Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. There's one quote in here taken from the book that I did not write.
AN: Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! I've had this somewhat written for a couple weeks now, but I only got onto the editing today. I should be doing homework (I have a lot of it this weekend), but I wanted to finish this soon so I worked on this instead. Haha… if I fail, it's getting blamed on this:P I can't wait to hear what you guys think. I wasn't quite sure about some things, but I hope you like it.
Keep the Faith
Chapter Five
Brilliant.
Spiffing.
Just bloody fantastic.
Draco Malfoy stared in disbelief at the paper that he held in his hands. The words mocked him.
It had been a couple day's wait. But he'd just received the message. Arthur Weasley demanded to see the girl before he would do anything.
Draco gave a frustrated sigh and threw the pad of paper on his bed, and sat down in the armchair in the corner of his room.
Apparently the man was smarter than he'd imagined, Draco thought grudgingly. Oddly enough, being a slytherin, Draco was reluctantly impressed with the man's actions.
He should have seen this coming. How come he didn't?
Draco leaned back in his chair gripping his blonde hair with his hands.
This was a disaster. The whole bloody thing was a disaster, and not only because of this. Ever since he'd started planning everything, he'd been doubtful that his idea would even work, but it was the only idea that he had. He'd planned it to the very last detail, and everything was prepared. He'd waited weeks to put things into action, but now that he was here, he was even more… desperate for something to happen. The Dark Lord was unforgiving, and now that he'd started this, he couldn't go back. He put himself on this path, and for Merlin's sake he would finish it. He had no choice but to finish it. Otherwise, he would be killed. It was already getting worse by the day. The Dark Lord knew he was up to something and was determined to find him. Draco knew it by the constant pain that resided in what was now the worst mistake of his life. Not that I'd had much choice in getting it, Draco thought miserably.
He rubbed his left forearm distractedly.
But now this… Ginny Weasley's antics had complicated this more than he'd ever predicted. He just knew that she would somehow ruin everything. He knew it. Draco rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair.
Well, actually he hadn't really known it. And that's why he wanted to beat himself up from his stupidity… because it was his own fault. He wanted to blame her for trying to corrupt him, but the truth was … it was his own bloody fault for letting her.
He let his guard down around her. They both knew it, and that was his problem.
Ginny had not asked any more questions about why she was here, but she'd settled for talking about her life, and trying to get him to talk to her about his. He mostly just sat there and tried to ignore her, but she seemed satisfied with that.
She told him stories about her brothers Fred and George when they were kids, and how they started inventing things when they were young, and how during the summers they would teach her things. She tried to ask him about his own life.
Draco wasn't an idiot. He knew she just wanted to unravel the mystery of him. He was perfectly aware that no one knew what had happened to him. She was in fact, the first person he'd come across in all those months that didn't know where he'd been. Most of his time since the night he'd run away with Severus had been spent with the Death Eaters. He'd been pretty much in isolation from his old life, and he'd never really had anyone inquire about him.
Of course, he'd refused to tell her anything that might have been of interest to her, but she'd also asked him inane, unimportant things like what kind of books did he read, or what was his favourite kind of food. To that, he'd only answered that they were dumb questions, and that she was stupid to think that he cared about food in times like these. He remembered that Ginny had answered that she was used to trying to make life easier for people by being optimistic and it's too depressing for her to just be down when you're helpless. After an awkward moment of silence, Draco had told her that his favourite food used to be his mother's lasagne, as it was one of the only things she could cook herself. The annoying girl had tried to make a joke out of it by accusing him of not being able to cook, which, Draco mused, was true in a way. The dangerous thing was that he'd realised afterward that she had taken his mind off of things he didn't want to think about, something he couldn't even do himself.
It hurt to even think of it, but he'd started to feel… comfortable around her.
And if she even had the slightest impression that he was relaxed around her, which she probably did, then he had a huge problem.
All of that will have to change, he thought darkly.
