# Smile for me

Cindergirl

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Action & Adventure
Relationships: Draco & Ginny
Book: Draco & Ginny, Books 1 - 5
Published: 02/02/2004
Last Updated: 19/05/2004
Status: In Progress

Draco wants to be with Ginny but all is not going as planned. When the fates intervene and place him as her protector, can he admit his feelings to Ginny as well as himself?

## 1. Chapter 1

Ginny.

Virginia.

Weeks ago she had run up to him to tell him he had dropped his quill. She hadn't realised who he was at first and when he turned around she had started. He was about to spout some cutting remark about how he didn't want the quill anymore now that she had touched it when he noticed how pretty she had become since he had last paid any attention to her. So he had swallowed the retort and instead had simply said “Thank you.”

So he had started, to her complete surprise, to talk to her. It was for shallow reasons, to get into her pants, or Hogwarts skirt as the case presented itself. But after spending some time together in the library he had begun to fall in lo… like, he had begun to fall in like with her. He was Draco Malfoy for Merlin's sake, what was with all the warm sentimental bullshit he had been feeling lately? It was because of her, the stupid, idiotic, annoying, intelligent beautiful -

“Draco. Draco, are you listening?”

“Hmm?” he said slightly distracted by the way her cute pink lips moved and the way her voice transported him to a world where there was just the two of them.

“The goblin rebellion of 634, you know the one I need to write about for the history essay that you're supposed to be helping me on. I only need three more inches, what can I write.” Her irritation brought him back down to earth.

“Oh. Um, I don't know, write about Bilwik the Bald or something, I'm sure he was involved in there somewhere. And even if he isn't, it's not like Binns will notice, he probably hasn't even realised he's dead yet.”

She giggled, distracting him again, but he forced himself to snap back to reality, “It's true you know. Anyways, do you want to meet up at Honeydukes Saturday? I was thinking that we could walk around Hogsmeade for a bit.

“Yeah, if I can get out of Ron's overprotective, big-brother line of vision. If he saw me going off with you his imagination would run away with him and he'd think you were using evil mind powers to seduce me.”

“Oh, yeah” he returned weakly, he /wished/. That's right, he, Draco Malfoy, hadn't plucked up enough courage to ask her out, or to seize the moment and do… something, /anything/ to get her to understand that he wanted so much more than talks in this stupid, dusty library. Merlin he hated it here. “But you'll come anyway, right?”

“I'll try.” She tried to stifle a yawn and failed. “I'm getting tired, you want to come with me to the kitchen? I'm going to get something to eat before heading up to the common room.”

“Okay, let's go.”

“Hang on, let me just check this book out.” Draco waited patiently as Ginny walked over to madam Pince's desk. Soon enough they were tickling the pear to enter the kitchen.

“You know,” Ginny said as she sat down with a turkey sandwich Tammi had handed her, “Colin Creevey asked me out today.”

“He WHAT?! I mean… really?” Draco answered through a mouthful of peach pie as he fought against the jealousy bubbling up within him.

“Yeah, really. I told him no of course, simply because I didn't think we'd be compatible.” Relief flooded through him. “But then he came up to me at lunch and asked me to reconsider. He was so persistent that I told him I'd think about it. It was a bit cruel to leave him hanging but I just couldn't decide.” She paused before saying, “You know, I think I will. He's so sweet and he seems to really like me.”

“No!! I mean… you're right, you're not compatible. He's…” He struggled to find words. A nancy boy? A mudblood? Potter's tagalong? No, no and no. None of those would go down with Ginny, in fact, she'd probably go out with him just to prove a point. “What interests do you share? What would you talk about?”

“Well…” she paused, struggling to find her own reasons.

“You see,” said Draco triumphantly. “He's not for you, I can just imagine you getting sick of him within a week and then you'd have to dump him. It would be too difficult, just nip it in the bud.”

“But - ”

“A little bit of pain now is better than a broken heart later. Be a little less cruel Ginny.” /Please listen, don't date him, please/.

“I suppose you're right, I hadn't thought of it that way, it would be a rather cruel, wouldn't it?” She got up and gave the now empty plate back to Tammi, turning so that she didn't see the pure relief flooding his features. “Ugh, now I have to go back up there and break it to him.” She turned to give him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you. For your advice, I mean.”

“Why do you do that?” Draco asked, pretending to be annoyed, as he wiped his cheek with his hand. He loved it when she did that, but he wasn't going to admit it any time soon.

“I do it to my brothers when they've done something nice.” She laughed. “You're so sweet when you grumble. I'm going up now, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

When she left he sat back down. So that was it; he was like a brother. Not even friend, he could have lived with friend but /brother/? That was completely platonic. He buried his face in his hands and sighed before getting up to go to the Slytherin common room.

A/N: Hoped you liked it, please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to him. I only own the plot.

## 2. Chapter 2

It was a cold December morning in the Gryffindor sixth year girl's dormitory and Ginny was trying to get her friends out of their beds.

“Bloody hell, it's eight in the morning. On a Saturday. You aren't supposed to be awake.” Sarah, Ginny's roommate, said when Ginny shook her awake.

“It's snowing, that makes it different, now get up.”

“Ginny.” She whined.

“Sarah.” Ginny responded in the same whiney tone and they both started laughing, “Come on, you just don't want to get up because you know I'll beat you in a snowball fight.”

“Yeah right,” Sarah mumbled into her pillow.

“Then prove it.”

“No, too tired.”

“Loser,” Ginny huffed. “All right, I'll take pity on you, but you realise this is only because I don't think you could deal with the utter defeat and humiliation you would suffer at my hands.”

“All right, all right, I'm getting up, but you have to make me hot chocolate for this.”

“Yes!” Ginny screamed “Come on, Jenny's already taking a shower. You know her; she has to be clean before she gets dirty.”

“Ugh, she's way too into hygiene”

“Hey!” said an indignant voice from the doorway, “At least I'm not like you people. I don't think I could stand going for days without washing myself.”

“Not days, just hours. You know, like normal people.” Sarah said, sniggering as she slipped on a pair of pants and some boots.

“I'm normal, right Ginny?” Jenny asked.

“Uh, I don't think I'll get involved in this one.” Ginny said, backing away. “Anyways, don't you guys want to go down now? We might miss the snowfall otherwise.”

“I'm normal!”

At that Ginny ran down the stairs and out the portrait hole with Sarah and Jenny chasing after her.

When they stepped out onto the school grounds they stopped and stared at the snow covered, yet untouched, wonderland. Sarah was the first to recover, picking up some snow and shoving it down Jenny's back. Jenny screamed, she picked up some as well, threw it and -

“Missed! Ha!” Sarah screamed.

“That was NOT nice!” Jenny shouted back as she tried to extract the melting snow from under her jacket, two jumpers, two sweaters, shirt and tank top. “It's so cold, burrrr.”

Ginny, who had, until that moment, stayed on the sidelines, then got a snowball and, while Sarah was still laughing and pointing at Jenny, threw it right into her face.

“Agh! That was low Ginny.” She said as she wiped the snow from her face.

“You know me, always waiting for the opportune moment.” Ginny shouted back as she ran away, only turning back to throw a snowball at Jenny who screamed and came after her as well. The three of them came to edge of the lake. It had frozen over.

“It should be safe, right Ginny? Sarah?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah, people have gone out before and no one's ever gotten hurt.” Sarah said.

“You don't sound very sure” said Ginny right before Jenny, in a rare moment of spontaneity, pushed Ginny onto the ice.

Sarah pushed Jenny on as well and they all started sliding around. Picking up snow that had fallen onto the ice and throwing it at each other, occasionally trying to stand up long enough to get somewhere.

, ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,

Up in the heavens two deities were viewing the situation with interest.

“You know, it's a pity that most of her family are too concerned with what the Salvation is doing to concentrate on this girl” said Mirhe as she watched the girls playing in the snow.

“Her family are not so bad; I've seen and created much worse. They at least care about her well being” replied Vehka who was connecting to her sister's mind to view the scene as well. She couldn't view mortal's faces or hear their conversations without her help.

“The fact that you are the Goddess of Destruction wouldn't have any effect on your opinion, would it?”

“I do what must be done, and playing with mortals is so amusing.”

“Yes, well, that aside, this girl is important.” Mirhe said, her mind still connected to Vehka's.

“How so?”

“To the plan, she is meant to play her part and aid the Salvation in his acts to defeat the coming shadows.”

“Ah, the death eaters. Will she die?” Vehka asked, her lips quirking up into a smile at the thought.

“You know as well as I that that has not been decided yet, have a little patience.” Mirhe broke the connection, stopping Vehka from gazing at the girl for too long.

“She's the one with the red hair, yes?” Vehka said, “Darker than fire?”

“Yes, we need to assign her a protector until she can fight for herself in the final battle. Should we assign one of her brothers? Maybe the Salvation Himself would be a good choice. I'm sure both of her friends would care for her admirably.” Mirhe said as she contemplated the options.

“No, no,” said Vehka impatiently “it has to be someone who is totally infatuated with her, who is willing to spend large amounts of time with the girl. Her parents are too preoccupied with the Salvation as are her brothers, as you said and the Salvation has his own problems. Her friends are not with her all day, they split up too often. It has to be the boy.”

“Which boy?” Mirhe asked confused.

Vehka sighed, “The one who has fallen in love with her right under your nose. You would do well to keep a keener eye on your charges.”

“Hmm, I'm not sure though. I feel the need to test him.”

“You're just biased because I created him.”

“No I'm not” Mirhe said, offended. “Anyways, I need you to create an emergency for him to play the hero in. Just make sure there is a contingency plan in case he doesn't pull through, remember that we don't want her to die yet. I'll make sure he sees it.”

“Of course.” said Vehka as she started to thin the ice under Ginny's feet.

, ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,

Draco was dreaming, he knew he was dreaming because in real life Ginny would never be doing these things. She wouldn't be sitting on his lap under a tree in the grounds giving a few kisses or sitting in the three broomsticks sharing a butterbeer like the other couples. She /definitely/ wouldn't be doing any of the less . . . innocent things he had come up with in his sleep.

When his dream stopped being of him taking off something Ginny looked rather edible wearing and changed to her playing in the snow with her friends on the ice, he knew something wasn't right. His subconscious wouldn't willingly change one image for the other. Also, this new dream felt altogether too real, like he was watching it in time with the rest of the world. But Merlin, he thought as he watched her throw a snowball at Serrie or Sammi or whatever her name was, she was beautiful. Even with a face red from the cold and hair messy because of the wind (not to mention those awful robes), he was captivated. He had an insane impulse to reach out and touch her, convinced that he was only meters away from holding her hand.

Draco saw it as if in slow motion. Ginny had tried to stand up and had fallen back down, as she hit the ice it broke into pieces and she disappeared underneath. At that moment Draco sat bolt upright in his bed, somehow he knew that this was no ordinary dream. He drew a heavy oak chair over to a spot beneath the window high up on the wall of his room in the dungeons and, standing on the chair looking out the window he tried to see through the drizzle of snow to the lake. He finally made out two figures, one was bending over trying to pull something up while the other ran for the castle.

/That's Gin she's trying to pull up/ he thought in a panic. Thinking fast, he grabbed his cloak and broom and ran out of the Slytherin dorms, the common room, and the great hall and onto the grounds. He flew towards the lake searching for the Ginny. He finally caught her friend unsuccessfully trying to pull her out onto the ice while simultaneously trying not to fall in. Flying over he saw that Ginny was losing strength. The girl with Ginny spotted him and waved him over with one hand while holding Ginny with the other. Draco grabbed Ginny's hand with both of his and, using the brooms strength as well as his own, hauled her out of the water. He flew over to the snow covered ground and wrapped her in his cloak before picking her up. Ginny groaned, then she lost consciousness.

“Where are you taking her?” asked her friend.

“Where do you think?” Draco was livid, how could they have been so stupid? He was angry and scared for her, “To the hospital wing you idiot.”

“Sorry. But - ”

But Draco didn't want to hear the rest of what she would have said, he had to take her to madam Pomphrey fast. He couldn't think clearly through his fear and the fuzzy questions going through his head were not helping.

