Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Jo Rowling, not me.
Note: I've split this chapter up into two parts. Chapter nine is the second half. Sorry if I caused any confusion.
AN: Hey guys. I know that this one took a lot longer to get out than some of the other chapters have. This chapter was actually pretty difficult for me to write – I don't really know why, but it was. That, along with the mad rush at the end of school, and exams, has made my life insanely hectic for the past month or two. I'm sorry I made you wait. So, I really hope you enjoy this one. I wanted this chapter and the next to serve as some insight into Draco's past, as well as some other stuff. I'm not really sure how you're all going to react to it, but I like it, so I hope you do too.
Tanelle – thanks for the advice on choosing a university. It did actually help, and since you asked, I've decided to go into the English program. :) So, are you guys excited for the HP5 film? It's coming out on Wednesday and I'm going to go see it at noon! Haha… I couldn't find anyone to go with that was free on the 11th, so I'm actually tagging along with one of my best friends and her mom (believe me, that's not the first time it's happened either). Just one other thing… I'm going on a trip around Ireland, Wales, and some of England at the end of July!!! I am super excited. It has been my dream to travel there for years! Anyway, there was no point to really telling you that, other than the fact that I wanted to express my glee! Heheh… okay, now onto the actual story: please read and review!
Keep the Faith
Chapter Eight
Luna shivered in her warm woollen coat, as she wandered the cold stone hallways of Hogwarts. There was a chill in the air that was attributed to more than just the cold weather. The icy atmosphere was the product of the dark underlying mood around the castle. The days were getting shorter, the professors had all become noticeably stressed out, and there was an unspoken truth that it all had to do with the war. The professors were all reluctant to give out information, and they only revealed what they deemed entirely necessary. Luna had badgered McGonagall and Hagrid constantly for the past few weeks for information about Ginny. She knew that they knew what had happened but would not tell her.
Luna knew that it must be bad if they refused to tell her. Having Ginny around had been a constant in her life as of late, and Luna missed her company. Luna tried not to worry too much because she knew she would just find out eventually. It was unlikely that she'd be able to help anyway. She didn't believe that the teachers were cruel enough to keep news of her death a secret to her, so she knew that Ginny was alive.
Luna was up early. She was a bit of an insomniac, and when she couldn't sleep, she was wide awake. She often wandered the halls before breakfast, as she was doing now. Turning a corner, she suddenly heard a familiar voice speaking; "…tonight."
Luna stopped in her tracks and looked around. The voices were coming from McGonagall's office. Luna approached silently, and tried to listen closer.
"I can't believe Arthur is complying so easily." The stern voice of the headmistress said sharply. Luna could see the lights on behind the open crack of the door, and saw the shadows moving behind.
"It's quite complicated, Minerva. You know that." Luna's wide blue eyes widened. It was Remus Lupin, a member of the Order. Luna hid herself in an alcove to eavesdrop.
"It's just hard to believe that such a man as him is willing to do such a horrible thing for the boy. I'm sure he could have gotten around it." Boy? Luna thought, what boy?
"Arthur had his reasons." He paused, before continuing, "Ginny Weasley is more important than I think you know." He told her gravely.
"What are you talking about Remus?"
"We have the information from one of our spies that Ginny is a main target of the Death Eaters." Remus' voice went quiet and he talked in hushed tones. Luna listened intently.
"What?"
"She's already valuable for just being Arthur's daughter, you already know that, but she's the seventh child and the only girl for several generations. I think they believe she must be a potential threat, as well as the perfect way to hurt their main enemy. Don't you know that seven is the most magically powerful number?" There was a pause. "I thought you would. The source has told me that they think she might have very powerful magic. I don't know whether or not that's true, but it's what they believe, and they want to kill her. Every single Death Eater out there is on the lookout for Ginny."
"Oh my heavens, that poor girl." McGonagall's voice was faint.
"Believe it or not, Draco Malfoy is in fact protecting her from that horrible fate – for the moment at least." Draco Malfoy? Protecting Ginny?
"I'm still amazed that that boy is still alive, when we hadn't heard anything about him for months." Luna could envision McGonagall shaking her head in as though she couldn't believe it. "He doesn't know that he could be saving her life, I presume?"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Minerva. According to Arthur, the boy is supposedly not working with them for this. I believe that he must have been aligned with the Dark Lord at some point, so I'm sure that he knows they are after her. Maybe it wasn't his original intention to help her, but he must know that he is."
