Disclaimer: This story is based on the Harry Potter universe, which is JKR's.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it! I am sorry for the wait. I've been really busy with school, but I've just finished my exams, and the new semester starts soon, which means that I should be able to write more. So I will try my hardest to update more frequently. This half of the school year should be a lot easier too, which I'm very happy about. Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I had a good time. Anyway, about the chapter… I hope you like it! Things will be revealed eventually, and I just hope everything makes sense. I'm trying to keep everyone in-character, but I don't know if that's turning out as well as I'd like. Please read and review! I like to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Keep the Faith

Chapter 3

After leaving her, Draco had paced around the house for a long while trying to clear his head. He now stood fuming in a hallway on the upper lever of the muggle house he had spent a month preparing. He was angry. He was disgusted. He hadn't planned for any of that to happen.

A dim light from a room at the end of the hall lit his path. He hit the wall with his fist with all the built up frustration he possessed and then leaned back up against it. Staring angrily at the green-patterned wallpaper on the wall opposite him, he ran a hand through his platinum blond hair.

Everything was going wrong. She was supposed to fear him. He needed her to fear him, or else how would he get her to cooperate? She hadn't even given him the chance to talk. He scowled to himself. She was fiery, all right, to the point of fault. He'd expected a fight, of course, but he never imagined that she would get to him like she had. Although, being a blood-traitor like she is, Draco thought to himself, maybe I should have expected it. They were too different. There was no reason why he should have been able to predict her reactions.

Why couldn't he have just kept his bloody head?

Draco frowned. He was supposed to have more control over the situation. He had to regain control over her, but how? He could intimidate her into thinking that he was going to kill her, and it's true that maybe he'd done that much already just before he'd stormed out. He smirked, thinking at the joy it would give him to have her at his mercy.

Draco pushed himself off the wall, and made his way down the hall to a closed door. The wood was dark, as it was within the whole house. He turned the cool brass doorknob and entered a reasonably sized bathroom, switching the light on. He looked in the mirror.

"Shit." He muttered to himself. The area around his left eye was beginning to bruise. He touched it lightly, and winced.

The bloody girl had given him a black eye. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd been hit by a girl. Draco thought back to his third year when that know-it-all mudblood, Hermione, had hit him. And Pansy had come close, once or twice, but she'd never built up the nerve to do it. Draco cringed. He got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he thought of her. He hadn't had any contact with her in what must have been half a year.

But he'd certainly been hurt worse than this in the past several months, there was no denying it; however, those injuries had been under entirely different circumstances. It had been a while since he'd been hurt on his own fault for instigating something. He always felt angry after one of those occurences because he knew that he was either right, or he deserved it. Neither was satisfying because his point never got across to the person that hit him.

But on the other hand, when it wasn't his fault…it was a lot worse. The pain and the anguish. Anyone would be crazy not to think so. Draco turned on the tap and splashed some cold water on his face, glaring all the while. This stupid war…He wouldn't think about that now. He picked up a towel and dried off his dripping face. With one last glance in the mirror he smoothed his hair into place and left the room.

Draco turned and walked out and down the hall and into another room. This room was embellished with a fireplace and many couches. He flicked a switch on the wall, lighting up a couple of lamps. Draco could not get used to it; the whole muggle thing. And he would certainly never feel anything but contempt for it. It was stupid really. Why would anyone want to bother with it? Who knew how muggles survived their whole lives without magic? It was infuriating to think that he had reduced himself to this for the time being. But he had no choice. It was what he needed to do.

The room was a library of sorts, and bookshelves lined the walls. Draco walked over and picked up the Daily Prophet from a wooden table, and sat down to read it. He'd read most of it earlier that same day, but as he had nothing to do but wait, he didn't mind reading it again, it was better than reading one of the muggle books in the room. Draco cast an irritated glance through the pages.

He wondered how long it would take Ginny Weasley to figure out that he'd left the door to her room unlocked. She would surely find out soon enough that there was no where to go. That might prove to entertain him.

…….

Luna and Neville were out on the grounds. It was dark, and they technically weren't supposed to be outside past dark, so to ease Neville's constant worrying, Luna had agreed to go appeal to Hagrid for help. At first when he'd opened up his door to them, he'd been angry that they were out and about at night, as was expected, but quickly enough invited them inside, offering to make tea. Luna had quickly explained to him that they needed to find Ginny.

Hagrid had immediately gotten his crossbow, which Luna and Neville thought was a bit extreme, but Hagrid assured them that it was just precaution and they went out to look for Ginny. Now they were out on the grounds searching for her in the dark. Wands were lit and they stayed close enough to speak to each other without having to yell.