Her father wanted to see her before he would do anything, and he knew that Arthur Weasley was the only one with the connections that were needed, so he had to oblige him. And that was a problem.
There were two issues at hand: the first being that he'd have to be very careful to keep the situation beyond Arthur Weasley's control, and the other being that Ginny Weasley had to cooperate.
It was important that Mr. Weasley believe that his daughter was in mortal danger or else he wouldn't take him seriously. And it was crucial for Draco to be taken seriously.
Draco picked up the pad of paper again and began to write.
He set a time and a place and told him to meet him at ten o'clock in the morning on the next Saturday.
That should do, Draco thought. It was Wednesday now, which gave him a couple of days to figure things out, and to make Ginny afraid of him.
(((KTF)))
Half and hour later, Draco walked downstairs.
Ginny was standing at the counter, peeling an orange. Her long red hair stood out against the dark outfit she wore, glinting in the sunlight from the window.
When she heard him enter, Ginny turned around and raised an eyebrow when she saw his scowl. He'd been relatively civil to her for the past few days, and Ginny dreaded that he would revert back to his old behaviour.
Draco walked to the fridge after casting her a dark look, and pulled out a drink.
Ginny stopped what she was doing and turned her brown eyes on him, looking cautiously at him for a moment before saying, "I'm about to make sandwiches, did you want one?"
"No." Ginny almost rolled her eyes at his sharp tone.
"Are you sure?" she asked, giving him acurious look.
"Of course I'm sure. I don't want food from a weasel like you." He said maliciously.
Ginny stared at the Draco. What was his problem now? Why was he being such a git?
"Alright then," she started, would-be nonchalantly, leaning back against the counter. "I know ferrets can fend for themselves I was just offering." She smirked, looking across at him.
Draco glowered at the reference. He advanced toward her until Ginny was backed up further against the counter staring up at him, eyes wide with apprehension. The difference in their heights was apparent. He closed the gap between them, putting each hand on either side of her, he bent close and said icily, "It would do you well not to insult me, or I might just have to treat you like a real hostage." His silky words promised pain and suffering. He traced a finger down the side of her face, and Ginny jerked back, eyes wide.
"What are you doing?" she squeaked. Draco raised a cocky eyebrow and reached behind her, backing her further into the counter for a moment, and pulled away with an apple in hand from the fruit basket behind her.
His bitter voice was cold and he said, "I'd watch what you say from now on. I have no trouble issuing pain without a wand." Ginny looked up at him frozen in her spot from when he last touched her, still feeling strange from the proximity. Her brown eyes changed instantly from apprehended surprise to suspicion. Her stance changed to defensive and she crossed her arms.
"What is your problem?" Ginny accused, looking at him disgustedly.
Giving Ginny an arrogant smirk, he took a bite from the apple and walked out of the room. Ginny stared after him for a minute, open-mouthed, and then turned and sat down at the table and sighed. The bastard. Why is he being so defensive again? She thought she'd made such good progress with him since two days ago when she'd figured out she was indeed a hostage.
She hated the idea of being nice to him, but if he wasn't trying to be a git, it helped her keep her sanity.
Ginny frowned thoughtfully. He had seemed almost human when he wasn't fighting with her or trying to intimidate her. What had changed?
(((KTF)))
For the rest of the day, every time Ginny saw Draco, she would be ignored, glared at with no emotion, or bombarded with insults. She didn't know which was worse. When he ignored her, at least he wasn't harassing her, but she'd gotten to like talking with him, and it was kind of depressing when he ignored her. When he insulted her, at least he was talking, and she never took him seriously, and she just acted coolly, raised an eyebrow and said something sharp back, but when he just looked or glared at her calmly with his piercing grey eyes, he scared her. It was very unnerving. He had a look that did not seem entirely human.