"Oh, Remus. I hope she's alright. He'd better not have hurt her." Hurt her?
"You should have seen Arthur after he saw them last week. You would have thought she was being seriously mistreated by his reaction, but do you know what he told us? Ginny was asking him to help Draco."
McGonagall gasped. "No!" What in Merlin's name is going on? Luna thought. None of this made sense.
"It's perfectly true. I don't understand it myself." Remus paused as though in deep thought. "He's quite intelligent you know, Draco Malfoy. We had the whole town surrounded, and they slipped past us. He outsmarted us."
"Well I just hope he's true to his word, and lets her go after tonight."
"Me too, me too." He sighed.
"Remus, what news of the last mission?"
"It failed, Minerva. Again. We're losing hope. Arthur's thinking that we may have to start anew, in this case."
"Just let me know if you need my help. I hear Kingsley Shacklebolt was killed yesterday." She said solemnly.
"Yes." Remus' gruff reply was short. It was obvious the conversation was getting too emotional, as were all things associated with war nowadays. "He was undercover for the Order down in Diagon Alley. There was a Death Eater Raid at the Inn."
"When's the funeral?"
"Later this evening. You'll come, won't you?"
"Of course, but I don't think it wise to leave the school for too long in these days. We still don't even know how that boy got in the grounds undetected."
"I know. The Order is going to meet after the funeral. Arthur requested that you be there." Remus told her, and after a moment, the door opened, lighting up the corridor for a moment as he left down the hallway. Luna heard McGonagall sniff and shut the door completely, and the hallway turned black.
Luna turned away and leaned her head back against the stone, her mind reeling. Ginny was wanted by Death Eaters, and was kept somewhere by Draco Malfoy? Was she helping him? None of it made sense.
Luna heard McGonagall stirring in her office, and decided to get out of the area. If she was caught wandering the halls alone this early in the morning, she would be in detention for a month, so she pushed herself up off the wall and continued her daily journey through the castle, contemplating what she'd just witnessed.
(((KTF)))
It was early in the morning, and Draco couldn't sleep. He crawled out of bed, combed his hair, and made his way sleepily downstairs.
Draco stopped just outside the kitchen once he saw her and leaned against the doorway lazily. Ginny was busy making her way around the kitchen. Her hair was put up in a careless messy bun, and soft waves tumbled around her face. She wore a pair of silk pink pyjamas that clashed horribly with her hair, but she looked so good in them that Draco had a hard time looking away. The silky material flowed over her curves, and Draco's eye lingered over her lithe body. She looked delectable even in pink pyjamas. He'd recently given into his male urges and admitted to himself that he indeed found her attractive. Ginny paused to push back a lock of hair from her eyes with the back of one hand, and saw Draco in her peripheral vision. She whirled around suddenly.
"Oh! You scared me!" Ginny's eyes passed over Draco's lean figure. Draco glanced down also, and realised he was still wearing his pyjamas – a pair of plaid green pants and a grey t-shirt. He inwardly groaned, suddenly feeling somewhat uncomfortable under her stare. He always made a point to dress flawlessly, but hadn't yet, not expecting her to be awake. "It's not very nice to sneak up on people like that, Malfoy." She reproached, smirking.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Maybe you're just not very perceptive." He replied.
Ginny pursed her lips as she observed him. "I'll have you know that I'm very perceptive," she told him haughtily, then added somewhat sheepishly, "most of the time."
He snorted. "Well that explains it." He muttered. Ginny proceeded to ignore the comment. They looked at each other for a moment.
"So, how are you today, Malfoy?" Ginny asked him. Draco sighed and leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling.
"How do you think I'm doing?"
"'Just bloody fantastic' I would guess from that tone." Ginny replied. "You're up early." She mused.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "So are you."
Ginny smiled wryly and went back to her cooking. She was preparing something on the stove, and Draco just noticed the alluring smell of bacon. She spoke over her shoulder to him. "I thought I'd make us breakfast this morning, seeing as you're leaving."
