find anything interesting?" Ginny spun on her heels, pulling her wand out of her pocket as she did, only to come face to face with Draco Malfoy himself. He had a single eyebrow raised and a slight frown on his face. He put his hand on her wrist and slowly lowered her wand so that it was not pointing directly at his chest. Without comment he moved around her and began shuffling through the things on his stand.
"What's she doing here?" Came another, velvety familiar voice from the stairway. Blaise Zabini walked into the room, glancing at Ginny and then Draco for an answer.
"I'd like to know the answer to that myself." Draco said turning to once again face toward Ginny, his gaze, however, was directed at Nott. Nott carefully laid out several books on his bed before turning to the two pairs of questioning eyes.
"Clearly, I invited her." He said shortly, his posture perfectly calm as he leaned against the wooden post of his bed. Blaise shrugged his shoulders and flopped down on his bed, though he continued to watch Ginny pointedly. Ignoring this Ginny turned to Draco who glanced at her quickly before averting his eyes back to Nott.
"You had no right to do that, Nott." He said quietly in one slow breath. Nott spared Draco a single amused look before returning to his books.
"Why is there a problem?" Ginny asked defensively, slightly hurt and confused by Draco's distant attitude.
Still avoiding meeting her eyes he shrugged his shoulders halfheartedly and moved around her to search his trunk. Ginny followed, crossing her arms stubbornly. She heard a light chuckle from Blaise's bed but ignored it. Draco looked up at her for a brief moment and she almost thought she saw the corners of his mouth twitch, as though he wanted to smile. However, he resumed his search of his trunk. Finding nothing he closed the lid and brushed his hands through his hair, pausing to rub the back of his neck with one hand.
Tired of being ignored Ginny took a seat very obviously on his trunk lid, her arms still crossed and her eyes narrowed. Draco glanced at her again and their eyes met. There she noticed suddenly the pain in his eyes. The light grey was clouded with a silent suffering. He looked away quickly and stared instead at his hands, which were now resting on the closed lid.
"You really shouldn't be in here." He said quietly after another minute of silence, for the first time all arrogance was absent from his tone. He still wouldn't meet her eyes and Ginny took this chance to observe his facial features.
His pale face had an odd grayish tinge to it, as though he hadn't gotten much sleep recently. The purple bruises under his eyes told the same story, even his hair, which was usually full and slick had a wilted sort of look about it. She was surprised to see that even his hands were shaking slightly as they rested against the lid.
Resisting the urge to grab his hand and comfort him she stood up. She turned toward Nott who appeared completely oblivious to the scene just feet from him.
"You ready?" She asked
"Just a moment." He said selecting a thin brown novel off the bed and slipping it into the pocket of his robes. He didn't even spare a glance at Draco, who hadn't moved from his position on the floor, or Blaise who was relaxing on his bed, his observant eyes taking in the whole sight. "Come on, Ginny."
Nott lead the way from the room, Ginny following close behind an uneasiness growing in the pit of her stomach and Draco's apprehensive face on her mind.
A/N: Sorry it took so long for the update! I've been extremely busy. But hopefully I'll have more time to write soon. Hope this chapter made up for it a tiny bit. Please leave a review!