When he reached the castle he cast /mobilicorpus/ on her and led her to the hospital wing where he set her down on one of the beds still covered in his cloak.

Madam Pomphrey came out of the wing in time to see him enter, “Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing - ” she stopped and stared at Ginny “Oh my Lord” she whispered, then with more authority and much more urgency she said “Get out, all of you” to Draco and both of Ginny's friends who had somehow found their way to his side. “You” she pointed at Sarah, “go get professor McGonagall now, she's in the staff room.”

When Sarah went off, Jenny was left with only a very scared, angry seventeen year old boy for company.

“Um, are you okay?” she asked when she saw the pensive look on his face.

“Do I look `okay' to you?”

“I wanted to thank you, for helping us.”

Draco didn't answer, he was going to stay long enough to know if Ginny was alright and that was all. He didn't need to deal with her idiot friends. In his mind they were just as much to blame as Ginny herself for her fall through the ice. All he wanted was some time to sort through his feelings.

“Um, seriously, maybe you should get yourself checked or something. You seem like you're in shock. I mean, I know that you've gotten pretty close with Gin recently but you have to loosen up. I'm sure Ginny will be alright.”

“Will you just /shut up/ Jessi or Jenna or whatever your name is. How would you know that she's going to be okay? You tell me how, and then I'll calm down.” Draco said this all quietly but his words cut into Jenny than she would have liked them to.

“I don't know but even if she isn't, there's nothing we can do now, is there?” The truth was that she was worried as well. It had all been suppressed during the accident but now that she could do nothing, all her fears were coming to a head.

“I suppose.” Draco said, more to shut her up than anything else. Inside he was wondering why this was happening, why they hadn't used their wands and if there was anything else they could do. “Why didn't you use your wands?”

“None of us had brought ours; we were too caught up with the falling snow.”

This statement stoked up Draco's hitherto dormant anger. “What?! How could you have forgotten your wands? Are you all idiots?”

Jenny recoiled slightly, “I'm sorry, we didn't think - ”

“That much is obvious. Just don't, I don't want to hear it.”

Jenny was quiet for a moment before she said “How did you know we were out there?” Again, Draco didn't answer, he was trying to come to grips with that question as well.

, ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,

Hours passed, McGonagall had come and gone, Jenny and Sarah had also left and Professor Snape had asked him to go back to his dorm, he had refused. When madam Pomphrey finally emerged telling him that Ginny was going to be alright he asked if he could stay with her. She had said yes if he didn't make a sound, so he fell asleep by her side and the deities were pleased, they had found a protector.

.

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. If there's anything you don't get about Mirhe and Vehka just say so in a review or email. Most of it will be explained in the next chapter anyways.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to him. I only own the plot.

## 3. Chapter 3

Ginny woke up feeling a vague sensation of pain flowing through her and her head felt all fuzzy. Looking around she realised she was in the hospital wing and that the fuzziness was probably caused by pain killers, then she remembered why she was there. She had fallen on the ice and . . . and Draco had saved her.

That was something to think about.

Another thing to think about was that he was right next to her, fast asleep. The first thing that registered in her mind was that he had stayed longer than even Jenny or Sarah and she was truly touched. Even after all the time they had spent together she didn't think he cared that much, obviously she was wrong.

Seeing his face made her mind turn to his appearance at the lake, she wondered if he was simply in the right place at the right time or if it was . . . no that was ridiculous. It was simply luck and that was all. Was she really air-headed enough to think they had some super deep emotional connection? Maybe she did think that, simply because she wished that they did. Merlin only knew how many times in the past few weeks she had wished for their friendship to develop into something more. She had even tried the jealousy tactic, mentioning that Colin had asked her out, but he had only responded with level headed reasoning, giving a rational explanation on why she shouldn't accept.

Inside Ginny yearned for him to be a little more impulsive, if only to give her some insight into what he was feeling. But then, she thought, he wouldn't be the person she had come to care for. She couldn't imagine Draco being anything other than what he was; reserved, sometimes cruel, but at the same time sweet when she needed help and oh so adorable when he was grumpy. She supposed it was the little things that drew her to him.

But now she was addicted. She looked at his face and for once was allowed to drink her fill of his features and gaze at the relaxed look on his face that was never allowed to surface in the day. She reached forward to touch him.

, ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,

Draco's mind was, for once, not occupied with thoughts of Ginny. His dreams were filled with childhood memories; one moment he was running around the grounds of Malfoy Estate riding imaginary dragons as his mother looked on, the next he was walking through Diagon Alley with his father as he explained the ways of the world to his five year old ears. Suddenly he was standing in front of an open door where a woman was beckoning him to enter.

Hesitantly he stepped over the threshold and into a world that was unlike anything he had ever imagined. Day and night melded into one and death merged with life. In the centre were two women. One looked remarkably like Ginny and was standing with her hands open as if she was offering something to him, the other sat blind on the grass, moving her hand over the ground every so often and killing the grass underneath. Belatedly he realised that she resembled a girl from his year; Blaise Zabini.

The one who looked like Ginny came up to him. “Hello” she said as she reached for his hand. Draco didn't resist when she pulled him over to a strange tree that was half dead. He didn't mean dying, he meant one half of the tree was dead and rotting and the other was full of life. “Do you know why you're here, Draco?”

“Um, no.”

“I suppose you wouldn't, mortals are so blind sometimes. You are here because my sister Vehka and I summoned you and no, this is not a dream.” She paused. “My name is Mirhe. I know that to your eyes I resemble the girl, Ginny, but that is not my true form. You see me that way because I'm The Giver, The Provider, The Goddess of Generosity and I choose for you to see me that way so that you will not fear me. Yes, I can read your mind and yes, I will tell you why I have summoned you here.” Mirhe stopped there and Draco remained silent, every time he had opened his mouth during her speech she had provided him his answer. It was either his strangest dream yet or -

“I have already told you that this is not a dream.” Mirhe said, anger creeping into her tone, “and as I am the one who gives you all you are thankful for it would do you well to believe me if only to keep me happy.”

Deep down Draco remained sceptical but his budding trust in her words seemed to pacify Mirhe.

“I suppose I cannot expect you to have blind faith. We summoned you to inform you that you have been chosen as Ginny's protector.” She let that sink in before continuing, “today's accident was no whim on Vehka's part, it was a test to see if you would come to Ginny's side when you were needed and you performed well.”

“I'm sorry, it's very rude of me to not let you voice your questions for yourself; I don't deal with mortals often. Go on.” Mirhe said.

Draco was silent for a moment before saying, “Suppose that I believe you completely, I still don't know what being her `protector' entails.”

“Well, basically you would have to spend every moment you could with her, you would be alerted when she was in danger and would have to go to her.”

“Right, another thing I don't understand is why she would need a protector at all?” Draco said, confused.

“She is very important to the actions of the Salvation in defeating the shadows or Death Eaters as they're commonly called. But for now she is unawares and in danger. The danger is not immediate but when the time comes you will be called. Do not worry, you will not die. You are needed later.”

“Will Ginny die?” he blurted out, he had to know.

“I'm very sorry but I just don't know yet because it hasn't been decided, my sister and I only give and take. We don't hold the length of your lives on our hands, they are in another's. Neither can I tell you what kind of danger she is in because you aren't supposed to have that information yet. You will just have to respond as best you can.”

“Oh, I see,” said Draco, although he really didn't.

“There's no use in worrying child. If the time comes it comes, there is nothing you or I can do about it.” Mirhe looked sorry to say this to him so, seeing as he wouldn't be able to extract any more information out of her, he simply changed the subject instead and asked about something that had been irking him.

“Why do I see Vehka as Blaise?”

“Vehka is the Goddess of Destruction; if I am the giver then she is the taker and you obviously think Blaise is taking something away from your life right now. You see that patch of grass she's burning over there?” Draco nodded. “That represents a small town in Indonesia; she's started a fire there.” Mirhe's eyes narrowed. “She likes using fire, maybe it's because fire was my gift to mortals and now she's using it against them. I bet she sees it as ironic.” Mirhe huffed. “Well, I know I've saved many more people from cholera and dysentery with that fire than she has killed with it.”

Draco ignored Mirhe's obvious annoyance and squinted to get a better look at Vehka's eyes. “She's blind, isn't she?”

“Only to your face and your deaf to your voice. She sees all humans as you see ants, it's therefore amusing to see them run and burn.”

“Oh.” Draco didn't know how to respond.

“I think I've told you all you need to know and more. It's time to go back now, but first I have to give you this pendant. It allows you to feel if Ginny is in danger. You won't be able to take it off so don't try, your attempts will only cause you pain.”

Draco nodded again before taking a step away. “How do I leave?”

“Just walk through that door, Ginny's waiting for you.” Draco turned around, surprised to see a gate that wasn't there before. He stepped towards it but hesitated, unsure whether he should thank Mirhe or not.

“Don't worry, I understand.” she said before the words could come out of his mouth, he simply nodded again without turning and stepped through the door.

, ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,

Draco opened his eyes and found himself in very close proximity with Ginny and she suddenly pulled her hand and its tender caress away from his face.

.

A/N: Sorry if you're getting sick of the Mirhe and Vehka stuff. Don't worry, in the next few chapters there will be more on Ginny and Draco and on what's really happening in the plot. Please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to him. I own the plot as well as Vehka and Mirhe.

## 4. Chapter 4

Draco opened his eyes and found himself in very close proximity with Ginny and she pulled her hand and its tender caress away from his face.

“You're awake” he said, turning his gaze slightly away from her.

“So are you.”

“Yeah, um, how are you feeling?”

“Better; I had a pounding headache, but it's receded a bit.” She looked at him for a moment; slightly embarrassed at being caught in such a moment of admiration she felt the need to cover it up with a bit of friendly banter. “I can't believe you stayed so long,” she said, a hint of a smile showing on her features, “if I didn't know better, I would think you cared.”

Draco could have laughed and teased her back, he could have just let her statement go but it angered him so instead he turned to her. “Is that what you really think of me?” he asked. He knew she was just joking around like they usually did but her words cut him. “That I don't care about you?”

“Draco, I was just joking.”

Draco took her face in his hand, “Ginny, when I saw you fall into the lake my heart stopped. I can't even describe to myself the desperation I felt, it scares me to know I care that much and all you can say is that . . . that I basically have no heart, even when it comes to you.” He held her with his gaze, trying to make her understand.

Ginny was shocked by his admission, she realised how much it must have cost him to admit that. She also knew it was sincere because Draco just wasn't the type of person to lie about his feelings, in all the time that she had spent with him he had skirted around his emotions, always toning them down. Now she knew that he really /cared/, and what on earth was wrong with her? Here she was, listening to the admission that she had so craved and all she could do was gape.

Seeing the look of shock on her face, Draco began to regret his words, but he refused to turn away. It was the first time in . . . ever that he had truly cared about someone other than his parents and he was going to know once and for all if all his feelings were reciprocated. If they were then he would be ecstatic, if not then . . . then he would leave, he was not content to remain as just a friend and he would prefer to cut the strings on their relationship if that was the case. So he forced himself to sit still and listen to her response.

“Um, wow. I honestly didn't know you cared so deeply for me but obviously I was wrong.” Draco cringed as he listened to this and braced himself for the kind words that would crush his heart. “And I'm happy that I was.”

“What?” said Draco confused.

“Of course. For ages I've considered you one of my closest friends and now I know you do too and, oh, I'm so happy” Ginny finished in a rush and she leaned forward and drew him into a tight hug. Draco, who was somewhat unfamiliar with the gesture, remained slightly stiff in her arms but stayed still enough. However, he still had to tell her about his not so platonic feelings, he had told her so much and he wasn't going to stop halfway.

“Ginny, I have to - ”

“Actually,” Ginny interrupted, “I have a confession of my own to make.” She stopped, seeming unable to continue.

“Well?” said Draco, impatient to get his own feelings out.

“Okay, I might as well spit it out. I . . . I like you as more than just a friend.” She said in a rush and taking sudden interest in the blankets covering her legs.

“Oh” was Draco's rather surprised reply.