The result was that he was quite unapproachable. If she came to sit in the library when he was in there, then he would angrily tell her to get out, and she would do it. With his eyes on her like that, she was glad to. But she felt oddly discarded. She didn't like to admit it, but she'd liked getting to know things about him, even if they were small and unimportant.
She wanted to unveil the dark barrier that surrounded Draco Malfoy; to understand what happened to the sneering boy he was at Hogwarts. Nobody knew, and since Ginny was still convinced that he was not a murderer, her interest was peaked. He seemed like less of a monster when he would talk to her. And considering that she was trapped in a house with only him for company, she would rather believe that he was a normal person that wasn't going to kill her or rape her or make her go mad.
It was weird, but Ginny felt sort of compelled by him. He was rude, insulting, unfriendly and horrible, but she was thoroughly and inexplicably drawn to him.
Every so often, Ginny tried to talk to him anyway. She would just say hello, or comment on the weather, sarcastically though as they were always inside. To these he would insult her, calling her a "dratted little rodent" or "an annoying weasel" or he'd insult her family, which left her angry and hurt. Every time he would say anything, Ginny had taken to closing her eyes and reminding herself that she could not kill him or she would be stuck in this house forever.
But then she'd tried a different approach.
Ginny entered the kitchen where he was sitting and sat down across from him.
"Sod off Weasley." He told her, uninterested.
"Look Malfoy, what is the matter with you?" she asked furiously. He just looked at her with a dark look that made her want to quail. The dark circles that surrounded his eyes gave him a somewhat scary look. So, fidgeting slightly, she continued.
"Alright, I don't know why you're going on like this, but it's getting really old." When he looked at her like she was the dirt beneath him, Ginny felt hysteria begin to rise within her, very uncharacteristically, and she breathed for a moment and pushed it down.
"You know, you were almost acting like a normal human being the other day. You can't possibly be like this all the time." Ginny knew she was grasping at threads here, but panic was all she felt. Why wasn't he saying anything? "Look, I know that you hate me and all, but why can't you just be civil? It would make this so much better for the both of us." She leaned forward anxiously.
"Weasley, it's better for you to think of me as inhuman, if that's the way you want to see it." He said distractedly, then looked at her and moved in his seat disinterestedly looking away again.
"What?" Ginny creased her brow, frowning. When he continued to act as though she hadn't spoken, she said, "Whatever Malfoy. I just mean... well... that you're acting... like a Death Eater." Ginny stared at him, frightened of his response. She hadn't really meant to say that; it just came out with her nerves. Ginny was kicking herself inside; she could normally keep a cool head in tough situations. She held her breath.
Draco chuckled humourlessly at her, then leaned forward himself and said wickedly,
"Maybe I am, Weasley. Did that ever occur to you?"
"Yes, actually, I already think that you are one." Ginny admitted cautiously.
"So what's the problem?" His smooth voice was falsely conversational, but she could hear the icy tone underlying it. She could see that this was dangerous ground. It wasn't something he would willingly talk about.
"You've always been a bastard, Malfoy, but I don't picture you acting like a death eater. You're just… acting strange." She said, in hopes to direct him back to her original point.
"Rest assured, Weasley, that the only one acting strange here is you. I don't know what in Merlin's name you think you're on about, but are you going to shut up or will I have to tape your mouth and bind your hands like a real hostage?" He raised a smooth eyebrow in a challenge.
Ginny honestly couldn't tell if he were being serious, and looked on, uncertain. The cold grey eyes stared her down, unrelenting, until Ginny finally gave up and left.
Only a couple of hours later, Ginny had made up her mind to talk to him again.
Ginny had taken to creeping around the house so as not to upset the bastard he was now, and glancing into rooms before she entered. Ginny found him in the library. It was night already, and the dark room was alight with the fire in the hearth.
