Where Two Paths Meet

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter story.

Warning: Book 1-6 spoilers

A/N: I don't know what has happened to my BETA, so I guess you're stuck with me and my punctuation and grammar errors, until I find can get a hold of her. Sorry about this.

Chapter 4: No Longer Hidden

She clutched her pounding heart in desperation, as she ran through the suffocating darkness. Sharp pains shot through her chest every time she breathed. Her mind was whirling from dizziness and she felt faint from running too long.

Her dark eyes frantically searched the clearing, catching a glimpse of a shadowy form moving swiftly towards her, as the pearly moon peeped out from behind the dense clouds in the night sky.

“No.” She gasped to herself. It couldn't be. She was not meant to be caught.

“You have no where left to run.” A harsh voice spat brutally.

She steadied herself against the tree, sliding her wand out from beneath her cloak. Her dark eyes narrowed, as they stared at the shadowy figure. She knew that voice.

“Rudolphus. What do you think you're doing?”

“Why, only trying to find my wife…and it seems I've found her.”

Bellatrix took a firmer grip on her wand, as her husband's face was cast into sharp relief by the moonlight. A mocking smile curled his lips, as his cold eyes burned into her flesh.

Bellatrix was not afraid of her husband, she was not afraid of anyone. She would kill him if she had to, probably enjoy it as well. She never really cared much for the man anyway. They had married because they had certain similar qualities. A lust for power being one of them…

Bellatrix had always had an attraction to the dark arts. She genuinely loved to torture people and hear their petrified screams, as she gruesomely ripped their souls to shreds with her mercilessness. She was the perfect killing mission. Ruthless, unafraid and unemotional….

She willingly served her master. She loved him like no other Death Eater did. If he ordered her to his bed, she would willingly go, not because of any romantic feelings but because she worshipped him.

But that all changed.

Bellatrix had nourished a soft spot for her younger sister, Narcissa. The silly girl could never do anything to help herself and Bellatrix's instincts would lead her into protecting her fragile sister. From that need to protect, Bellatrix had grown to love her sister, though she would never admit it to anyone.

When she had heard that her master had ordered Narcissa killed for getting involved in Draco's mission, Bellatrix had snapped. She couldn't bear the thought of her lovely sister being murdered in just the same way she had murdered countless people. Death Eater's never gave honourable deaths. They wanted the pain to last to the very last beat of that person's heart.

So Bellatrix forced her sister to go into hiding. It was the first step in betraying her master. She reasoned it wasn't really betraying him, but deep down she knew something had changed in her.

Right from the very beginning she had tried to warn Narcissa in interfering, but Narcissa refused to let Draco die in such a fashion. She didn't want her son to be used as a disposable pawn.

Now they were both in danger, but still, Narcissa only thought of Draco. Bellatrix couldn't understand it. She had always thought he was a worthless boy. He was like a cheap copy of Lucius, only even more useless.

However, Narcissa had begged Bellatrix to help her son and so she had tried to get Snape to help, only to find that pathetic Weasley girl was part of it too. She had to rescue the girl and it had cost her everything. The second step into betrayal had been made and it seemed it would be her last.

Bellatrix was not going to go down without a fight though.

Her eyes glittered with malice as she stared at her husband. “Do you plan to take me down all by yourself?” She asked mockingly, relishing in the knowledge that she had always been a better magic warrior than him.

“Don't be ridiculous.” Rudolphus said with a cold smile. “I know my own weaknesses.”

Bellatrix frowned, slightly confused, when suddenly somebody shouted something from behind her.

A flash of light, a scream and everything went dark.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

“What the hell?” Draco Malfoy muttered to himself, as he stared down at the unconscious girl. If he had been expecting anyone at the door, it was certainly not a girl covered in blood collapsing in his arms.

Placing one arm underneath her legs and the other behind her neck, to balance her, Draco lifted her up from the ground and took her to the bed on the other side of the room, where he placed her with surprising gentleness on the blankets.

He studied the girl before him, his brow creasing in a frown. He could barely make out her face from so much blood and dirt being caked on it but her long crimson hair seemed familiar, though he couldn't place where.

She was quite short and petite. He had been surprised at how light she was when he had carried her.

Draco sighed, not really knowing what to do. He wasn't a doctor and he was certainly no philanthropist ready to pick up every silly girl who decided to collapse on his doorstep.

Still, something told him he should help this girl, whoever she was. She had obviously been through a rough ordeal and he just knew that if Snape came back and found out Draco had turned away a half dead girl because he didn't feel like helping her, he would get more than a telling off. He would probably get slipped some horrible potion knowing that man.

Still grumbling to himself, Draco walked towards the cosy kitchen and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard. He trudged to the sink and filled it up with water, while grabbing a clean cloth from the little wooden table.