“Oh? All you can say is oh?!” Ginny asked as she felt shame and anger building up with her. Was she really foolish enough to have thought he would return her feelings? Why would he deign to? He had so many better choices at hand. At the same time she wanted to strangle him because he felt that he should feel that way about her, that he should love her for some irrational reason. “I'm confessing my deepest feelings to you and /that's/ your response?”

Ginny rose out of her bed and made to stalk away but her head felt light as soon as she stood and she had to grab a nearby table to steady herself. Still, Draco came to her side.

“I'm /fine/.”

“Yeah, right. Where were you planning to go anyways? Up to Gryffindor tower in a hospital robe?” he asked sarcastically as he made her sit back down and covered her with blankets.

Reluctantly, Ginny allowed him to tuck her in. “I'm still angry” she said as he drew the blankets around her and tucked her in.

“You're also recovering from hypothermia. /Please/ just stay in bed.”

“Fine” Ginny huffed.

Draco sat down again and didn't say anything.

“I'm still angry” Ginny repeated

“I know, I heard.”

Both stayed silent for seconds, then minutes.

Finally Draco said, “I'm sorry.”

“Wow, another shocking statement from Draco Malfoy today.” Ginny said not looking at him.

“Will you listen?” Draco demanded, and then said in a much softer voice. “I'm trying to say I feel the same way.”

“What!?”

“You heard me, don't make me repeat it.”

“Eek!” Squeaked Ginny as she pulled him into another tight hug, this time instead of holding himself stiff he relaxed into her arms.

Draco shifted slightly out of her embrace and turned to face her. “You realise this means you can't be with anyone else right?”

“Why would you think that I would?” asked Ginny, slightly confused.

“It doesn't matter. Just promise me you'll stay away from Creevey.”

Ginny laughed, `so this is what he's worried about' she thought. “Don't worry, I promise, no Colin.”

Draco sighed in relief, he felt so happy all of a sudden, like a weight was lifted off his heart and from the expression on Ginny's face she was just as light hearted. So he did what felt most natural at that moment and leant in for their first kiss.

.

A/N: There was a lot of DG fluff this chapter and there will be lots in the next as well, after that the storyline will move along. Sorry, I had to fill my craving for meaningless romance, I hope you liked my fix, please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Draco Malfoy or Ginny Weasley so please don't sue.

## 5. Chapter 5

Ginny tasted . . . sweet. He had thought that mouths didn't really have a taste, except maybe of what you had last eaten, but in Ginny's case the taste was innate, he felt that no matter what, when he pressed his lips to hers, there would always be this familiar sweetness. The kiss was tender and timid and only broke when Ginny pulled away with her eyes closed.

“For the longest time I wondered what it would be like to kiss you,” she said almost reverently as she touched her lips gently, her eyes still closed.

“Did I live up to your expectations?” asked Draco

“Oh yes, that and more.” Ginny said, finally opening her eyes to look at him.

“Well, I hope never to disappoint.” He smirked and she laughed. At this he frowned, “What's so funny?”

“Whenever I imagined us kiss you always had that smirk on right afterwards, who knew my imagination would be so accurate?” she laughed again and Draco let a genuine smile shine through which made Ginny even giddier with happiness than she already was. She had wanted this for so long and it was finally hers, it was like walking on air.

“Well, it lived up to my expectations as well.” Draco told her.

“You know,” said Ginny, “I never thought that you would have spent time imagining something as soppy as a kiss.”

“Hey! There's nothing wrong with imagining a kiss.”

“Of course not, I think it's very sweet.” Ginny said as she tried not to laugh at his defensive attitude.

“It's not sweet.”

Ginny started to giggle, “Of course not, I'm sorry, it's very manly and - ” and she had to stop there because her giggles were becoming uncontrollable. Draco was just glaring at her and it made her laugh all the harder. When she finally stopped laughing he had turned away.

“Oh, come on. I was just teasing and you know it, I'm still allowed to tease a little, aren't I?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said, “it doesn't matter.” This was what he said but Ginny could tell he was still annoyed at her. “I think I'm going to go now, I stayed to make sure you were fine and it seems that you are.”

“No, stay,” said Ginny as he grasped at his hand.

Draco shook her off. “No, I'm tired and you also need your rest, I think I'll go.” Ginny wasn't going to plead and so she just sat as he turned to leave. He paused when he stood and then came back to kiss her once again, just a peck on the lips and then left.

Ginny looked on afterwards and felt a vague disappointment settle in her. He really was being such a baby; they had always teased each other before so what had changed? Now that she was his girlfriend they weren't going to be able to laugh about stuff once in a while?

It didn't occur to Ginny that when she had made fun of him she'd hit a very sensitive nerve, that Draco was struggling to redefine himself and his thoughts without his father in the background constantly telling him how to be and how to think. Nor did she realise that his admission of his feelings was a big step away from what he once was. Her friendly jokes had done nothing to help the situation but had only hurt him. However, Ginny was blissfully unaware of this and so fell into peaceful sleep.

, ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,. .- -* *` `*~-. ., ,

Draco made it through the school corridors undetected but when he came across Blaise Zabini standing at the entrance to his room he told her shove off and go to her own dorm.

“I know where you've been,” was her response, “with the Weasley girl. I saw you kiss her and I've noticed you spending a lot of time with her lately.”

“What's it to you Zabini?” Draco asked as he tried to push past her.

“Would your father be pleased to hear of this?” she asked when he tried to push her aside. She wouldn't budge though. “You're associating with filth.”

Draco grabbed her by her robes and pulled her close, he looked menacing in the darkness. “She is not filth and what we do together is none of your concern.” With that he pushed her out of the way and whispered the password to his room.

Draco walked through the door, slammed it in Blaise's face and collapsed onto his bed. He deeply appreciated the private room that had been given to him when he received his head boy badge. It protected him from the animosity that had been directed at him throughout his sixth year after his father had been arrested. He had never imagined that his `friends' felt so much hatred towards him. Perhaps it was because he had been so mean, vindictive and controlling to them for the five years before that. Blaise was the only one who still talked to him and that was only to try to taunt and bully him.

He stared up at the canopy of his four poster bed and pushed Blaise out of his mind, instead he thought about Ginny as well as Vehka and Mirhe. He supposed he shouldn't be so sensitive to what Ginny had said. She was only teasing but he felt like she should know not to touch on certain subjects. But that sounded irrational even to him because if he couldn't define the subjects that she shouldn't broach, how was she supposed to do it?

Another matter to consider was what to tell her about being her protector. Should he even tell her at all? If he did tell her what would he say about the danger she was in if he didn't know himself? Would she even believe him?

After much debate Draco decided not to tell her unless it was absolutely necessary. With this decision made at least, he fell into a fitful slumber with mixed dreams. Some were of Ginny in danger and of Blaise laughing at him while others were more peaceful, of kissing and holding and the general normality he craved.

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The next morning Ginny woke up feeling much better than the night before. Madam Pomphrey came bustling over to take her temperature and give her a dose of pepper up, telling her that she would have to stay at least another might before she would be considered well enough for release. `Of course' thought Ginny as she swallowed the last of her medicine, `I would be lucky enough to fall into a frozen lake over the weekend and not miss any classes, because I love Monday morning potions /so/ much.'

That day Sarah and Jenny stayed with her and made sure she didn't get bored. They played exploding snap and chess (Jenny's set wasn't charmed) and ate lots of chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties to take away the taste of all the medicine Ginny had been given. Then the conversation turned to Draco.

“You know Malfoy stayed after we went last night. We couldn't do anything because Pomphrey told him he could stay.” Jenny said apologetically.

Ginny frowned, “Why would you have done anything?” she asked confused.

“I don't know, maybe because it's Malfoy and we think he's got you under some evil spell. Honestly, I don't see why you spend so much time around him, he's so horrible.” Sarah said as she took a rather large bite out of her pasty.

Ginny wanted to rush to defend Draco but knew she couldn't because Draco hadn't been all that nice around her friends. She constantly had to apologise for his distant and often downright rude behaviour and knew they didn't see any of what she saw in him. Nevertheless she felt the need to tell them that he wasn't /so/ bad especially now that she was seeing him.

“He's really not so bad,” Ginny began, “he's really nice to me and stuff and he did save me yesterday.”

Jenny and Sarah remained silent. Neither of them wanted to tell her that they thought he really /was/ that bad, but Ginny continued.

“And, well, I suppose I should tell you about last night but neither of you can tell Ron or Harry or anyone else for that matter, understood? Because, they'll blow.” When both her friends nodded their heads she told them all about Draco staying with her and how she had told him about her feelings and that they were now seeing each other.

“Let me get this strait,” said Sarah when Ginny had finished her explanation, “not only do we have to put up with him as your friend but now your boyfriend. Yuck.” At Ginny's look of dismay she quickly added, “but if Malfoy's what floats your boat I guess I can put up with him.”

Ginny brightened a bit at this and was positively beaming when Jenny said that she would be able to live with it as well. “As long as he isn't horrible to us we'll be fine” she said and soon they were back to playing exploding snap as they pushed Ginny for the details of the night before. They were still friends after all and they wanted to know all the juicy details about her new relationship.

They left later that day and Ginny was alone again. She decided that the first thing she would do when she was released the next day would be to go to Draco's room to talk to him, hopefully they would make up and she could have another delicious kiss.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. This is the end of the general fluff for a while, sorry if you like that sort of stuff. Anyways, hoped you like this chapter and please leave a review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Draco or Ginny but I do own Sarah and Jenny (my babies), so please don't sue.

## 6. Chapter 6

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in polished oak armchairs in Dumbledore's office where they had been summoned. None of them knew why they were there and all three shifted uneasily in their seats, not knowing if the news presented to them would be good or bad.

Dumbledore entered, “I'm sorry to have kept you waiting,” he said, “but I stopped to receive some information one of our informants just delivered.” He went to sit down behind his desk.

Dumbledore looked tired and worn, they knew that the war was sucking the energy out of his aging frame. Upon his entry there was no offer of a lemon drop or sherbet, neither could they detect the familiar twinkle in his blue eyes. Ever since fifth year Dumbledore had told Harry (and therefore Hermione and Ron) everything there was to know about the war and the Order of the Phoenix. It seemed that he blamed himself for the loss of Sirius and in turn the pain Harry felt at his death. In trying to protect Harry he had inadvertently taken away the closest thing he had to a parent. This meant that the golden trio were now completely aware of the situation of the war. It was a `cold war' as Hermione had labelled it, Harry had agreed but Ron hadn't understood. It didn't matter; the fact was that Voldemort, despite the arrest of many of his leading death eaters, was gathering power and many new recruits, all of them young, ambitious and impressionable and no one in the Order had more than a vague idea of his plans.

After a short silence Dumbledore spoke to them, “I've been considering whether to release a confidential piece of information to you,” he paused again “I have decided that it would be appropriate for you to know. But you must understand that you are being told in confidence and that this must not be repeated to anyone under any circumstance.”

At the nod of their heads Dumbledore went on, “Very well then, I will need you to sign this sheet of paper; this is too important a matter to leave to mere trust.”

He handed them a piece of paper and when they had all signed their names he began his explanation. “As you all know Voldemort has been gathering power in the past few years. However, some of the Order's researchers have stumbled across some very good news. We've found a way to kill him.”

“Really?!” said Harry.

“That's wonderful!” cheered Hermione as Ron let out a whoop.

But Dumbledore raised a hand. “Although there is reason to celebrate it's not as easy as it seems. The weapon is foolproof - ”

“Then what's the problem?” asked Ron, his confusion evident on his face, “if it's foolproof then we're saved aren't we?”

“Unfortunately Mr. Weasley, it's not that simple. The weapon is a dagger” he explained, “that will kill any being alive. But the weapon must be wielded by a human hand and must impale the heart of the victim.”

“Professor,” said Harry, “do you mean that this weapon will kill Voldemort, but someone has to physically get to him and stab him through the heart?”

“Yes, Harry, I do and that is where the limitations of the weapon lie. It's going to be extremely difficult to approach Voldemort, we can't use a levitation spell because someone needs to be holding the weapon when it's used and Voldemort is a formidable legilimens, meaning that it would be difficult to get one of our spies close enough to stab him.”