She stood still as possible, too entranced to leave. He hadn't noticed her. His long, lean body was gracefully stretched on a chair, and he looked untouchable. It seemed to Ginny that it must be impossible for Draco Malfoy to look unkempt in any way, and she thought with a twinge of jealousy of her own lack of grace. But contrary to his relaxed posture, Draco was lost in thought looking very worried, and Ginny knew in that instant that something was on his mind. Did it have something to do with her? Maybe his plan, whatever it was, was going badly. She didn't know whether she should be worried of hopeful. Was it something good for her or something bad for him? Or was it a little bit of both? Ginny let her eyes linger on him for another minute before tearing them away and turning around. She leaned against the cool wall in the dark hallway, hidden from his view and sighed, and made up her mind about him.
She remembered back to the first time she saw him on the Hogwarts grounds. He had frightened her. Even after she'd realised it was him. His tall figure cloaked in black, his dark eyes and familiar blonde hair shadowed under the dark hood. She hadn't thought about him in months, and she hadn't really wasted any thought on him. But now, she saw him every day. What she could infer of his behaviour, she could see he was not just the cruel, selfish bastard that he came across as; there was another part of his personality that wasn't so vile. She felt a determined mind to figure him out; to find the reasons behind his harsh, arrogant actions. She saw it in him when he had cured her sickness, forced her to eat rather than starve, and had a normal conversation with her. Just that one alone should say something.
When she saw him like this, she had trouble believing that he was naturally cold, cruel and heartless.
Ginny glanced back into the room. She didn't feel right disturbing him like that. Ginny sighed and walked quietly into her room and lay down on her bed. She had to get him to talk to her again.
(((KTF)))
The next afternoon Ginny had just emerged from her room, and Draco had emerged from his door, directly across the hall. They looked at each other. Draco watched her with narrowed eyes, and Ginny pursed her lips and looked up at him warily, leaning lightly against her door frame.
"What are you staring at, you wretched little weasel?" A sneer marred his features.
"An annoying ferret is what." She snapped back before she could stop herself. No matter what she told herself about him, she couldn't always hold back. It had been a while since she'd retaliated, and it felt good.
The sneer dropped from his face, and he looked angry. "Is that right?" He looked positively dangerous. I cannot kill him or I will be stuck in this godforsaken house forever, she told herself.
Ginny looked determinedly up at Draco.
"I don't even believe you're really as bad as you're trying to be." She said calmly. The words were out of the blue, and it took Draco a minute to comprehend them. His face closed down.
Draco stepped forward, glaring down at her. "Weasley," he said. She didn't want to admit it, but his brutal tone scared her as much as anything. "This is getting tiring. Let me make it clear. You don't know anything about me, no matter how much you think you do."
Ginny frowned, but she didn't say anything. Maybe she didn't.
Draco advanced further; his walk was predatory like a wild cat on the hunt, until she found herself backed up against the wall.
Ginny felt oddly reminiscent of her first night here and cringed at the memory. Draco smirked. "That's right Weasley." His irritated tone was superior and offending, and it made Ginny want to hurt him, but she controlled herself easily. "I'm not nearly as nice as you seem to think I am." He was still inching closer to her, and the look on his face was neither nice nor reasonable. It was frustration and anger laced with desperation that had an overall effect of something like madness. It sent chills down her spine, but she fought to keep her resolve.
"I'm not scared of you." She asserted, staring determinedly right into his eyes. And before she knew it, he had her pinned against the wall. His hands held her there, and he was closed in on her, just inches away.
"You should be." He hissed menacingly, his furious and frustrated eyes on hers. Ginny looked back at him in defiance, her hair tumbling around her face, shadowing her own eyes.
"Get the hell off of me." She struggled against him, hitting and pushing him, and managed to hurt him slightly, as she saw by his wince, but he was too strong; he didn't move an inch. Getting sick of her pushing, Draco shoved her back, forcing his body against her, pushing her against the wall.
His strong body held her down, suppressing her antics.
Ginny continued to struggle, but gave up soon enough, settling for giving him the strongest glare she could muster.
Brown eyes stared into silver.