Neville walked over to the big tree by the lake. He was determined to find Ginny. Luna was right before. They all did have reasons to do something about the war. Even if Ginny's reaction was to run away, or something of the sort, that was alright for her if it's what she wanted. But if something else had happened to her, like if she was hurt or something… Neville had made up his mind to help by making sure that she was alright. He was going to find her, and find out what had happened to her.

The thought that maybe she was still inside the castle somewhere without a clue that they were worried about her was prominent in the back of his mind, and he knew that he would probably feel rather foolish if she was absolutely fine.

But then again, if that wasn't the case…

Looking behind him, he saw Luna and Hagrid searching nearby and they seemed to be having a quiet conversation. He figured that Luna was filling in the blanks for Hagrid. He never could figure out whether or not she liked Hagrid. He remembered in his fifth year that she'd called him a joke of a teacher.

Without pretence, Neville tripped and fell forward with a startled shout.

Luna and Hagrid were running over to him as he sat up. Great, why do I always have to be so clumsy? Neville scolded himself as he reached for his wand that had fallen from his hand. I didn't mean to distract them. They'll just think I'm pathetic. He held up the wand in front of him as the others caught up to him.

"Neville? Wha' happened? Are ye alrigh'?" Asked Hagrid's worried voice. Neville didn't answer. He was too busy staring at the ground in front of him.

Lit brightly from the light emitted from his wand was none other than Ginny's red scarf. Neville could recognize it anywhere.

"Is that…?" Hagrid began, trailing off in comprehension.

All three of them looked on in silence for a few moments, thinking of the inclinations. Luna slowly reached down and picked it up. She had a wide-eyed look that Neville couldn't interpret. He could never tell what she was thinking.

"Year two, come with me. And stay close." Said Hagrid suddenly, his weapon up and armed as he stomped off toward the castle. "We need ter tell Professor D- Professor McGonagall. She'll know what ter do."

Neville's face paled as he shared a glance with Luna before standing up and going after him.

…….

A while later, a soft noise interrupted Draco's thoughts. He glanced sideways to the door. "Alright Malfoy, There is no way out. Now what are you going to do with me?" Ginny's angry voice drifted through the room. She stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow. That was easy…too easy. He narrowed his eyes. Why was she cooperating so fast? With a second glance, he noticed that she was relying on that door frame a little too much.

He didn't say anything, just looked at her. She was a complete mess, a trait that he associated with the name Weasley. She wore a cloak wrapped tightly around her, arms crossed. Her long red Weasley hair fell around her face in a mess of waves. A dust of freckles stood out against very pale skin. Despite the fact that she looked like she'd crawled out of the gutter, Ginny looked at him behind dark eyes with defiance and confidence, like she was better than him. Like she was the one in control of the conversation. It was infuriating.

Why didn't he have any effect on her?

But she seems willing to cooperate. He frowned. Just not how he'd expected. He didn't know if this was good or not.

"Um… Malfoy?" She brought him out of his thought. He looked back into her eyes. She was looking at him strangely. She seemed to be expecting something. Oh…right.

Draco stood up and walked past her to the door. "Well, come on then." He said, implying that she follow him. With a dangerous glance back at her, he left the room. Ginny hesitated for a moment, and then followed him.

Draco slowed down for her to catch up. "So you've come to your senses then?" he remarked snidely. "But then I guess since you're a Weasley, you're bound to do what you're told eventually."

Ginny grit her teeth and tried her hardest to ignore the comment. Bad enough that he had threatened to kill her; he also had to taunt her. She had enough difficulty on her own just trying to stay calm enough to not start a fight. They made their way down the stairs to the main floor.

"What are we doing?" Ginny asked irritably, she was tired and wanted to lie down. Truth be told, Ginny didn't feel well at all. She was drained of all her energy and she felt faint. That's not to mention the constant headache that had plagued her since she'd woken up.

"Impatient, Weasley?" he shot her a superior sideways glance and raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, we have time."

"Humph." Ginny glared straight forward. Draco smirked and stopped. She had to catch herself from bumping into him.

"Ok. Well this is the main floor." Draco interrupted the silence. Ginny looked at him like he was mad. What is he doing? He was speaking in that old unconcerned drawl of his. She found it annoying. Or was it just him that grated her nerves? "Over there," he point to one side of the house. "Is the living room. There is a muggle television in there, if you like that sort of thing. No idea what it bloody does." He said, obviously repelled by the idea of using a muggle television. She could hear the muggle-aversion in his voice.

Ginny frowned, looking where he was pointing, wondering why he was telling her this. He pointed to the room in which she had been imprisoned. "There's nothing in there, it is a guest room of sorts. The couch folds out into a bed I think." He pointed somewhere else. "Bathroom is there. And over here," he walked through a threshold and into the kitchen. "Well, it's a kitchen, obviously." The kitchen was lined with shelves. There was a lot of counter space and numerous appliances. There was also a breakfast bar lined with tall stools. Off to the side, in what could be considered another room, was a table and chairs. "I'm sure you'll be able to find anything you need in the cupboards."