No one spoke, they all understood now. They had finally found a weapon that would bypass Voldemort's extensive protection spells and they couldn't use it, at least not yet. Dumbledore watched as their faces returned to their original sombre state after the initial elation wore off.

“You are referring to the Knife of Power, right Professor?” Hermione asked, displaying her impressive bank of knowledge.

“Yes, I am” he answered.

“But I thought that that was considered a legend.” Hermione said confused.

“We all thought it was but it's been found. I can't tell you where it's being kept but we now know that it's real.”

“How did you find it?” asked Harry.

“Quite by accident. It was sitting in a muggle museum posing as an ancient artefact. Someone tried to steal it and used it to stab a security guard and some . . . unusual things happened. It was then handed to the Order - ”

There was a knock at the door and Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall to step inside his office.

“Albus, I must speak to you, immediately” she said, slightly breathless. Dumbledore asked them to leave, telling them that they would know as soon as anything new cropped up. They left, leaving their two teachers to talk.

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Lord Voldemort and his death eaters were gathered in another rundown building. They were still on the run from the Ministry and the Order but the sense of their growing power was palpable and they fed off of it.

“What news do we have?” their Lord asked, “Hengeman, speak.”

A figure stepped forward, “My Lord, Hogwarts is more vulnerable by the day; we have a great number of spies in place as students and of course some teachers. The ministry itself is weakening and the Order of the Phoenix has failed to gather many new recruits, it seems they will only acquire some students that are graduating this year such as the Potter boy.”

“I already knew all of the information you gave me Hengeman, do you have nothing new to tell me?” Voldemort asked calmly.

“No sir, but - ”

“Crucio.” Voldemort waved his wand and Hengeman collapsed onto the floor, screaming and writhing in pain. A smile appeared on Voldemort's thin lips before he released Hengeman from his punishment and addressed the rest of his subjects. “Does anyone else have anything to say?”

“My lord,” said another of the figures in the circle.

“Ah, Miss Zabini, step forward.”

Blaise did so. “As you asked, my Lord, I have been observing Draco Malfoy and have come to give my report.”

“Very good, at least one of my subjects has been performing her duties,” he said, the strange smile once again gracing his ugly face. “Have you discovered where he is spending most of his time?”

“Yes sir, he's been spending an inordinate amount of time with Virginia Weasley, Arthur Weasley's youngest child and a sixth year Gryffindor. I have reason to believe that he has become romantically involved with her.”

Voldemort considered this for a moment. “I had my doubts that he would become one of us after his father was imprisoned. I didn't, however, think that he would go so far as to join our enemy.”

“He hasn't, my Lord. It seems that the only thing that ties him to Potter and Dumbledore is the Weasley girl. I think we can win him over to our side.”

“He would be valuable to us. I could add him to the few who have intelligence here. And if he is as attached to the Weasley as you imply it should be relatively easy to win him over. A few well placed threats and he could be ours. Do you agree, Hughes?”

“Of course, my Lord,” said the large bulk to Voldemort's left.

“You have done well, Miss Zabini and now you may leave. If there are any further tasks for you to complete I will summon you.”

Blaise nodded and dissapparated to Hogsmeade.

“Hughes,” said Voldemort, “since you were liked the idea so much you can take charge of this new project. I need you to let young Mister Malfoy know that he should join our side. I want you to inform him that Miss Weasley's safety may be affected if he does not comply. Feel free to carry out any threats you make.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Voldemort turned to the rest of the death eaters and signalled for them to leave and they all dissapparated, leaving Voldemort with only Wormtail to discuss his new plans with.

.

A/N: Sorry id Dumbledore is a bit out of character, I had a bit of trouble writing him. I hope you liked the chapter, please leave a review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with him. I own the plot though, hopefully.

## 7. Chpater 7

“He will tell her” Mirhe said.

“He won't, /you're/ going to have to tell her. It's not enough to give her a protector; she must be able to protect herself.” Vehka argued.

They had been bickering for hours; Mirhe thought that they had done enough and should leave Draco and Ginny to their own devices. Vehka, having decidedly less faith in the human race, wanted to intervene.

Mirhe thought for a moment before saying, “Maybe we should consult Driah, she can see the possible repercussions of our actions.”

“No, we are not going to Driah, the last time we did she told you that if you created Valentine's Day it would improve relationships and look what happened.” Vehka said.

“That only happened because you tore it to shreds with greed.”

Vehka smiled at the recollection. “Still,” she said, “Driah didn't see it coming, Goddess of Foresight my - ”

“Don't be crude” Mirhe interrupted, “Fine, how about we wait for a few days before we decide? If he doesn't tell her by then, we'll inform her ourselves.”

“All right, but I get to tell her.”

Mirhe's eyes widened, “No!”

“Yes. Don't worry, I won't do anything drastic, she won't be permanently damaged, I promise.”

Mirhe considered for a moment, “Fine,” she said, “but I decide when to tell her.” Vehka nodded in response and they went to deal with their separate business of toying with the human race.

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Ginny had just come from Potions and arrived at Draco's room, wanting to talk to him about that night in the hospital wing. She whispered the password, which was `south, drop, witch hunt', and stepped inside.

Draco was sprawled on his bed and fast asleep in sweatpants and no shirt. She took a second to admire his well toned back before walking to the other side of the bed. Then, with a smirk, she took off her shoes and climbed in so that her face was right in front of his, she touched his nose and then traced his eyebrows with her fingers. His eyes shot open and he grabbed her hand. When he saw that it was her he relaxed. “Why aren't you in class?” he asked groggily.

“I have a free period after potions, remember? At the same time as you, which would be right now, except you /obviously/ didn't go to your first class which was . . . what exactly?”

“Transfiguration” Draco said as he sat up and pulled her onto his lap so that she was facing him. “But McGonagall said she wasn't going to be there and I really couldn't be bothered to go and just sit there and study when I could be sleeping.”

“Oh,” said Ginny, not managing a very good response, she was a bit preoccupied with the fact that she was sitting on some very well toned thighs and in just the right position for a kiss.

And that's probably what Draco was thinking; he leaned forward to press his lips to hers. It was more hungry and demanding than the kiss they had had in the hospital wing and Ginny decided she liked it better this way.

It seemed easy for both of them to move from being friends to being in a relationship, probably because they had already made that step beforehand and now they were only making it official.

This time it was Draco who broke the kiss. “I'm sorry for being angry that night. I was just being stupid” he said, apologizing because he felt bad for leaving her in the hospital wing alone.

“Its okay” said Ginny, looking down from his face. Her eyes settled on a pendant hanging around his neck. “What's this?” she asked as she picked it up and held it to the light, “I don't remember seeing you wear this before.” It was a green jade dragon and hung on a piece of string. Ginny couldn't imagine Draco wearing anything as common as that.

Draco almost swore. She had picked up the pendant given to him by Mirhe and Vehka that would tell him (he didn't know how yet, stupid thing) when she was in danger. How was he going to explain wearing a piece of jewellery that he couldn't take off, without telling her the truth about everything?

Draco scrambled for a lie, his usually cool exterior faltering, “It's . . . well, my mum gave it to me and, well, it was my birthday present and I wanted to wear it because - ”

“It's okay, forget I asked” said Ginny as she leaned forward to give another kiss. He obviously wasn't telling the truth and she decided that if he wanted to keep the reasons he was wearing the pendant to himself then she would let him. There was no reason to get into another disagreement so soon over something as stupid as this.

Draco was relieved; he didn't think that Ginny would swallow the lie. He just wanted to not talk about anything for a while and just concentrate on the girl on his lap.

Mirhe and Vehka on the other hand had watched and listened to his lie and Mirhe had to admit that Vehka was right, that they would have to tell Ginny about everything. Humans were so incapable.

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After a highly satisfying hour and a half with Draco, Ginny was sitting in History of Magic trying not to fall asleep as Professor Binns droned on about . . . something. It wasn't working, she thought, as she nodded off.

In her dream:

Ginny was still sitting in a History of Magic lesson but she was in her first year and was writing to Tom in her diary. Then she got up out of her chair and walked to the back of the class towards the door. Professor Binns didn't notice; he just kept on teaching.

She reached the door and opened it, but instead of the narrow hallway that was outside the History of Magic room, she walked into a strange scene. Night melded into day and death merged with life. Everywhere there were scenes of total opposites coming together.

She turned to face two women, both spitting images of Hermione, sitting in the middle of a grassy field. One came towards her.

“Hello, I'm Mirhe,” she said, “and this is Vehka, my sister.” Vehka nodded their way in acknowledgement before rising to join them. Mirhe then touched her arm and Ginny looked up into her face. “Virginia, I don't want to you to be scared. Vehka is going to put her hand to your face and then she'll connect with your mind. Things will look different but don't worry; nothing you will see can hurt you.”

Ginny, who was dazed by what had happened so far, simply nodded. At this Vehka put her hand to her cheek and drew Ginny into a world where Vehka could see and hear her. Ginny felt like she had walked through a ghost. Her body felt ice cold but everything around her was dark, she couldn't tell her hands from the floor she lay on.

“You must be cold,” said Vehka, “let me warm you up.” Suddenly fire sprung up all around her. She shielded her face, when she lowered her arm Vehka was standing before her, smirking. “Don't worry; I have orders from Mirhe not to harm you. But it's been so long since I've really talked to a mortal that I had to have some fun, don't you agree?”

Ginny just stayed silent.

“Well, I suppose you wouldn't. Anyways, I'm here to tell you something darling.” Vehka said, but then was distracted by the fear on her face. “You don't need to look so scared dear, I told you I'm not going to hurt you.”

Ginny didn't answer her, instead she looked up and muttered to herself, “This is just a dream, this is just a dream” breathing deep and putting her fingers to her temples.

“Oh, for goodness sakes, stop muttering that this is just a dream or I really will hurt you. This is /not/ a dream, I am Vehka, the Goddess of Destruction and you will SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME!”

Ginny suddenly found herself strapped to a chair, gagged. She looked up at Vehka who was leaning over her, holding either arm of the chair.

She began to speak, “I am going to overlook that little annoyance because you can't die just yet. As I said before, you are here so I can tell you something.” She paused to release the chair, taking a step back but still holding Ginny's terrified gaze. “You are in a grave amount of danger right now from Voldemort and you need to take steps to protect yourself. We have appointed Draco as your protector but you also need to be careful, this means that you can't sneak out with your friends at night for silly things like to get food and when you visit the town, Hogsmeade, outside of your little school you must stay with friends or not go at all, is that understood?”

Ginny looked up at her and at this point Vehka realised she was still gagged. “Oh, right” she said as she waved her hand and the gag vanished.

“Um, yes.”

“You think I can't read your mind you stupid little girl? I know you think I'm a figment of your imagination. Well then, could a figment of your imagination do this?” she asked and suddenly Ginny's whole body was clenched in pain, it intensified and then dissipated. Ginny looked up in shock and fear.

“You shouldn't upset me; I have a lot of power over the quality of your life you see.” Vehka let a wide smile show through. “Any questions?”

Ginny didn't want to say anything in case she offended her and so stayed silent.

“You know I can read your mind right?” Vehka said, Ginny still didn't speak, “Fine then, I will answer your questions without you having had asked them. We assigned Draco as your protector because he is absolutely infatuated with you, and I mean he is /infatuated/, he dreams about you all the time. Some of them are quite amusing. Anyways, so we summoned him here to tell him that he was your appointed guardian, if you will and we thought that he would, in turn, tell you. But in the end he didn't so you had to meet me. Yes, he did lie to you and no, we can't tell you what sort of danger you're in because of cosmic rules, yada yada yada. Oh yes, and that pendant you saw this morning on him was given to him by us, he can't take it off and it tells him when you're in danger. He doesn't know how it will tell him yet.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I think that's all you need to know, we can go back now.”

Ginny then found herself standing once again in the grassy field where Mirhe directed her to a door and she practically ran through it to get away from the sisters. She stepped through it and found herself, once again, listening to professor Binns drone on about . . . well, she still hadn't figured it out yet. It didn't matter, she had a lot to think without history and NEWTs were next year.