"Don't think," he started, angrily, "just because you somehow believe I won't kill you, that I'm not dangerous."
As Ginny glared up at him from under dark eyelashes, she could feel his breath on her face. She could feel his strong body against hers. She could see the smooth pale skin on his face, just inches from hers. She couldn't take her eyes away from the silver gray of his piercing eyes; his insistent look.
Ginny felt her pulse speed up, and she didn't think it was because of the fear.
They looked at each other for a long moment, and Draco suddenly stepped back and looked away, a look of frustrated irritation crossing his features. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at her with a dark look of that she couldn't explain, and walked back into his room, shutting the door behind him. The slam of the door reverberated in her ears; all of her senses were alert.
Ginny stared after him, feeling the blood rush back into her limbs and the sense rush back to her brain.
Ginny pushed herself off the wall and walked back into her own room, forgetting her previous plan, and shut the door. She sat down cross-legged on her bed.
What am I doing?
Ginny felt disgusted at herself. Why hadn't she responded to his threat? She'd just stood there, placid as ever. Ginny hit her forehead with her palm and fell back, lying down.
Why had she felt disappointment when he'd left? Why had she not been disgusted by the feel of him? Why had her body craved the warmth from his, and why had she bloody felt like she'd stepped out of a safety net? Ginny wanted to scream at herself. That was utterly ridiculous. He wanted to hurt her, not protect her. He wasn't the hero, he was the villain.
Wasn't he?
There he was, threatening her, trying to intimidate her, and all she could think about was the feel of him, and the smell of him, and-
"Merlin, I've gone mental." she said to no one.
What I need right now, she thought, is to talk to Luna. If anyone would understand this, it would be her.
And not for the first time, Ginny wondered what they were all doing in this moment. Were they worried about her? How were Luna and Neville? Ginny wondered if anyone had any inkling of what happened to her. Was the Order on Draco's trail yet? She knew how unlikely it was.
Ginny distracted herself by thinking of them, and managed to take her mind of the annoying prat across the hall.
(((KTF)))
Draco paced around his room. Her reaction, that look in her eyes… she wasn't the least bit afraid of him.
When he'd seen her step out of that room, her casualness had distracted him for a moment and he'd stopped in his tracks to stare at her confidant figure and her calm expression. Why wasn't she afraid of him yet?
It was so unfair. He'd tried so hard for the past day and a half to make things incredibly difficult for her, but she was un-phased. He had let out the first thing that came to his mind, and then he'd cornered her. It had been an impulse. He felt her soft body under his, and saw her wide brown eyes stare up at him as though he had merely stated the weather. He'd realised in that moment that there was nothing he could do. It just wasn't going to work. The girl was not scared of him, nor was she worried that he would do anything.
He remembered something Pansy had once said. "A lot of boys like her, even you think she's good-looking, don't you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!" Draco frowned. Where had that come from? He certainly did not find her attractive.
Or maybe he did. That made it all worse.
Draco closed his eyes. What was he doing? He shouldn't admire her resolve, but he did. He shouldn't have liked touching the blood-traitor, but he did. It must be this house that's making me go mad, Draco thought frantically. There is no other explanation. I've been alone for too long. That's all this is.
He went into the bathroom and gripped the edges of the sink, staring at himself in the mirror.
What he saw was not welcoming. The blond man in the mirror looked exhausted, thin and pale. Draco knew he hadn't slept much lately, and it looked like it was getting to him.
His grey eyes stared back at him, hardening. He needed to find another way to deal with the girl.
Maybe he could bind her up, and not let her speak, when he brought her to her father. It didn't appeal to him, none of this did, but it might work. Or it might backfire.
Draco tore his eyes away from the mirror and went back into his bedroom to sit down.
What could he even do?
(((KTF)))
Ginny spent the rest of the day avoiding him. She snuck down to the kitchens when she could hear him in his room, and tiptoed through the halls so as not to draw attention to herself.