His look shifted to the table and he froze. There were two places set. Ginny saw him looking and grinned nervously, trying to guess his reaction.
"I wasn't expecting you to be up so early, so it will be a while before it is ready. You can have a seat if you want." She told him. Draco's eyes flickered to her, and he went to sit down at the table. Ginny, who had been watching him expectantly, gave a satisfied smile and went back to the stove.
It had been a week since the time that they had seen Arthur Weasley, and ever since that day, things had changed. Ginny was there from her own will, even though they both knew that she could never escape him if she tried. Things had become casual between them, and Ginny had been leaving Draco to himself if he told her to go away, and spending time in his company if he didn't. On his part, Draco stopped trying to scare her, or hurt her. He found that now that there was no need to, it seemed ridiculous to continue. Even the fact that she was a Weasley didn't seem a good enough reason. He found that he could think better and wasn't always in a bad mood when they got along decently.
Yesterday he'd gotten the message on the notepad relaying the massage that Arthur had arranged to free Lucius in secret for tonight, and that Ginny was expected to be set free right away. From Draco's odd behaviour, Ginny had guessed that something was up and so he told her.
He watched her lazily from his seat as she made her way around the kitchen. He felt a strange feeling, but not a bad feeling, when he saw that she was making breakfast for him. He felt sort of a warmth rise up in his chest, but it was quelled by his suspicions. Everyone, he knew, had an ulterior motive for their actions. Even Pansy, who had always wanted something in return, and she was the girl he'd ever been the closest with.
After several minutes of contemplative silence, Ginny brought over the food and sat down.
"You made a lot." He remarked, raising his eyebrow at her.
Ginny sighed, and looked at the platter of food. "Yes I know. It's habit." She looked squarely at him. "I have six brothers you know."
"Yes, I remember." he spoke, settling his silver-grey eyes on her.
She glared at him half-heartedly. "What?"
Draco smirked. "When you were sick, you told me that."
"Oh." She scrutinized him for a while, and then looked away with a slight smile on her face.
They piled food on their plates, and started eating in silence.
Draco almost groaned in pleasure. Merlin could not have concocted a better meal than her, he thought. It must have been more than half a year since he'd had a full, home-cooked meal like this one. Ever since he'd run away with Severus, he'd had to fend for himself, and he didn't generally have the will-power to care enough for his health, when there were so many more pressing matters. When he lived with his mother in the summer, the house-elves couldn't even make a good meal.
When he went to reach for second helpings, he looked up to see Ginny watching him with a small smile on her face.
Before he could even think about it, he told her, "This is alright, Weasley."
Her face lit up in pleasure, and she smiled openly at him. "Thanks, Malfoy. I'm glad you like it."
She looked so sincere in that moment that it made Draco feel like a great git for thinking otherwise. He paused for a minute, before deciding to confront her.
"Weasley?"
"Hm?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Well," she began, leaning forward on her arms. "I couldn't sleep, for one, and I wanted to talk with you," she admitted.
When Draco didn't answer, she continued, "And… I thought that if I did something nice for you, you'd probably be so shocked that you might accidentally open up to me." Ginny teased him, giving him a mischievous grin.
His lip twitched up at that, but then he sobered up. "A conversation about what?" he asked dryly.
"Well…" she looked down, suddenly unsure of herself. "About, you know…what happened to you."
"Look, Weasley," he began. "Stop with pretences, alright?" he stared her down, looking distinctly unhappy. "I know what you're doing."
Ginny's smile faded. She leaned back defeated in her seat. "You do, don't you?" she said to herself. Why did he always seem to know everything; absolutely everything that a person was thinking? "And what precisely do you think I'm doing?" she asked warily.
"What you're doing, Weasley, is trying to manipulate me into telling you what happened, because I'm the only one that knows everything, so you can go back and tell your Order." He paused, and then added, "Haven't I told you enough?"
"Can you really blame me though, Malfoy?" she challenged, ignoring his last comment. "If I skip the chance to find out everything that actually happened surrounding Dumbledore's death, it would be like betraying my cause. They've all been searching for the truth since that night Draco. They've been searching for you, too."
"Me? Why?" he demanded.
Ginny didn't know what to tell him. How could she tell him that Harry was convinced that Draco was not the same as other Death Eaters? She settled for telling him part of it, "We all thought you were dead."