Carrying the bowl of water and the cloth, Draco made his way back to the girl and sat down on the edge of the bed. He irritably moved her hair away and wet the cloth.

The things I get myself into.

Sighing again, Draco began to wipe away the blood and dirt off her face.

As the mask of blood was washed away, certain things about her face seemed to cause a sense of revelation in Draco's mind. He looked back at the long mane of crimson and felt his jaw drop.

“I've been helping a damn Weasel!” He whispered in horror. Admittedly, she wasn't like the other Weasleys, who were just loud and annoying, though he might only have that perception because he never paid any attention to her. She was just a silly girl, after all.

“What the hell are you doing here, Weasley?” Draco demanded, as he dumped the cloth back in the bowl, letting the clear water swirl into a crimson pool of blood.

She didn't answer, only laid there breathing raggedly.

He noticed her robes were torn in several places and she had nasty cuts all over her face and body. Now that the blood and dirt was gone, she looked terribly pale. Draco began to worry that she might die if he didn't do something.

There was a lot of blood staining the lower half of her robes. It could be she had been wounded somehow. That might be what was making her take such rattly breaths.

Without preamble, Draco ripped open her robes to see a rather nasty gash on her stomach that was oozing blood. It looked like someone had cursed her with a slashing spell, the curse that worked like a sword.

He looked back at her pale face and again felt the unfamiliar feelings of panic on this girl's behalf.

“I'm certainly no Madam Pomfrey but I'm sure I can try fixing this.” He said reassuringly, though he wondered if she could even hear him. In the end, he realised it didn't matter if she could hear him or not, he would end up talking to her anyway. It was just a habit.

Muttering a healing spell under his breath, he watched as the wound closed up, though a faint white line still slashed angrily across her pale skin. It wasn't as good a job as what Madam Pomfrey could do but he figured it was better then letting her bleed to death.

Turning her over gently he did the same to the wound on her back, which he noticed had also been made by the slashing curse.

“What have you been up to?” Draco scolded in frustration, as he started healing all her wounds over her body. It was a tiring job, as he wasn't really sure if he was getting the right spell. More than once, Draco had to reverse a nasty effect by his inaccurate incantations.

Once he was satisfied with her now healed body, Draco took the time to really study her.

Her pale face was slightly heart shaped, giving her an impish look about her features. She had relatively small nose but it framed her face well, as did her large eyes, though he noticed there were heavy rings of worry under them. She would have been pretty, he supposed, were she not so skinny and runty looking. He personally liked his girls to have a little more to them but he guessed it didn't really matter. She was just a Weasley, after all.

Looking down, he saw a letter tightly crushed in her small fist that he hadn't noticed before. Opening her hand gently, he pulled out the parchment and placed it beside the bed.

He wasn't really sure why he didn't read it, as he was never one to have qualms about snooping into other people's things but inwardly he knew it would be wrong to read her personal letter.

Draco scowled. He hadn't even been fifteen minutes in the Weasley's company and already he was turning into a spineless Hufflepuff.

Annoyed at himself for letting his pity for her get the better of him, Draco stood up and walked off to have a shower, as he was now covered in her blood.

He had left her tucked up in the bed close to the fire. It wasn't because he cared if she was cold; he simply figured that Snape wouldn't be too happy to know that Draco had let her get sick because he was being careless again.

He took one last look at the sleeping form of the Weasley girl and sighed despondently. “Never did I think I would be taking care of a Weasley.” He muttered before closing the bathroom door.

OOOOO

Ginny awoke in a cosy warm bed; it was heaven to her after sleeping on a cold concrete floor the night before.

She sat up and miraculously could feel no pain, even though she was sure she had been hurt rather badly by the Death Eaters' curses. She remembered the blood that seemed to swallow her up, as well as the searing pain she felt every time she moved.

Her chestnut eyes travelled around the room. A fire was crackling merrily sending glorious warmth towards her. On a comfy chair next to the fire, sat Draco Malfoy; he was reading a book, though she couldn't make out the name of it from where she was.

He looked different to when she had last seen him. That night, he had been scared and seemed to look younger beyond his years. He also looked ill from worrying too much about what he had been asked to do. But now he only looked bored, as if he had been cooped up in this place too long and was ready to do anything to escape it.

“Umm, excuse me, Malfoy?” Ginny said uncertainly, as she tried to sit in a more comfortable position.

Draco lifted his head and gazed at her through grey eyes. They didn't seem to be as cold as she remembered them but she remembered he too had faced a lot since Dumbledore's death.

“You're awake.” He said relieved, coming over to the bed. “How do you feel?”

“Fine.” Ginny said slightly confused. She had half expected him to kick her out when he saw her; she had not expected him to treat her so civil.