She couldn't stop thinking about him. He was a horrible person, that couldn't be any truer, but Ginny couldn't seem to think of him as evil.
She was stuck alone with her thoughts. That was the problem. That must be why she was thinking like this. Ginny hated Malfoy on principle, she really did, but she also couldn't help but try to convince herself that there must be some sort of excuse for his behaviour.
She knew she was being stupid. He currently held her hostage, and she didn't even know for what. Why should she feel anything but hatred and disgust for him? She shouldn't, but she did, and that was troublesome.
Ginny went to bed early, and dreamt that same dream that she'd had on her first day here. She was running frantically away from her pursuers in unfamiliar stone hallways to a man whose face she could not remember in the morning. Only this time, the dream ended when she was just within his reach. Ginny awoke the next morning feeling restless and exhausted, as though she hadn't slept at all.
Ginny decided that she would just go ahead and act normally. If she came across him, then she would deal with it then. For now, she was sick of the confinement.
Later in the afternoon, Ginny was sitting down in front of the muggle television in the house. She was located comfortably on the couch in front of it with the remote in her hand flipping through channels. It had taken Ginny a few tries to figure out how to work the thing, but she did it. It was mostly a bunch of muggles in the television talking to one another and Ginny settled for watching the news.
She was amazed at how much of wizarding news was hidden within the muggle news. There had been some accidents that she knew must be Death Eater attacks. But that was all she could really figure out from it. Muggles really were oblivious. Looking out the window, Ginny saw the sky was darkening already, and Ginny's stomach growled. Sighing, Ginny pressed a button on the remote titled power which she had figured out turned it on and guessed that it might also turn it off, which it did. About to get up, she heard a muffled noise.
Ginny looked in the direction of the stairs. It seemed to be coming from upstairs. Draco's room, she would guess.
After a moment of silence, she heard it again, and sat up straight. She couldn't tell very well what it was, but it sounded like something crashing. Ginny frowned. What was going on? She stood up and as she did, she could hear a series of bangs.
Ginny made her way up the stairs to Draco's room, where she knew the sound was coming from, and stopped because, to her surprise, Draco's door was open. She looked in cautiously.
Inside, Draco was leaning against the wall, holding his arm in pain. His hair was a mess and his face was a mask of pain. Ginny gasped in surprise, and he looked at her. His eyes were watery and red, and it even took a moment for the emotions in them to go from agony and vulnerability to a barrier of anger. Ginny gave an unconscious step forward. And he backed away from her, even though they must have been at least ten paces apart.
"Get away Weasley." He said calmly despite his demeanour, clutching his arm tighter, and closing his eyes in obvious pain. His face turned white.
Ginny bit on her nail. Something was terribly wrong. Had he hurt himself? Ginny worried.
Not wanting to leave him, Ginny remained rooted to her position in the doorway.
"What's the matter with you?" She blurted out. The tone of her voice was uncaring a distant to her ears, but she hadn't meant it to sound like that.
Draco tried to glare at her. "None of your bloody business, Weasley. Leave. Now." He ordered through grit teeth.
Ginny's heart was pounding. He was obviously in a lot of pain. She should just leave. He didn't want her there. But…she found herself oddly reluctant to leave him in such a state.
He closed his eyes and took in a sharp breath. Ginny stepped forward into the room. Several feet from Draco, Ginny stopped, uncertain.
He gripped his arm tighter, and shied away from her, when he saw that she'd approached him. "Weasley… get out." He forced out. "…now." He gave her a look of ultimate desperation.
Ginny panicked. Oh no. He's not ok, he's not ok, he's not ok. She didn't know what to do.
Draco let out a gasp of pain. He suddenly let out an angry yell, and Ginny stared wide-eyed as he kicked a table, sending it down with a bang. He let out a frustrated sob and leaned back against the wall, sinking down to the floor. He bent his head; the fingers of his good hand gripping his white-blond hair.