“Did you have fun scaring the girl?” Mirhe asked Vehka when Ginny had left.

“Her silence was annoying but I could taste her fear, it was lovely” Vehka answered, savouring the memory.

“Yes, well, I hope we've done enough to warn them.”

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Hughes was cloaked and hunched as he stepped into the Hog's Head and asked for a room. He wasn't a tall man, just average at five foot ten and quite unremarkable, apart from the fact that he was Voldemort's most trusted follower. He considered himself intelligent and cunning and his opinion on his current assignment was that Draco Malfoy, a mere schoolboy, would be no match against him.

He took the key handed to him and headed up to room 2A, asking for an owl to carry a massage for him. The room was dark and some of the wallpaper was mouldy, but the bed was clean and everything was in working order so he took his luggage out of his pocket and enlarged it. He unpacked, taking out some clothes to sleep in and some soap to wash with. Then he took out a small, shiny, black glass sphere and touched it with his wand.

Light shone out of the sphere and formed a holograph like image. It was a planner showing the months of the year, several days were marked so that they stood out in different colours. Hogsmeade weekends, where students were allowed to visit the wizarding town, were marked in bright red.

One had passed just the day before, depriving him of the chance to meet the young Malfoy. He wouldn't have another opportunity for two weeks. It didn't matter; it would just allow him to plan the meeting and draw him in by telling a few well placed lies. Maybe he wouldn't even have to make any threats. He would try and use other means to draw him in as a /willing/ subject of his Lord Voldemort.

So he wrote Mr. Malfoy a letter

Dear Mister Malfoy,

I write to enquire whether we can meet in Hogsmeade on Saturday, January the 19 th, a Hogwarts Hogsmeade weekend. I was an associate of your father's and would like to meet with you in order to discuss your plans for the future. I have met with your father in his incarceration and he wishes to discuss your career plans through a mediator. I have volunteered.

I hope that you will consider my reque st, I await your owl.

Sincerely,

Victor Hughes

He then sent the letter off.

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A/N: Hope you liked this chapter, please leave a review. The chapters are getting harder to write now so I probably won't update every day like before. I'm going to try and take a little more care with them.

Disclaimer: I don't own Draco or Ginny but I do own Vehka and Mirhe and now I own Hughes, yay!

## 8. Chapter 8

She was like a drug to him; he couldn't get enough. He had looked everywhere for her, finally he found her in the study room at the end of the hall that no one ever used.

He felt desire for her even now. Was he insane? All he could see was the back of her head, but her auburn hair was tied back and that smudge on her left ear was just waiting for his attention.

He walked up to her but she didn't raise her head. “I have to work Draco, I have this paper due for potions and I'm only on my second roll of parchment.”

“I'll help you on it, you know that it's my best subject. And I know it's due next Thursday. What are you playing at Ginny? I've looked everywhere for you and I find you here, where not even Granger ventures to finish her studying. You've been avoiding me and I think we need to make up for lost time.” He took her hand and pulled her up so that she was standing then dipped his head to the crook of her neck.

Ginny sighed as he started nibbling her neck and tilted her head to allow him better access. He moved down to her collar bone, then started to unbutton her blouse. Ginny had her eyes closed but when he reached the second button she gently pushed his hand away.

“Draco, we have to stop, I have some thinking to do and I can't think when I'm around you.” Draco rose to meet her gaze.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what I said; I just need some time to think.”

“About what?” he asked incredulously. Ginny didn't answer. “I don't think you need to think, I think we need to talk.” He turned towards the door. “Let's go to my room, we can talk there.”

“I don't want to Draco.”

He stopped and turned to face her again, “All right, you are going to tell me what this is about right now. You left my room yesterday perfectly happy and now you don't want to see me, what is going on?”

“You're going to think I'm insane.”

“No I won't, I promise.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Tell me about it,” he urged, still she didn't say anything. “Go on” he said and finally she opened her mouth to speak.

“Well . . . I was dreaming. Everything was normal at first but then I stepped through a door and . . . I saw these two women . . . Oh this is so stupid. Why am I telling you this?” she turned her head away from him but he could see her blushing.

“. . . and one was called Mirhe and the other was Vehka,” he finished for her. Draco was stunned that she had had a dream like his, but he was relieved. Her head shot up and she turned so that her shocked eyes met his.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“I had a dream just like it.”

“Oh thank Merlin, I thought I'd lost my mind,” putting her arms around him, Draco held her gently.

“No, everything they said was true.”

“Everything? So I'm in danger and you . . . you are my guardian?”

“Yes.” There was a pause.

“I'm scared.”

Draco didn't say anything in response. They sat like that, on the floor of the study room, holding each other for a long time, Draco feeling her fear and gently rocking her.

It will be okay. I'll protect you, I promise.

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`Dear Mister Malfoy . . . have met with your father in his incarceration . . . meet in Hogsmeade . . . January the 19 th . . . plans for the future.'

Draco had read the letter over and over again after discovering it in his room upon his return and its words continued to swim in his head. Who was Victor Hughes? He had never heard of him but he knew that his father had had more associates than just the Parkinsons, Crabbes, Goyles, Zabinis and other powerful families that he knew about. Most of his associates were in Azkaban anyways; maybe his father was resorting to this man because he had no other choice.

Although he knew he should just throw the letter away he couldn't get rid of the seed of hope that the letter planted in his mind. He hadn't seen his father for almost two years. Relatives weren't allowed to visit Azkaban, it was ancient wizarding law. Only higher ranking officials in the ministry were allowed to see the faces of the condemned. Maybe Hughes worked in the ministry. Maybe through Hughes he could reach his father. This thought clawed at his heart, it was something he wanted for the longest time. Just because his ideals had changed since then, especially concerning Ginny, didn't mean that he didn't want to see his father.

No, this was stupid. These were dangerous times, the letter could be some sort of trick conjured up by death eaters. He tried to maintain this train of thought but his heart wouldn't let him tear the letter in two.

It wouldn't be dangerous to just meet with him in a public place, would it? Somewhere like the three broomsticks on the Hogsmeade weekend. If it really was his father trying to reach him then how could he refuse? He would simply meet with Hughes to verify if his offer was genuine.

With his decision now justified by reasoning, Draco sat down to write his reply.

Dear Mister Hughes,

I have received your letter

Draco stopped writing and scrunched the paper, throwing it in the fire.

Dear Mister Hughes,

Thank you for your offer to meet in Hogsmeade on Saturday the 19 th of January. I would like to hear my father's opinions on my future.

Draco tossed that draft in the fire as well.

Dear Mister Hughes,

Thank you for your offer to meet in Hogsmeade on Saturday the 19 th of January. I am eager to hear from my father and would like to discuss my future as well as many other subjects with him through you if it is possible.

It would be of greatest convenience to me for us to meet at the Three Broomsticks at 2:00 pm on that day. Please contact me again through owl if you have any problems with this arrangement.

Sincerely,

Draco Malfoy

Draco sent the letter off, hoping he had made the right choice.

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A/N: Short chapter this time, I know Ginny sounds like she some sort of weakling here, like she can't take care of herself but that will change. Michou: Draco doesn't need a protector, you'll see why soon. Thank you anyone who reviewed, I really appreciate them.

Disclaimer: Don't sue, I'm not making any money off of this, I don't own the Harry Potter characters unfortunately.

## 9. Chapter 9

Hughes read the letter from the young Malfoy and smiled. It was perfect. He wrote a quick note in confirmation of the offer and sent it off.

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Draco had just finished his last class of the day, Potions and wanted to get back to his room to study, then maybe look for Ginny. As he passed the entrance to the Slytherin common room the stone door concealed in the wall slid open and Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode stepped out into the corridor. Pansy and Millicent started tittering when they saw him and so he tried to walk away faster, but Blaise called out his name. “Draco dear, how are you?”

Reluctantly he turned, “Tired Zabini, I want to go to my room.”

Blaise stepped closer to Draco; she was standing so close that she could feel the heat coming off of his body. “Oh, but I'm sure you'd rather spend an hour or so of alone time with me. We don't even have to go back to that silly little room of yours. I know much better places that we could go to . . .”

He took a step back. “Yeah right, Zabini” he said as he started to walk away.

“Oh please, you don't really want to spend your time with the Weasley, do you?”

Draco didn't even stop to look at her but said over his shoulder, “I'd much rather spend my time with her, at least she has some integrity.”

Blaise seethed, he had only gone a few steps when she called after him, “You'll regret that Draco, you have no idea how much. You'll pay for choosing that worthless . . . whore over me”

Draco paused mid stride, his anger at the insult at Ginny getting the better of him. He took out his wand, magic wasn't allowed in the corridors but in this case he was angry enough to make an exception, no one was going to tell on him anyways. He turned and before she knew what he was doing he had whispered “constrictus.”

Blaise clutched at her neck; Draco had blocked her air passages and she was suffocating. As Draco turned to walk away he smiled. The spell was nothing really, it would wear off after 30 seconds but it would teach her a lesson, something she dearly needed.

He had just reached his room when he heard Blaise gasping fresh air, he rolled his eyes as he entered and was pleased to find someone very welcome waiting for him. She was sitting on his desk working on some paper or other and looked up and smiled when he entered. That smile lifted his spirits and he came over to kiss her.

The kiss started out as a tender peck but escalated, they couldn't seem to get close enough together, hungry for each others taste. Soon he was picking her up and carrying her over to his bed.

Ginny felt like she was on fire, it had never felt like this when Dean or Michael had kissed her, like he was her world and she was his. The way he kissed her made her feel like she was his everything. The desperation in her kiss increased, answering his and he laid her down on the soft down cover on his bed. He worked the buttons of her blouse open and his hands were everywhere.

It was only when she felt his erection against her thigh and he pulled down the zip to the side of her pleated skirt that she started to panic. Although she was aroused beyond reason her mind was screaming `Stop! Wait!' so she pushed him away and tried to sit up.

Draco felt her hands push his away and although it pained him to do it, he backed off.

“What?” he asked, trying not to sound too impatient to get back to what they had started. Ginny backed away a little bit.

“I'm sorry, I guess I'm not ready to go that far yet” she said softly.

“Go that far?” he said confused.

“Oh come on Draco, you were taking my skirt off, it doesn't take a genius to reach the logical conclusion.”

It dawned on Draco that she was scared. He assumed that she'd done this before with her other boyfriends but obviously he was wrong. He didn't know what to say, there was an overwhelming urge to demand that she give to him what she had blatantly seemed to have been offering, as he would have done with any other girl. But he had more respect for her than that, whatever happened he knew that Ginny was different. Did he really want her to be like Blaise?

When he saw Ginny's uncertainty but determination to go through with her decision he decided he could wait a little longer.

“I'm sorry. I didn't realise . . .” he started.

“No I'm sorry.”

“No, you don't have to be” Draco came closer and gathered Ginny up in his arms, he would go no further today.

Ginny stiffened at first but then relaxed into his arms. “Soon, I promise, just not yet.” She said.

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The days crawled by and they settled into a routine. They would spend lots of time together but not in his room, in fact Ron had seen them around and had made it clear that he didn't like what she was doing. She had in turn told him that she didn't care and they hadn't been talking for a while, Ginny considered it a mixed blessing.

She and Draco had made arrangements for the Hogsmeade weekend, he had some sort of meeting but they would spend the majority of their time together. He had been adamant that when she wasn't with him she would stay with her friends and she had agreed; ever since she had had that meeting with Vehka and Mirhe she was prepared to take precautions.

The Saturday of the Hogsmeade weekend had arrived and the school was seated in the great hall having breakfast when the owl post came.

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Draco saw the owls come in to deliver the post and a beautiful eagle owl landed in front of him. It was a letter from his mother that he had been expecting. He had asked her for advice concerning his meeting with Hughes and she had replied, he untied the letter and slowly opened it.

It read:

Dear Draco

I understand that you dearly w ant to reach your father as I do. B ut please exerci se caution when meeting with this man, although he could have been an associate of your father I have never heard of him. I would advise you not to meet him at all but I know that if I did you would go anyways.