He turned and led the way back upstairs. "You've obviously found out for yourself that you can't get out of the house. I should probably mention that anybody outside looking in will not be able to see or hear you."

The upstairs was a bunch of rooms connecting to the hallway. "These rooms here are bedrooms. This one here is mine. Don't go in it there." He glanced sideways at her and saw that she frowned still, and smirked.

"The room you found me in, it's sort of a library, so you can read what you want from there." He took her into a room and stopped. Ginny followed suit. "This is your room." Ginny cringed as he had just confirmed what she had feared: that she would be forced to stay here for a while. The room was fairly large with a huge double bed covered with a pink and white comforter. There was a couch by the window and a vanity dresser against one wall. In the corner, the room opened up into a large walk-in closet. "In that closet over there you'll find all the clothes you'll need. Brand new of course." Draco turned to leave the room, and stopped when Ginny started to follow him again.

"As you might have guessed by now, you are free to roam the house and do as you will. You don't need to follow me around like a dog anymore, Weasley."

Ginny put her hands on her hips and scoffed. She narrowed her eyes at him and then turned around to go sit on the bed. The nerve of him, threatening to bloody kill me if I disobey him and then ridiculing me when I do listen to him. What a prick. What a stupid selfish git.

While Ginny was ranting to herself in her head, Draco stood in the doorway watching her fume. She didn't notice him. It gave him a sick pleasure seeing her this way. He felt the urge to make her miserable.

"Not that you could ever afford food, Weasley, but since this is on me," he fought an evil smirk; the comment was derived to infuriate her. "I would suggest eating something, and sleeping, because you look like a ghost."

And before she knew it, he was gone.

Ginny let out an angry huff and lay back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

What was his game? She'd initially been surprised that he'd left the door open, but he hadn't been surprised to see her at all. She'd found that there was no way out like he'd said, and she'd thought that he must have been every bit as cruel as he'd like her to think. But then she'd seen him in the room down the hall, and he didn't even look the slightest bit perturbed. It annoyed her so much that he acted as though he had been expecting her.

She'd decided earlier to behave like he wanted her to for her own sake. She wanted to know what he wanted, and she didn't want him to react like before and actually hurt her the next time. Ginny was confident that everyone would be looking for her. Knowing that people like Moody, Tonks, Remus Lupin, and her parents would be looking for her made her feel better. They would find her…they had to.

And then he showed her around the house, and given her her own bloody room! What did that mean? She was obviously expected to stay for a long time. To do what? To entertain him? Doubtful. To have sex with him? Not if she could help it. Was it something to do with the war? She knew that Death Eaters were quite often reported to abuse and rape witches.

Was Malfoy really a Death Eater? In the back of her mind she knew that it was true, but something didn't quite add up.

He doesn't even like me, so why on earth does he want me to live in the same house as him?

A muggle house.

It didn't make any bloody sense!

If it wasn't his doing, if it was for someone else, like other death eaters, or Voldemort even, then where were they? It had to be him.

Ginny gave a scream of frustration and sat up.

There was only one explanation that made sense.

She was a hostage.

If he wouldn't tell her what was going on, then she would get it out of him.

But right now she would avoid him at all costs. She was scared of him, even though she didn't want to admit it. He did have power over her, and she didn't know him well enough to determine whether or not he was serious about killing her.

Ginny stood up and went over to the mirror. She looked back at herself with mild disgust. Her hair was a mess, she was pale and she felt dirty. No wonder he had made that comment about her.

Before, when she'd first seen him in the room, she'd felt a glimmer of satisfaction that she'd given Draco a fair sized black eye, and right now, because she felt like hurting him again, the feelings returned and she couldn't help but smile humourlessly at the thought.

Ginny made her way into the walk-in closet. She felt humiliated at the fact that she would have to wear something probably bought by Malfoy himself. He did say they were new. Ginny looked through everything, seeing what was there.

One thing that she'd noticed earlier that she found very strange, was that Malfoy had not once used his wand against her, not even just for normal things, like turning on a light. There was also the fact that this was a muggle house. It was all very strange. As she'd said before, it really was very uncharacteristic of him, considering that the last she knew, he hated everything muggle.

What reason could he possibly have to completely stop using magic?

Ginny shook herself out of her thoughts and picked out some things to wear for pyjamas. There was quite a variety of things there. Ginny picked out a pair of green plaid flannel bottoms and a matching top. She walked back into the room and put them on the bed, deciding to get a shower and then after that she'd go to bed. Ginny was very hungry, but she decided that she'd rather risk not having food than the chance that she'd run into him somewhere along the way.