Ginny hesitated, and then moved forward. She couldn't leave him like this! She told herself once again that if something happened to him, then she would be trapped here forever.
Ginny bent down and touched her hand to his shoulder gently; he shook her off like he'd been stung. "What are you doing?" he grit through clenched teeth, trying, but failing to glare at her. Ginny's heart broke. What on earth could render him so helpless? Ginny stood up and touched the ends of her hair distractedly.
"What the hell did you do to yourself?" Ginny's voice broke.
"It's none of your business, Weasley. Get the fuck out." His breath was quick, and his voice raspy. His eyes were red and watery.
Ginny's face hardened. She bent down on her knees to his left. "I'll help you if you tell me what it is, Malfoy." She said, trying to be calm. She laid a hand on his shoulder again, expecting him to shake her off again, but he didn't. He cradled his left arm against his body, not even looking at her.
Ginny moved her hand carefully down the arm that was the source of so much pain. She stopped on his forearm, covered by his sleeve. She made to pull it up, but he caught her hand in a painful grip, looking up into her eyes suddenly. She understood from his look that he meant "don't you fucking dare".
"I can't help you if you don't let me see what's bothering you." She told him softly.
Draco shook his head. "You won't be able to help me regardless, Weasley." He said between ragged breaths.
Suddenly he gritted his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath with a new flare of pain. His grip on her hand tightened painfully and Ginny let out a gasp. "Draco…" she put her free hand on top of his. He looked down and let go of her suddenly. Ginny pulled her hand back to message it.
His silver eyes looked back up at her. "Do you really want to help?" he asked. Ginny nodded with fervour.
Draco hesitated, looking conflicted for a moment, and then continued.
"Go into my bathroom. Pull away the curtain and there's a cabinet. Find the vial in there that's red. Mix ten millimetres of it with a cup of water from the tap." He looked at her. Ginny noticed the sweat on his face as he ran a hand through his hair. "Think you can get that Weasel? Or do I have to do it myself?" Ginny raised an eyebrow. At least he wasn't so impaired that he'd lost his ability to be a prat, she thought.
"Yeah, I think I can get that, Malfoy." She replied sarcastically, and stood up and left him to go into the bathroom. She did what he said and found the hidden cabinet. She pulled it open and bit her lip. There were quite a few of vials lined up; all with various colours. She wondered what they all were. Her eyes found the red one and pulled it out. She had to guess the measurements of course, but she'd always been very good in potions. She mixed it in with some water and watched as it turned blue. Ginny smelled it, making a face at the vile scent. She was curious; she'd never seen this one before. But that wasn't important. Ginny left the bathroom and found Draco.
He was leaning against the wall weakly, breathing shallowly, sitting in the same spot she had left him. He looked up at her from half-lidded eyes. Ginny leaned down beside him quickly and put a hand to his forehead, her instincts taking over. "God Malfoy, you're burning up!" she exclaimed. Draco brushed her hand off of him distractedly and took the cup from her.
Suddenly he sat up straighter, pulled his sleeve up with his teeth and poured the liquid over his forearm. Ginny watched in horror as the blue liquid caused his arm to smoke. After it all cleared away, Draco leaned back, closing his eyes and started to breathe deeply.
Ginny could not tear her eyes away from his arm. The dark mark was burned on his skin, almost black. She watched as it proceeded to fade to a lesser gray colour. She had known that he had it, but it was different to see it in person. Why is the dark mark causing him so much pain? Before she could stop herself, Ginny reached out to touch it, and would have, had Draco not caught her wrist just in time. Ginny was surprised to see his eyes were still closed. He opened them slightly.
"Don't touch it." He ordered. Ginny pulled her hand back like she'd been burned.
"Sorry!" she apologized quickly.
For the first time all night Draco really looked at her. He looked at her with something like concern, and he said quietly, "Are you okay?" He didn't know what possessed him to say it, but the look on her face struck him. It was a mixture of horror and disbelief.