Draco frowned as he observed her. He could tell that she was purposely keeping something from him, but he let it go. "You keep referring to them as 'they.' Does that mean you aren't part of it?" he knew instantly from her darkened expression that he was right.
"I'm not allowed." She grumbled. "If it was my choice I would have been helping them months ago. I hated going back to Hogwarts. They kept me there to keep me safe, but see how well that turned out?"
"You don't think you're safe here?"
"You know what I mean, Malfoy, being kidnapped and all."
He gave her a half-amused smirk.
"So now you want fresh information so you can get in their favour." he stated, figuring her out. Ginny looked disgruntled, not expecting him to see right through her.
"Maybe that's part of it," she admitted, "but that doesn't mean I can't have other motives for wanting to know what happened to you." She frowned. "Or maybe you don't know," she added gently.
"Don't know what?" Draco watched her suspiciously.
"That maybe I care the slightest bit about you – about what happened to you!" Ginny told him, exasperated. She stood up, and paced around. "Why do you think I've been helping you this whole time? I'll have you know that I made you this breakfast just because I felt like doing something for you, and seeing as you're leaving soon I might be the last thing I ever do with you. And that's not to mention that you" she gestured to his thin form, "are too thin for your own good. I thought you should eat something good for a change."
She stopped what she was doing and looked at him, slightly embarrassed from her words, but still watching him intensely. Draco felt ensnared by her direct look. She had a hand on her hip, underneath her buttoned up silk top, showing a little bit her milky white skin. Why was it that every time he saw her, she got a little bit more attractive?
Draco knew he hadn't been eating well. He knew he was thin, although it didn't really show because his body was toned and muscular. It surprised him to hear that Ginny noticed and cared about it.
But she cared about him? Or just about what happened to him? Draco couldn't even wrap his head around that. What did she mean by it?
He looked at her. Her determined eyes watched him for a reaction. When had things gotten so twisted around? She should hate him, if not for the fact that they were supposed enemies, than for everything he'd done to her over the past few weeks.
He should hate her too, but he didn't really. What was the point of hating her anyway?
What was the point of anything anymore?
Draco decided to get off the subject, and forced a sardonic smile at Ginny.
He started eating again.
Looking down at his fork, he spoke, "What do you want to know?"
In his peripheral vision he could see Ginny looked at him in surprise. "What?"
He looked lazily in her direction, and could see that her mouth was slack and she was staring at him in disbelief and hope. "What is it that you want to know?" he repeated, in an edgy tone, already regretting the offer of information.
Ginny sat down again and leaned forward subconsciously to him. "Really?"
The pleased smile she wore didn't put him off. He leaned back, and crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. "The offer's going to expire if you keep up like that."
"Sorry." She said quickly, and tried to stifle the grin. She sobered up quickly enough. "I'm sorry."
"Draco," she began seriously, "what happened to you after that night?" Her eyes searched his.
Draco sighed, and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.
"Could you have chosen a simpler question?" he chuckled humourlessly.
Ginny watched him attentively.
He paused to organize his thoughts.
"Those few weeks are a blur." He started, not looking at her. "After Severus killed Dumbledore, we both ran off together. The Dark Lord gave me the mark. After that I didn't even know where I was at first. I couldn't go home, for the chance that they would find me. I certainly wasn't in any sane state of mind. There were Death Eaters everywhere." He paused, remembering the distasteful memory. "If it hadn't been for Severus, I might have been –" he stopped, as Ginny had just placed her hand on his arm, right over his mark. He was speechless for a moment, wondering if she was doing that intentionally. Ginny's brown eyes defied him to say anything. He continued, "I might have been killed, which actually might have been the better alternative."
Ginny watched Draco in fascination as he spoke. She could tell he wasn't so much speaking to her as he was just getting his thoughts out.
"The Death Eaters, like Avery, Nott, Rosier, and a couple of others, were angry at me because I wasn't killed. A lot of them were angry at the punishment that my father had caused them because of his failure, and they took out their anger on me whenever they could. The only people that were sympathetic to me were my old school friends, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, but that didn't last long. They had to listen to their parents. It's a dangerous world, being a Death Eater, Weasley; you couldn't even begin to understand."