I'm glad that you had the sense to choose the Three Broomsticks but remember, don't leave with him and try to always stay in places where there are people around you. These are dangerous times and I want you to be safe.

Remember that I'm proud of you no matter what happens and whatever this man says, your fa ther was proud of you too. I've never told you this but he felt trapped in the situation that he created for himself and he never wanted you to follow in the his footsteps, I kno w you understand what I mean. Please take what I'm writing into consideration

Much love,

Mother

Draco folded the note slowly. He knew what she meant; she wanted him to know that neither she nor his father wanted him to join the death eaters. It was comforting to have his mother's advice at hand and she was right, if she had said no he still would have gone.

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The silence was stifling.

Draco was sitting in a carriage to Hogsmeade with Ginny and her two friends, he thought their names were Jenny and Sarah but he wasn't sure so he thought it best to keep his mouth shut. He had wanted to take a carriage with just Ginny but she had insisted that she wasn't going to `abandon' her friends for the day. The result was a very extended awkward silence.

“So . . .” said Sarah as Draco sent Ginny `I-told-you-this-would-be-a-disaster' glares, “where are we planning to go?”

Draco bit down an acid comment and no one else answered so they lapsed into another silence. When they finally reached Hogsmeade Jenny and Sarah were quick to make polite excuses to leave the couple on their own. Draco and Ginny then started walking around together.

Ginny started laughing, Draco was confused but let her laughter slide with only a puzzled glance.

“That was so funny - ” she said, cracking up again, “I really didn't think would go so badly.”

“I don't see what's so funny about it,” Draco said as they walked into Honeydukes, “I just think that we shouldn't do that again anytime soon.”

“I know, I promise it won't. And you didn't bite my friend's heads off, which was very sweet.” She turned, smiling, to give him a peck on the cheek.

Draco sighed and they walked around the shelves of Honeydukes, looking at the cockroach clusters and blood popsicles but eventually just settling on the tried and true formula of chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's every flavour beans.

After spending a few hours together Ginny left to meet her friends at Zonko's and Draco went off to the Three Broomsticks to have his meeting. All he told Ginny was that he was going to meet someone involved in family matters and she was reluctant to push him for more information on something he was obviously very apprehensive about.

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Hughes waited in the Three Broomsticks taking a booth at the back of the crowded establishment. Draco Malfoy was three minutes late, you'd think the boy would be more punctual with his upbringing. Four minutes late when Draco stopped loitering outside and stepped into the Three Broomsticks. He quickly spotted Hughes who waved him over.

“Mister Hughes” Draco said by way of greeting, giving a slight bow before sitting down.

“Mister Malfoy” replied Hughes giving a nod of his head. “You know why I've come; your father wants to know what you are going to do with your life. This is how I will relay your answers to him; I will write what you say here, you will sign it and then it will be given to your father to read.”

“Alright” said Draco.

“Alright, let's start. What careers are you thinking of going into after you graduate from Hogwarts?”

“I've been thinking of going into commerce, perhaps working for Gringotts if my NEWT results are adequate. I'm also thinking of working for the Ministry.”

“Okay” said Hughes as he continued to write. “Why do you want to go into these professions?”

“Well, I've always been good with money and I think its something I would enjoy, I've been thinking of working in the Ministry because I know how the system works and I am ambitious, I want to so well and I think that through the ministry I can do so.”

“Yes” he replied as he wrote that down. “There's another thing your father wanted to discuss, you do know that he wanted you to join several organisations.” He raised his head to give Draco a meaningful look.

“What do you mean?” said Draco, careful not to show the despair that crept into his being at those words. He hoped that Hughes's `organisation' didn't mean the Voldemort's circle. Please don't make this a trick, please just be for real, please let me just talk to my father.

“Organisations concerning your father's . . . beliefs. I know you understand what I mean.”

Draco understood and he fought the urge to scream to run, even to cry. He just sat still and looked at Hughes. “I understand,” he said carefully, his tone ice cold, “I think I'd better leave.”

“What do you mean? I thought you wanted to speak to your father.”

“I did. But I also know that he didn't want me to join any organisations connected to his `beliefs' as you say.” Draco rose but Hughes grabbed his hand and made him sit down again with a rough pull.

“Do not walk away from me. So you've found out I'm not really carrying a message from your father. It doesn't matter, what does matter is that our Lord has made you an offer and you had better not refuse it.” Hughes told him.

Draco rose again and said to him, “Don't threaten me, and tell your Lord that I refuse his offer and that I always will refuse.”

While Hughes remained in the seat fuming Draco stalked out of the Three Broomsticks.

He ran into Ginny and her friends walking in to get a butterbeer. Seeing them he grabbed Ginny, pulled her away from her friends and dragged her away from the Three Broomsticks. It didn't matter which direction they went in as long as it was away from Hughes and all the lies he weaved.

“Draco, what is going on?” said Ginny. Draco didn't answer but kept on pulling her along until he reached the Shrieking Shack. Here he stopped, out of breath from climbing the hill and sat down on a tree stump putting his head in his hands.

“Draco?” Ginny asked timidly, stepping towards him.

Draco didn't answer, he just drew her down and held her. It was as if everything had fallen apart. All his hopes to speak to his father had faded. He held her as if his life depended on it because he felt that if he let go he might break apart.

Ginny didn't know why he was holding her with such desperation but she did know that he needed her and so she let him hold her and tried to whisper comforting nothings in his ear. She would wait to find out what had happened.

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A/N: Another chapter out and I'm actually quite proud of it. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters found in the 5 books and I'm not making money off of this so don't sue.

## 10. Chapter 10

Voldemort and a circle of supporters were waiting for Hughes to arrive with the Malfoy.

They waited for minutes, almost an hour and were growing increasingly agitated when Hughes apparated into the clearing - alone.

“Where is he, Hughes?” Voldemort asked, his supporters looking on.

Hughes hesitated, “He is unwilling sire” he said finally.

There was a long and loaded pause.

“So,” said Voldemort deliberately, “you said that he would be here, willing to serve me and yet you did not deliver. Tell me, why is this?”

“I underestimated his knowledge of his father's wishes, apparently Lucius never wanted his son to join us” he said, eager to push the blame of his failure onto his Lord's former right hand.

Voldemort's face flared with anger at Hughes' pathetic attempt to push his focus elsewhere. “I am unconcerned with Lucius's motives right now, what I am concerned with is why nothing ever seems to go smoothly when I place you in charge.”

“Please, my Lord - ”

Voldemort cut him off, “No. I want the young Malfoy, Hughes. You will have one more opportunity to draw him in, use any means necessary and do not fail.”

Hughes' eyes widened at the mention of another chance. “Ye-yes, my Lord” he said quickly and bowed.

“Leave” said Voldemort dismissively and Hughes did as quickly as he could.

Voldemort sat brooding with his followers looking on confused. He hadn't thought he really cared about the young Malfoy but his continued existence outside his circle irked him and he wanted him, simply on principle. The mention of the Weasley girl intrigued him, he remembered her vaguely as memories leaked from his diary. Like blurry images he saw the innocent eleven year old pouring her heart out to him, crying and allowing him control of her little body if only for a few hours.

He would have both Malfoy and the girl in time.

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Hughes apparated back to his apartment in Diagon Alley where he lived alone. Before his initiation he never thought that meeting with his master would be so taxing. He just wanted to collapse onto his bed and not move and not think; he was emotionally and physically spent.

Everything was going wrong, he had started out a bright young Slytherin with all these delusional dreams about how he would help to bring in a great new age, now he realised he was working for a madman. Why would he want to drag some seventeen year old boy into this mess? The problem was that if he didn't, he would probably lose his life.

Wit this conviction in mind he decided that taking the passive route just wouldn't do anymore. His life was in the balance and he needed to take action. He would just have to get to the Malfoy in the worst way possible, by taking what he valued most and holding it above his head.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters.

## 11. Chapter 11

A/N: I uploaded chapter 10 as well as this one today so that one's new as well. If you haven't read it yet, chapter 11 won't really make sense.

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Hughes had had weeks since he had met Draco in Hogsmeade to prepare how he was going to trap the boy into becoming a death eater.

His plans would not fail this time, they couldn't.

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Ginny was sitting in Draco's arms in his room again. Although March had arrived it was still cold and they both preferred the warmth of the fire crackling away. Neither had spoken after their last kiss and they had been sitting like that for a while.

“Another Hogsmeade weekend is coming,” Ginny said, “do you want to go out or do you want to stay in and take advantage of a half empty school?”

“I definitely want to stay in” said Draco.

Ginny smiled, “That's good; I thought I was going to have to convince you.” She snuggled closer into his chest. She didn't know what it was but Draco seemed to tense up when she mentioned Hogsmeade.

They sat in silence for another few seconds before Ginny asked, “Draco, is everything okay?”

“Of course everything is okay,” he said, “why?”

“I don't know, every time I talk to you about . . . stuff, you get really tense.”

Draco laughed a short, deep laugh, “You're being a bit vague, dear.”

Ginny considered her words, “I don't know, it could be anything but its just that when I talk about Hogsmeade or butterbeer or meetings you seem to get really uptight. See, there you go again, the moment I mentioned Hogsmeade your eyes narrowed and I could feel how edgy you became.”

“Hmm . . . it doesn't really matter, does it? I told you that the meeting at the Three Broomsticks didn't go well, can't we just leave it at that?”

“I guess, I just want to know if something's really bothering you or - don't do that, it's very distracting” she said as he nibbled at her ear lobe and his fingers brushed against the sides of her breasts.

“Sorry, sometimes I can't help myself” he said, but continued with his ministrations.

“Who did you - ooh - you meet there?”

Draco stopped and sighed, resigned to the fact that Ginny wouldn't let this go until he finally came out with an answer.

“Could you possibly keep doing that to my neck while you're talking?” Ginny asked.

Draco was not in the mood to joke around, “Do you mind, if you're going to demand to hear this, the least you could do is listen.”

“Sorry” Ginny said and she turned around to face him. Draco, in an uncharacteristic display of uncertainty, shifted his gaze before beginning to talk

He started to explain everything about Hughes and how he had thought that it was his father but it wasn't, that was why he had dragged her as far away from the Three Broomsticks and up to the shrieking shack.

As Ginny listened her yes grew wide with comprehension of what he had been through that day. Draco was telling his story in a detached manner but she could tell that this new failure to reach his father after false hope was still affecting him. She didn't say anything but just listened.

Draco couldn't stop himself from telling everything to Ginny. He felt that if he didn't then the feelings that he suppressed would weigh down and suffocate him, stealing what life he had left. When he finished he waited for her to say something, anything but she just stayed silent.

Then she leant forward and pulled him into her embrace, cradling his head on her shoulder and gently rocking him. “I'm sorry,” she said, “I'm so, so sorry that you had to go through that.”

Draco let her fold him into her arms; it felt as if everything would alright if she held him like this. He raised his head to give her a soft kiss, by way of thanks. They kissed gently for a while, just enjoying holding each other with nothing to distract them but the fire. They broke away and Draco placed his forehead on hers.

He felt free, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He also felt like his emotional connection to Ginny had reached a new high, if it was possible. It was new and exhilarating, on instinct he leant forward and pushed her onto the carpeted floor crushing her with the bruising force of his kiss.

Ginny groaned but did nothing to stop him. Soon he was all over her, kissing and caressing. They had gone down this path numerous times but this time it felt . . . right, like the last piece had fallen into place. So she let her instincts direct her actions just like they were directing her thoughts.

She responded to his kiss and placed her arms around his neck before leading her hands down his back. She started to unbutton his shirt while grinding her hips into his. They were kissing aggressively and everything she did pushed Draco further, when his shirt was completely off her fingers drifted towards the waistband of his pants.

At this point Draco pulled back, breathing deep. “Gin . . . it's not that I don't want to but if we go any farther I won't be able to stop.”

Ginny considered her options, what did she want to do? Well, she knew what she wanted to do, but was it the right thing? It felt right, it felt perfect. Draco cared, he really did and maybe that was what mattered most; doing what you felt was right with someone you knew cared deeply for you. He had never said the words `I love you' but she didn't really expect him to.