Ginny shook her head. "Yes." She was at a loss for words. "I… I just…"
Draco suddenly guessed, and he frowned worriedly. "I thought that you knew I had it."
"I did! I've just… I've never seen it before." She admitted weakly.
Draco made a noise and looked down at the mark. "It is rather revolting, isn't it?" he said dryly, and looked away.
Ginny looked down at her hands awkwardly. "What does it mean?" she asked. "Why is it hurting you? I mean, is that normal?"
Draco looked back at her, resigned. "Not exactly."
Ginny frowned. "What do you mean? Why would Voldemort –" Draco didn't flinch, but he shut his eyes at the name, which Ginny thought curious. She stopped, finally clueing in. Her jaw dropped, and she continued in a hushed voice. "Do you mean to say that you're hiding from Voldemort?" Draco glared up at her.
"Of course I am, Weasley. You really thought all these precautions were just for you?" his voice was suddenly unforgiving again. "I'd appreciate if you got out of my room, Weasley. I'm fine now."
Ginny closed her mouth and nodded distractedly, and got to her feet. With one last look at him, Ginny turned around and fled the room.
Draco waited until the door to her room had closed, then he struggled to his feet. He went into the bathroom and shut the door. Draco took one look at his reflection and grimaced. He looked a mess. Draco peeled off his shirt which was sticking to him from the sweat and threw it down on the floor. He reached in and turned on the shower. With the sound of the water running, Draco leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. He was exhausted and shaken. The only pain he'd ever felt that was worse than this was the cruciatus. Ever since he had started to hide, the fire in his arm had increased to a constant dull ache, which he knew to mean that the Dark Lord was summoning him, but this episode had to mean something bad. Draco guessed that the Dark Lord was angry that he couldn't find him, and had probably figured out by now that Draco had deserted him. Whatever the case, the pain was to convince Draco to apparate to him immediately, which was mostly why he'd put up anti-apparition barriers around the house: to stop himself from giving in to the pain and giving up.
And now the girl knew. He'd have to think about that further, but right now, Draco was too exhausted to think. He stripped himself of the rest of his clothes and stepped into the shower.
When he had rinsed himself of the sweat and blue residue of the potion, Draco lay down on his bed.
A couple of hours later it was around seven in the evening. Draco hadn't been able to sleep at all, but he'd made up his mind. It was the only thing he could think of, and he was still hesitant to do it, but he figured he would try it anyway.
Draco got up and walked across the hall. Pausing for a moment, he knocked on Ginny Weasley's door. The door opened after a couple of seconds, and Ginny's small figure appeared, looking up at Draco, her eyebrows raised. "What's going on?" she asked, confused. It was the first time he'd initiated contact.
Draco motioned for her to follow him, and Ginny walked out of her room, closing the door behind her before taking off after him. They didn't have to go very far. Draco entered the library and Ginny followed suit. He sat down at the table. Ginny stood by awkwardly. She didn't know how to act with him after this afternoon.
"Weasley. Sit down. We need to talk." Ginny bitterly noticed Draco's perfect appearance. Even after this afternoon, his back was straight, his hair was perfect. He was dressed impeccably, considering.
Ginny walked over to the table and sat down cross legged on the chair across from his. She put her hands in her lap and looked up at Draco warily. He had been thoroughly unpredictable, and she wondered what he wanted.
"What is it then?" she asked awkwardly, watching the boy across from her. She didn't know what to think anymore. All of her ideas about why she was here were suddenly thrust aside for new ones. The fact that Draco Malfoy was actually hiding from Voldemort made her mind boggle. Really though, she should have seen it coming, but with the way he'd acted, it hadn't really occurred to her. It still didn't really make sense in her mind.
Draco looked like he was having an inner battle with himself. Eventually he looked up at her with resolved silver eyes and said,
"I'm going to tell you everything."