His eyes pierced hers, and he felt suddenly distant from her. Why am I telling her this again? She can't understand.
The constant painful tingling in his arm had suddenly eased a bit as Ginny ran her fingers lightly along his skin, tracing the mark. He closed his eyes involuntarily at the feeling. Luckily Ginny's attention was on the mark.
"When was the last time you saw your dad?" she asked him suddenly, a hateful glint returning to her eyes briefly, which she tried to disguise.
Draco looked curiously at her reaction and narrowed his eyes. It had been the same last time Lucius was mentioned. He suddenly felt quite offended. He stared at her, refusing to answer. "That's none of your business Weasley." He told her sharply.
She took her hand away from him. Silence rang through the air.
"It's just a question, Malfoy." She retorted.
"More like an interrogation." He scoffed. "Why can't you mind your own damn business?"
Ginny stared at him, disturbed by his sudden change in attitude.
"I know that you think all of this is just your own business, Draco, but all these events surrounding you are a lot bigger than that! It matters to a lot more people than you think."
Draco stood up suddenly, and walked toward her. "You know what, Weasley? I can see the look in your eyes every time my father is mentioned. Why should I bloody answer when it's so obvious that you loathe him? What is it then? Did your daddy tell you scary bedtime stories about him? I hear your father was too cowardly to stand up to him." His scathing voice cut through the air. "So what the bloody hell is it that you can hold such a grudge for him?"
Ginny stood up also, a look of hurt and anger written on her face, his words cutting her deep down.
"What the bloody hell is your problem, Malfoy? Your father is a horrible person, and that's all you need to know." Ginny yelled heatedly. "You know what? Maybe you're nothing but a malicious, arrogant prat, and I'm just sorry I had any faith in you from the start!" She looked at him, hurt and incensed from the past memories of her first year. Draco stared back with his mouth in a thin grimace and his brow furrowed angrily as he glared at her. "Maybe I'm just an idiot for believing in you – for thinking that maybe there was something deeper behind that spiteful persona of yours." Ginny's fiery eyes were blazing and her eyes welled with unshed tears. They glared at each other for a prolonged moment, their eyes clashing. Ginny couldn't read him, but the anger emanating from him scared her.
Eventually he spoke; his voice was low, icy and dangerous. "I never said I was anything other my 'persona,' as you call it," he sneered. "I've never been a nice person, as I keep telling you, Weasley, and I'm not going to change, no matter how much you want me to."
He stalked past her, and she put a shaking hand to her mouth, muffling a sob, and a tear finally escaped through her anger.
She didn't notice he had stopped in the doorway for about a minute, rubbed his hand exhaustedly over his eyes, and turn back to look at her. Obviously she would hate him, their families were enemies, as he so often told himself. He had the uncontrollable need to make her understand him. Two seconds later he was behind her, and she saw him out of the corner of her eye and turned around. Ginny just looked at him angrily through teary eyes. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking.
"You're not an idiot, Weasley." He began softly, though she heard him perfectly, and it sent jittery butterflies in her stomach. He watched her earnestly. "Look, I know you think I'm a horrible person. I've no idea why you keep doing things for me for no good reason. Merlin – you've helped me more than you could know." Although the words could have been sentimental, his voice certainly wasn't. His hands abstractedly touched her arms above the elbows, sending shivers unknowingly through Ginny. He continued, speaking harshly. "But I'm leaving soon. Permanently. I'll probably never see you again." She felt pain at those words and unwillingly flinched. She missed the look of pain on Draco's face as he watched her. Draco caught her eyes with his and held them. Draco had never felt this open to anyone before in his life, but he continued. "I'm going to lose you forever. Do you really believe that me trying to like you more now is worth it?"
Ginny's eyes snapped up angrily to his, only to see that there was an underlying look of concern and regret inside. She closed her eyes and was silent for a moment as she thought about it. He was leaving forever in the next week or so, and she would probably never see him again…ever; for some reason that thought was too unsettling for her and she felt rather sick.
She looked at him again. "You're probably right, you know." She said. "You'll be leaving soon, and we might never see each other again." She said painfully, and stalked out of the room, leaving Draco feeling as though he'd just made a huge mistake.