“This time I don't want you to stop” she said softly.

Draco raised his head, his grey eyes boring into hers. At length he asked her if she was sure and she said she was. He asked again and she simply nodded.

But then a thought that tore into his heart entered his mind. He had to know and so he asked her one last question.

“Gin, you're not doing this out of pity, are you?”

“Not out of pity” she said as she cupped his cheek with her hand, “I want to do this. This is about us.”

Draco nodded and they began again.

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Ginny lay in his arms afterwards spooned against his chest. He held her, taking note of the way her hair fell in soft waves on the pillow and the way her eyes fluttered periodically. Was this love? If it was then it was wonderful, he had never felt so . . . he couldn't describe it. Maybe this was what they meant when everything felt complete.

`I think I love you Virginia Weasley' was the last coherent thought he had before he fell to sleep.

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A few hours after falling to sleep Ginny woke up again. She could have lain her head back down but she decided not to. Instead she slowly withdrew herself from the bed, despite Draco's gentle protests, and got dressed.

He looked so peaceful in his sleep and she didn't want to wake him to tell him she was leaving so she let herself out the door. She'd never stayed out past curfew and she decided that tonight wasn't the night to get caught.

She followed the path to the Gryffindor common room mindlessly; she had been this way so many times.

Up this staircase, to the left, down these stairs, up those.

Hang on, where was she?

She must have taken a wrong turn or one of the staircases must have shifted. This was one part of the castle she had never been in. She searched for her wand.

Shit, she had left it in Draco's room. How stupid could she be?

She tried to retrace her steps and get back but she couldn't figure out which way she had come. She was panicking now, she didn't want to call out for someone in case she got in trouble with Filch.

Okay, calm down and think, she told herself. So she stood still and closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before opening them again and looking around. Of course, how could she have missed it, she had come from that direction just past the suit of armour.

As she stepped down the stairs and into familiarity she breathed a sigh of relief. She could get to the Gryffindor common room by going to the left instead. Half running down the corridor, she turned the corner.

Only to crash into someone very solid, who then gripped her arms and held her upright.

“Well, well. This is going to be much easier than I thought . . . silencio” he said as he pulled out his wand and held it to her throat.

When Ginny realised that this wasn't just some student who was out to get a snack she started to struggle against his grip but it only grew tighter. She started to kick him but he just pointed his wand at her again and stupefied her.

She lay limp in his arms and he carried her back to the staircase that he came from and down to the room where the entrance to the passage into Hogsmeade through Honeydukes waited for him.

When he reached Hogsmeade he apparated with her in his arms to a death eater stronghold in Wales.

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Draco woke up at about four in the morning feeling like he couldn't breath, something was wrong. In his minds eye images flashed, coming into focus and then fading. He saw Ginny struggling with someone . . . it was Hughes. Anger flared up in him, he saw Hughes stupefy her and then carry her off somewhere.

Then his mind cleared and he was sitting in his room again . . . with something really hot burning into his chest. It was the pendant.

He realised Ginny really was in trouble, that was when he looked down to see her wand lying on the floor next to the chair.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review, unless you're going to spam me five times with random letters. I uploaded two chapters this time because I felt that one wouldn't go without the other, I hope I didn't confuse anyone.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Draco or Ginny but I do own Hughes and the story line.

## 12. Chapter 12

Ginny woke up dazed and confused, instead of the warm, red and gold duvet she had expected to be wrapped in when she woke up, she was in an dirty room, lying on a dingy little mattress on the floor.

There were no windows and the greyish white walls made her feel slightly claustrophobic, there was a single wooden door in the centre of the wall farthest from her bed. She got up, testing her slightly sore body before walking across the room and tentatively reaching towards the door.

The wood felt warm and pleasant to the touch, but in an instant it felt like molten oil was passing over her body. She immediately withdrew her hand but the feeling of her skin burning didn't leave. She wanted to scream but her lungs would only permit harsh breaths to escape her mouth, collapsing onto the ground she tried to scratch off her own skin until the feeling slowly ebbed away. An ordeal that actually took minutes felt like it took hours.

When the torture had passed, she crawled back to the dingy mattress too weak even to nurse the scratches that she had made on her arms and across her belly with her nails.

“Quite effective, isn't it?” said a voice from the doorway that had opened unnoticed. “We were trying to find a way to stop prisoners from investigating how to get out without putting a curse on the door that would kill them. This handy one just inflicts an incredible amount of pain. Perfect for creating an impression on our prisoner's minds, don't you think?”

Ginny just let her eyes follow Hughes as he stepped towards her and crouched to bend over her and brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. “So pretty… such a pretty girl. No wonder Malfoy can't keep his hands off of you” he said quietly. She tried to push his hand away but he simply brushed her weak resistance off by forcing her hands down. She was scared of what he was going to do, what her mind told her to expect from monsters like this, but he simply considered her for a moment before he stood and walked out of the room, closing the door, leaving her with only aches and twitches; reminders of the curse.

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After quickly getting dressed Draco had run to Snape's quarters. Finding him gone he had tried to find his way to Dumbledore's office. He hadn't been there since the beginning of his sixth year and so had had some trouble finding it. However, now that he had found it, he had forgotten the password. It wasn't lemon sorbet was it? Maybe it was orange popstickle? No, but something equally muggle and totally foreign to him. Merlin, what kind of a head boy forgot -

Head Boy! He could use his password, it worked on every other door in the castle, why not this one? He was going to mutter his own personalised password when he heard laughter behind him.

“Who's there?” he said with an air of authority he had to work to put into his voice, squinting through the darkness.

“Don't worry, it's just me.” Blaise Zabini stepped out from the corridor, her cloaked form only vaguely visible. “Aren't you going to put me into detention for being out after curfew?”

“Whatever Zabini, just get out here.” He turned to face the statue in front of Dumbledore's office, he didn't have time to deal with her when he didn't know if Ginny was safe or not.

“Wait” said Blaise, “I know who you're looking for, but you won't get to her by going up those steps.”

When Draco heard this he spun around and advanced towards her, pinning her to the wall, ready to question her about all she knew but she only laughed. “Did anyone ever tell you not to kill the messenger?”

Ignoring her statement he knocked her against the wall, then once again for good measure. “What do you know?” he asked, his anger blocking out rational thought.

“Relax Draco, I've just got a message to give, nothing more, understand?”

“Well then? What is it?”

“Hmm, I wonder, should I tell you?” she asked laughing and looking skywards as if considering her options. But Draco knocked her against the wall one more time, “Ouch, all right, all right. Don't get so touchy” the smile returned to her face as she began to speak. “Hughes has her, don't worry, he won't hurt her as long as you agree to his terms.”

“And what are the terms?” Draco growled as he glared down at her smiling face.

“You have to become a new recruit for our Lord and you have to follow every order he and Hughes gives. However, every time you disobey an order he hurts her a little more, so if you go up those steps to tell our favourite headmaster who's taken her… well, let's just say you shouldn't do that, there's just no telling what Hughes could do to her, he can be rather vicious, trust me, I've seen it.”

“What do I have to do?”

“You have to meet him here at noon on Saturday.” She handed him a torn piece of paper with an address written on it. “In the meantime, just act like everything is normal, if they question you, just say you've broken up and act like the unfeeling prat you are. It can't be too hard, but remember, one wrong move and Ginny will have some of the worst experiences of her life.” Leaning in, she whispered into his ear, “and they'll make sure she lives for a long time after that.” Leaving a kiss on his cheek, she slipped from his grasp and walked away.

Draco stood there processing the information that Blaise had just given him. The fact that he had formed the conviction that he would rather die than become a death eater was inconsequential. In his mind, Ginny's life far outweighed his own. There was no decision to be made, he would agree to Hughes' terms until he could find a way to get Ginny out of Voldemort's grasp alive and safe.

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Friday passed without anyone seeing Ginny. Draco kept going to classes, if a bit quieter than normal, by the end of the day Sarah and Jenny, along with Ron were worried out of their minds. They had tried to ask Draco where she was but he just brushed them off by telling them to bugger out of his business and that where Ginny was wasn't his concern anymore.

Almost frantic, they went up to Dumbledore's office at the end of the day, using Hermione's password, were soon sitting in his office where several order members, as well as Ginny's parents, were waiting in silence. Apparently they were not the only ones to notice Ginny's disappearance.

Ron's mother beckoned him into a hug, eventually including Hermione and Harry. Jenny and Sarah retreated into a corner away from all the people they didn't know, before this they had never been drawn into the Order's circle like the others. They could see Dumbledore talking to Professor Moody softly, exchanging information. Through their intense worry, they had a curiosity about the workings of the Order, which they had no concept of the way they operated.

Eventually Dumbledore turned to the rest of them, focusing on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, “Alastor has been conferring with ministry aurors who have been investigating throughout the school, concentrating in the lower dungeons. They have concluded that some death eater activity has occurred due to some residue left from magic performed by someone with a dark mark, but nothing else can be confirmed.”

Mrs. Weasley let out a strangled sob as Mr. Weasley put his arms around her. No one else really reacted to the news but inside Sarah was bristling with frustration, were they just going to sit around here looking sad? There had to be something that they could do, she desperately wanted to go out and help her friend somehow, who knew what could be happening to her at that very moment.

“It was Malfoy, I know it was. Do you really think that it's a coincidence that he broke up with her the night that she disappeared?” Ron said. Of course, thought Sarah, this would be a typical `Ron moment'; could he be bothered to see how much they cared about each other before her disappearance? No, all he can do is point fingers, he isn't helping at all.

But Mr. Weasley was surprised at this, “Ginny was seeing the Malfoy boy?” he said.

Mrs. Weasley sat up regarded Jenny and Sarah stiffly and then turned to Ron, “Ronald, why wasn't I told about this?”

Ron backed up a bit, “I thought she had told you, I mean Ginny always has before, about her boyfriends I mean.”

“And you thought that we would just let something like that pass?” she asked incredulously. “How could you have let her go around with that boy? He's the son of a death eater” her voice was rising.

“Mum, I did try to stop her but she's sixteen, what did you want me to do? Lock her in her room?”

“You could have done something, anything.” She screamed. They could tell that she was slightly off balance at that moment, grasping at anything that she could blame for the disappearance of her baby. Mr. Weasley held her again, whispering shushing noises into her ear and Mrs. Weasley finally broke down crying. Everyone was silent, not knowing what to say after that outburst.

A few moments into the awkward silence the door to Dumbledore's office opened and admitted Professor Snape.

“Severus, what can you tell us? Did you find anything out?” Dumbledore asked in a rush.

“No, no one was talking this evening. My intuition tells me that whoever has taken Ginny, if in fact they have, is doing it independently of any others.” He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, “I'm sorry,” he said, “I can't say anything for sure.”

They nodded and then Dumbledore spoke again, “Alastor, I'd like you to question Mr. Malfoy, I don't know how or if he is involved but the circumstances are slightly suspicious.”

Moody nodded, “Kingsley, you'll be joining me.” Another member of the order across the room agreed.

Dumbledore adjourned the meeting, telling Mr. and Mrs. Weasley that they were welcome to stay in some of the school's extra rooms as long as they needed and sent the students back to their dorms. But Sarah knew that staying in her dorm that night wouldn't feel the same, Ginny would be missing.

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Saturday, 11:51 am, Hogsmeade, Scotland.

Draco was standing outside a door to a room at a dingy and neglected little inn on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. This must be where Hughes was boarding during his stay in Hogsmeade. The life of a death eater, how attractive.

He knocked on the door and it opened revealing Hughes standing in a black cloak. “Mr. Malfoy, I'm glad to see that you made it.”

“You didn't think I'd come?” He asked coldly, stepping into the room. Hughes gestured for Draco to sit down which he did in the most stable looking chair in the room before Hughes walked over to stand before him. It was then that Draco recognised the robes he was wearing. How many times had he seen his father wearing them? How could he have not recognised them? They were the robes of a death eater; Hughes intended to see Voldemort and probably wanted to drag him along. Draco's heart sank with the belated realisation that there was no way out.

“I think you know what we want from you” he said.

“I know, but I want to see Ginny first.”