It dawned on her that Draco must have healed her, as he seemed to be the only one in the house. She suddenly felt very embarrassed, realising she wasn't wearing her robe. She hoped he hadn't seen anything.

“I've run a bath for you.” Draco continued, not noticing her confusion, “After that you can tell me why you are here.”

Ginny realised he must think she smelt or something. She was still covered in mud, though her face had been cleaned but a bath sounded really good to Ginny right now.

Ginny nodded and watched as Draco walked off to the kitchen.

The house was all in one room except it seemed for the bathroom and another bedroom. It wasn't furnished with extravagance, going for a cosier look than anything imposing. There were squishy armchairs dotted around and a large bookcase leaning against the wall. It was tasteful and welcoming, Ginny thought.

Ginny scrambled out of the bed and walked to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Like Draco had said, a hot bath awaited her.

She stripped off her remaining clothing and hopped into the steamy water. It was more relaxing and welcoming than anything she had felt before in her life. She could have kissed Draco in thanks right now for giving her this bath.

Sighing with pleasure, she closed her eyes. “This is heaven.” Ginny said out loud and promptly began to wash herself.

OOOOOOO

Draco flicked his wand to start cooking some food for them. He figured Ginny must be hungry and the best way to get her to talk was to make her feel comfortable.

He didn't really know why she was here but he thought it was a bit suspicious, having her find a place that was supposedly unplottable. Snape himself had placed the wards around the area, though he had said owls were the only things allowed in.

Draco absently played with the tablecloth when the bathroom door opened and Ginny peaked out, hidden by the door.

“Um, do you have a robe I could wear? It's just mine is dirty and ripped.” Ginny asked, her face going slightly red.

Draco stood up and walked over to some draws, pulling out a plain black robe. Walking over to Ginny he passed the robe to her outstretched hand.

“Thanks.” Ginny mumbled before shutting the door.

Draco turned away and sat back down to wait for her to get dressed. With another flick of his wand the food came and set itself for two people at the table.

The door opened again and Ginny came out looking rather lost in his robes. Draco tired to suppress a smile at the odd picture before him.

“Here.” Draco said, flicking his wand at her and saying a few well-chosen words. The robe shrunk so that it fitted her small frame, looking almost as if it had been made to fit her exactly.

Ginny smiled appreciatively. “Thanks.”

Draco said nothing in acknowledgment, only watched as she sat down at the table opposite him and looked at the food with a hungry look in her eyes.

“Go ahead and eat.”

Ginny immediately began to wolf down her food, almost choking from not chewing fast enough.

“Hey, not so fast.” Draco said, taking the plate from her.

He frowned slightly and gave her an odd look. “I'm guessing you haven't eaten in a while. If you eat too much straight away you'll make yourself sick.”

Ginny nodded and put her fork down, though she looked a bit reluctant to see the food go away.

Silence fell around them, as Ginny idly played with her fork. Draco only watched her, waiting to see when she would finally say why she had turned up on his doorstep.

“I guess you're wondering why I'm here?”

“Yes.” Draco said not beating around the bush.

Ginny sighed, as though steeling herself to what she was about to say. She looked up and stared at Draco through deep chestnut eyes.

“Well, I guess it all started with this dream I had…”

Ginny told Draco everything. About the dream. About the Hogwarts Express getting blown up. Getting captured by the Death Eaters and meeting Voldemort for the first time. How he made her look into the crystal ball and she saw a vision. How Snape and Bellatrix helped her escape and how Snape had, before he died, left her a letter and a note to find him.

Draco didn't say anything the whole time. He just listened to her, his forehead creased as he tried to inwardly decipher what she was saying, while she unburdened her story.

Ginny took a deep breath and looked at him. “And so now I'm here trying to figure out what it is I'm supposed to do and how I can help you.”

Draco looked at her with an odd expression in his eyes. It was like he was trying to see if she was really telling the truth.

“You say Bellatrix helped you?” he asked, his grey eyes boring into her own.

“Yes, though I don't think it was for me. She wanted to help your mother…”

Draco nodded and didn't say anything. For a minute he just sat there with a far away look in his eyes.

“You saw Snape die?” He said very quietly. Ginny thought he almost seemed sad, though she could have been just imagining it.

Ginny nodded and looked away, feeling slightly awkward as Draco stared at her. She wondered if he resented her living, while Snape had died. She knew it was her fault he had died.

“I'm sorry to hear that.” Draco said, his expression blank, as he stood up, taking his plate to the kitchen.

Ginny just stared at him dumbfounded. She already knew that Snape had been taking care of Draco since they ran away from Hogwarts and here he was, showing no emotion at all about his death. She guessed that was just the way he was.

“So, what do you think that prophecy meant?” Ginny asked finally, after several more minutes of uncomfortable silence.

