Three days later, Draco found himself standing in Kings Cross Station, on Platform 9 and ¾ with a scowl on his face. Smoke drifted from the large, red locomotive. Students pushed luggage trolleys towards the train, waving goodbye to their family members. The whistle sounded, reminding Draco that he still needed to board the train and find a compartment.
Curse you, Father. Curse you straight to Azkaban.
Carefully negotiating the smoke-filled platform, he pushed his way through the station. Students and parents alike stared at him as he passed, though he seemingly took no notice of the wide eyes and whispered curses. After a painstaking search, he finally found a small, empty compartment near the back of the train. Stowing his luggage away, Draco sat down on the seat and gazed out the window wordlessly. He did not expect anyone to want to sit with him, not even his "friend" Blaise Zabini, a fellow Slytherin and pureblood.
Therefore, he was very surprised, and a trifle dismayed, when the compartment door slid open. Draco glanced up with a scowl, his eyes flashing dangerously. If he had not spent years controlling his emotions, he would have let out a gasp of shock when he saw just who was standing at the door.
"Oh, I didn't know this one was taken. I'll find another one," Ginny Weasley mumbled under her breath as she took a step back. Her eyes roamed the compartment warily.
Draco sourly mused that she was probably thinking of all the gossip she could spread about him coming back to Hogwarts. He opened his mouth to tell her to leave him alone, but there must have been a communication problem with his brain for what tumbled out was definitely not what he had wanted to say. What are you saying?! Shut up, shut up you stupid nitwit! Nevertheless, the words spewed forth regardless of his desperate attempt to snatch them back before they reached Ginny's ears.
"No, it's fine. It's not like anyone else is going to sit here anyway."
Although his tone was even and his expression unreadable, Ginny seemed to find something in his eyes that made her pause. Neither one of them could believe that Draco was actually offering to share his compartment with a Weasley.
Ginny licked her dry lips, her eyes wide in disbelief. For some reason, she did not walk away to find another compartment to sit in. Instead, she stood there, the two halves of her mind wrestling for control. Did she trust him and sit down? Or did she run away like a dog with its tail between its legs?
Her indecision must have shown, for his entire body suddenly tensed, as if in preparation of a blow. "If you don't mind, I would rather not be subjected to the stares and whispers, so if you're going to get in, then do it already. If not, then kindly leave as soon as possible," Draco demanded coolly before turning his head and staring out the window again. The reflection in the mirror showed a tight jaw and silver eyes full of misery.
With a disgruntled grumble, Ginny stacked her heap of luggage beside his and sat down cautiously on the seat across from him. Tense quiet stretched between them, each movement seeming unusually loud in the deafening silence. The train slowly began pulling out of the station, the whistle sounding shrilly. Ginny shifted uncomfortably on the seat, her fingernails scraping against the leather. Draco winced with each squeak until he finally could not stand it anymore.
"Would you stop that?! Great Merlin, Weasley. Do you have to be so loud?" he hissed, his eyes flashing in irritation. For some reason, the sight stirred an unexpected laugh from deep within her. Draco stared at her like she was crazy as she rocked back and forth in silent mirth. Confusion furrowed his brow.
Is she having a seizure or something? he wondered uneasily.
He could just imagine her dying at his feet, her eyes bulging out. Her brother would immediately bust in and murder him in a very violent, very painful, and very bloody way. A horrified shiver ran down his spine at the thought. If he was going to die, he wanted it to be for something he actually did, not because the Weaselette choose a very inopportune time to have a heart attack.
"Bloody heck, Weasley. Don't go dying on me or anything," he muttered as he stared down his nose at her, eyes wide in what appeared to be panic. Ginny eventually calmed down enough to speak, although hiccups still plagued her for a few more moments.
"I didn't..." hic! "...know..." hic! "...that you..." hic! "...cared," she finally finished with an impish grin, her eyes sparkling for the first time in months.
Draco responded with a rude snort and raised one eyebrow at her. "I don't. I simply have no wish to die a horrible death at the hands of your hotheaded brother for merely being at the wrong place at the wrong time if, and when, you die," he responded disdainfully.
Ginny inclined her head towards him in acknowledgement, knowing Ron would do exactly that if anything happened to her with Draco close by. Even if the Slytherin was not beside her, Ron would still send a few curses his way as an added precaution.
Silence settled once more between them, this time not nearly as oppressive as before.