“Ah yes, alright, we can detour to visit her, I trust Zabini relayed my message.”

“Yes.”

“Then you realise that one wrong move and I can have one of my men… well, do anything to her that I want really.” Hughes smiled a small sadistic smile.

Draco nodded, the knotted feeling in his stomach only growing worse. Hughes handed him some floo powder and told him to simply step into the flames, a spell he had cast would take him where he needed to go.

Instead of coming out of another fire place Draco found himself falling through the air before colliding with the floor of what he assumed was the death eater stronghold. Letting out a groan he saw Hughes land neatly beside him, not hesitating to walk away down the corridor in a direction that Draco could only hope led to Ginny.

Draco had to run to keep up, but he didn't want to lose sight of Hughes here so run he did. Finally they reached a greyish white wall with a single wooden door in the middle of it and a sleeping wizard standing, or rather sitting guard to the side of the door.

Hughes nudged the guard, waking him and told him to open the door. The guard slowly rose and performed a complicated unlocking spell and then slipped the key into the lock, it clicked and the door opened, revealing Ginny.

Draco's heart skipped a beat, she was sitting hunched and in a foetal position in the corner of the room. Her hair and clothing were ragged and worse for wear but he thanked Merlin that she appeared unharmed. He was about to step forward to hold her but Hughes held him back.

“No” he said, “She can't see you until you step through the doorway and I intend to keep it that way. The point is that she is safe and she will stay that way unless you do something wrong, understand?”

Reluctantly Draco nodded and, though it pained him to do it he took a step back. He wanted to run in and assure her that he was here, that he would do everything he could to protect her, but Hughes had just told him to step back and he was afraid of what the consequences would be if he disobeyed, he didn't want to ever find out. Hughes closed the door.

“Come now Draco,” said Hughes turning and walking back the way they came, “it's time to meet your new Lord.”

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After Draco had climbed up a labyrinth of staircases and passed numerous death eaters in whose homes he had spent a good proportion of his childhood, he stepped into a large hall, at the end of which sat an emaciated looking creature with red eyes as slits in his face. This, he decided, must be Voldemort. When Hughes presented him to their “Lord” Draco's feelings of dread fled leaving him to feel only numbness.

The Dark Lord considered him before clapping softly, as if in applause for Hughes in bringing him there. The three other cloaked and masked death eaters standing around looked on, observing their Lord's reaction to the catch of the day. “Well done, Hughes. I doubted you could deliver but lo and behold, you have.” The rest of the death eaters murmured in agreement as Hughes tried unsuccessfully to hide his glee at Voldemort's happiness.

“Thank you, my Lord.” Hughes said as he knelt on the ground to kiss the hem of his robes, “you are too kind.”

“Enough” said Voldemort with a wave of his hand. Immediately Hughes rose and retreated, leaving Draco to stand alone in front of the only being that truly repulsed him. “Draco Malfoy, you have proven elusive, unlike you father you do not wish to serve me, am I correct?”

Draco didn't respond, obviously Voldemort didn't expect him to because he went on to beckon him closer. Taking a hold of his jaw, he tipped Draco's face to catch the light in different directions, “You are so much like your father was at that age, did you know that? You could have been Lucius's double… but so different in mindset.” He paused, as if considering the comparison, “Hold out your left arm.” Draco, knowing what was coming, willingly pulled up his sleeve and held out his arm.

Voldemort took his forearm into his hand and said, “Repeat after me; I, Draconus Adrian Malfoy, swear to serve you as my Lord and Master as long as my living body bears your mark.”

Draco repeated the words, becoming sick with nausea as he did so. Then Voldemort's thumb descended onto the tender flesh of his forearm, he felt a searing burning sensation and when the Dark Lord lifted his thumb a livid black skull lay in its wake.

.

A/N: Well, that's chapter 12. Sorry that it took so long to come out but I've been swamped with work, Chemistry and Biology at A-level are killers, especially with more exams coming up. Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to put out more chapters soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and other associated characters. I never have and, sadly, I probably never will.

## 13. Chapter 13

Ginny paced the confines of her cell; it must have been days since she arrived here. She had no idea, the muggle light bulb that lit her cell never turned off and no one had come in since she had touched that horrible cursed door when she had awoken. There was a glass of water that refilled itself on one side of the room together with a plate of sandwiches that never emptied. She didn't know when to sleep or to eat. With nothing to occupy her mind she grew bored and frustrated, frustration had led to desperation and in her desperation her mind went over all the possibilities of why they had taken her.

Her imagination created horrible scenarios. What if she was being held for a dark ritual for Voldem - Tom to use her once again? He would take over her mind and force her to do horrible things to her family, or use her body as a disguise and infiltrate Hogwarts, gathering information in order to defeat what resistance there was to him. Maybe it was all a game and they were simply playing with her, seeing how much time she could spend in solitary confinement before she broke and lost her mind. Maybe afterwards they would take her for their sadistic games. Torture and rape were common place in this circle, she was sure that they could do much worse.

In one of her lowest moments where the silence and solitude were driving her insane she wished that they would take her out of her cell even to inflict pain and play with her body, if only to take her out of this personal hell. At that moment all over her feelings built up into a crescendo inside her and she let out a scream. It was long and loud and made her throat sore even before she finished, everything that she was feeling at that moment was forced into that scream and when it finished she started to cry.

She cried and cried but when she brought her hands up to try and wipe away her tears she noticed blood on her arms and down her legs. Wondering what had caused her such injury she noticed shards of glass everywhere. The glass of water to the side of the room that had never emptied had exploded.

Wandless Magic.

That was what she had just made happen, her emotions had built and built and when she had unleashed it in that scream she had made the glass explode. If she could channel her emotions… her mind opened to the possibilities of this new development.

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After the ritual, Draco had returned to Hogwarts and, under strict instructions from Hughes, tried to act like everything was as it was before Ginny had been taken. He felt about as successful as a fish trying to talk, but his act seemed to be fooling everyone else, they all went about their business as if nothing had happened, they seemed to him like ants and he was reminded of Mirhe and Vehka. Was this what they had meant when they said that she would need his protection? He hoped that he was doing what was best to keep her safe.

While he was walking out of his History of Magic class he heard his name being called.

“Malfoy, wait!” Sarah shouted over a sea of second years moving in the opposite direction.

He didn't stop and Sarah had to run to catch up with him.

“Didn't you hear me back there Malfoy?”

“I did,” said Draco without stopping, “I'll leave it to you to figure out why I didn't stop to chat.”

Sarah ran before him and stopped right in front of him. “Look, I don't know why you're going on with this pretence that everything is normal but anyone who knows you and Ginny, and that includes me, can see that it's a farce.”

“Yes, because you know me so well.” He said with sarcasm before walking around her and continuing on his way.

“You can't just pretend she's not gone you know; we have to do something.” Sarah said.

Draco just kept on walking, he was trying to do something and he didn't need some stupid little Gryffindor making things more difficult. Sarah just looked back at him with a muted sort of anger. It didn't matter, she told herself, she still had Jenny and they would work something out together.

Draco was relieved to turn the corner and be out of sight of Sarah but no sooner had he escaped from her view did he run into Alastor Moody, the Auror, no, the professor who had been responsible for the most humiliating experience during his time at Hogwarts. The knowledge that it hadn't actually been Moody himself who had turned him into a bouncing ferret did not quash the instinctual urge to back away.

“Good afternoon, Auror Moody” he said, hoping to get away with a polite greeting and nothing more.

“Mister Malfoy, I'm glad I've run into you, we need to speak.”

Draco did not let his displeasure show on his face. Instead, he let a respectful mask slide over his features. “Oh? What about?”

“I need to ask you some questions in relation to Miss Weasley's disappearance.”

Took you long enough, thought Draco. “Of course, I'd be happy to assist.”

“We could carry out the interview now, if it's alright.” Moody made it sound like a request but Draco knew that he was expected to agree.

“Of course, where would you like to have it?” Moody indicated that Draco was to follow and they walked down the hall towards the library. Once inside they entered one of the small study rooms, he noticed that it was the farthest one from the door, the one that Ginny had hid herself away from him when she had needed time to “think”.

They sat on opposite sides of the table and Moody drew out a sneakoscope, his wand and a small metal object that he set on the desk.

Draco watched as the objects were set out on the table, this was too easy, a sneakoscope? He could get past one of those lying through his teeth. They were like muggle lie detectors, make yourself believe the lies that you were saying were true and the sneakoscope wouldn't pick up a thing.

Moody tapped the metal object with his wand before beginning. “Case: 316G, interview with Draco Malfoy, Tuesday 12 February 11:36 am.” He paused before continuing. “Mr. Malfoy, where were you on the afternoon of the 9th of February 2004?”

“In Hogsmeade.” This wasn't a lie, he really was in Hogsmeade.

“Why were you there and what did you do?”

“I wanted to walk around and get a butterbeer, a small escape, so to speak.”

“I see, and did you meet anyone there?”

“No.” At this the sneakoscope picked up a bit before settling back down again. Damn, he would have to try harder to cover things up, doublethink was the technique his father had trained him in, a childhood activity where he would try to get away with obvious lies by making himself believe the lies were the truth.

Moody glanced up at him but didn't say anything. “What do you know about Miss Weasley's whereabouts?”

“I haven't seen her since last week.” The sneakoscope stayed mute.

“Ah, and have you been looking for her?”

“No, we had a disagreement and she made it quite clear that she didn't want to see me again so I haven't made the effort of looking for her.”

Moody looked at him intently, as if trying to decipher the truth from the expression on his face, before finally saying that the interview was over and tapping the metal object once again with his wand. “Well, if you haven't seen her and haven't heard anything then I suppose there's nothing more to discuss. I may have to contact you again for further questioning though.”

Draco simply nodded as Moody swept out of the room. He gradually let his mind relax, he told himself that it was for the best, he was lying to keep her safe. He groaned, everything was practically perfect last week and now everything couldn't be further from it.

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“Jenny!” Sarah called across the Great Hall, “Jen!”

Jenny turned and saw Sarah, coming to sit next to her before the food appeared on the table.

“Well, what did you get out of Draco?” Jenny asked in a whisper.

“Nothing, he wouldn't even stop” she whispered back

“So we go with plan B”

“We don't have a plan B” Sarah hissed.

Jenny shrugged it off, “small hitch,” she said.

“Small hitch? What do you mean, Jen? Did you find something out?” Jenny was now digging into some steak and kidney pie. She had spent the greater part of her afternoon trying to get into the Slytherin common room under Harry's invisibility cloak (that she had stolen) without anyone noticing, Draco and the Golden Trio included.

“Well, I know I said I'd only eavesdrop but I got sick of listening to their bitchy little conversations.”

“So, what did you do? What did you find out?” Sarah prompted.

“Well, I cornered a fourht year and grilled him.”

“And?” Sarah was growing frustrated.

“And I wiped his memory afterwards…”

“Isn't that illegal?”

“But, I found out that their stronghold is in Wales and that to get there all you have to do is apparate about 20 km north of Cardiff.”

Sarah looked at Jenny incredulously, “Um, hon, we can't apparate, remember?”

Jenny gave one of her crazy, goofy, wide smiles that the serious student hardly ever used. “You can't,” she said, “but I can.”

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A/N: I have taken time out of my busy schedule of revision for my impending A-level exams to give you this chapter *yay, cheers for procrastination*. Sorry that it took so long to get out. Re: kvarmish's review, I have reread chapters 3 and 4 and have realized that they are actually quite cringe-worthy, almost Sue-worthy if you ask me. Therefore I will be rewriting them in the future but right now I just don't have the time, and if either of my parents caught me so much as reading fan fiction I might as well jump off of a cliff, but hey, on the bright side, at least then I wouldn't have to sit my exams. Anyways, if you feel like it, leave a review, if you don't feel like it then don't.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and I'm not trying to make money off of this. I'm quite sure that if I printed this off and tried to sell it no one would buy it (except me, cuz I love it, it's my baby). Oh yes, and doublethink is a concept stolen from Nineteen Eighty-Four by… someone who's name I can't remember but was involved in British politics prior to and during WW2.