“It's obvious isn't it?” Draco said annoyed, his eyes flashing with a dark streak of anger. “I'm destined to help Saint Potter defeat Voldemort.”

Ginny glared at him, her own temper rising. “Well you don't have to say it like that!”

“I can say it however I damn well want to!” Draco yelled fiercely at her, frustration clearly etched in his pale face.

“I don't care about any of this.” He spat, as he gestured wildly. “I don't want to help Potter and I don't want to be destined for anything!” He shouted, turning to glare at her with such intense fury, Ginny almost backed down. But not for anything was she a Gryffindor.

“But you are. You have to do this!” Ginny stated heatedly, standing up from the chair in anger. Didn't he know she hated this just as much as he did?

“I don't have to do anything.” Draco said coldly, his eyes burning into her own. “I'm not having my life chosen for me from a silly prophecy.”

“It's not a silly prophecy and I think you are being rather selfish.” Ginny reprimanded, as though he were a small child.

Draco sighed, as though all his anger had evaporated as fast as it had come.

“You don't understand.” He said, tiredly running his hands through his hair.

“Then tell me.” Ginny snapped. “Because if I'm having dreams and prophecies about you, and according to Snape my destiny is intertwined with yours, I have to know what I can do.”

Draco took a step towards her, his rage was again bubbling to the surface.

“Just shutup will you!”

Ginny flinched in surprise. He looked like he might hit her.

“You come barging in here telling me that my Aunt and mother are in danger because of you. Snape has died because of you and then to top it all, you say that you made a prophecy about me that means I have to somehow help Potter save the world from Voldemort. I can't deal with this right now Weasley, so just shut the hell up!”

Ginny looked like he had just slapped her. Never had she seen Draco show so much emotion. She guessed it was a lot to take in, but she couldn't believe how selfish he was being.

“You don't think this hurts me too?” She practically screamed, as she walked towards him in her anger. “I saw my friends die before my eyes when the Hogwarts express was blown up, all because Voldemort wanted me! I watched Snape die when he tried to protect me, and it was because of me!”

She was sobbing now and wiped the tears from her eyes angrily. “My parents are probably going to be killed because I managed to escape so that I could help you. And you just stand there saying it's not fair that you have to do this. I don't want this just as much as you! So don't stand there acting like everything is so bad for you and ignore how I feel.”

Ginny sniffed and glared at him malevolently. “Then again, you never could think of anyone but yourself, so of course you would act this way!”

Draco's eyes flashed dangerously, as he took another step towards her. “Shutup Weasley!” He said in a deadly voice,

“No I will not!” Ginny screamed, hitting him. “We're in this together and whether you like it or not I'm staying.”

Draco looked like he wanted to hit her back but seemed to restrain himself.

“I can't believe I helped you. I should have left you to die”

“Oh and what good would that have done? Stop being so childish” Ginny yelled, hitting him again.

“Stop hitting me!” Draco shouted, grabbing her arms roughly. Ginny struggled but he was too strong for her. Panting slightly she glared up at him.

“Now you listen to me Weasley.” Draco said in a deadly whisper, his face inches from hers. “I don't care how many prophecies you have about me, I'm not helping your pathetic cause. If you didn't remember I don't like you. I don't know what came over me when I helped you, I guess I was just surprised but there is no way I am going with you anywhere.”

“Coward” Ginny muttered, her face instinctively moving closer. “You just don't want to get killed.”

“Oh and I suppose you're just so full of courage and bravery?” Draco mocked. “You Gryffindors are all the same...”

Ginny bit her lip and looked at him. Deciding to use a different approach she stopped struggling and said in a softer voice. “Malfoy, please. Don't let Snape's death be in vain. He wanted to help you and so did Bellatrix. Are you going to just let that all go to nothing?”

If it was possible, Draco looked angrier then what he did before.

“You're trying to blackmail me!” He accused.

Ginny felt very uncomfortable and looked away.

“I can't believe you would stoop so low.” Draco said, staring at her disbelievingly, releasing her arms in his surprise.

“Well, what else can I do when you're acting like a big baby saying `Why me?' Ginny retorted.

“I am not acting like a big baby,” Draco snapped angrily.

Ginny snorted and looked at him with derisive expression. “Yeah right, Malfoy.”

Draco stared at her for a minute then scowled. “We'll talk about this in the morning Weasley.” He said stiffly, as though trying to regain his composure. “I think any more discussion on this tonight will get us nowhere.”

“Fine.” Ginny said bluntly. “When you grow up we will continue with this discussion.”

She stalked off to the bed leaving no time for Draco to retort.

Draco glared after her before going to his bed.

“I'll get you back.” He muttered angrily. Then he realised how childish he was being and scowled.

“Damn her.” He growled before going into his room.