Chapter 10 - Camp at the Hill
Draco moved quickly, surveying the area for any signs of Ginny. He was already almost halfway down the hill, and from what he could tell, she hadn't made it up this far. Draco was concerned. The sky was becoming darker by the minute. 'If something's happened to her...' Draco fought back anxiety. He'd wanted to at least make it to the top of that hill and not be in the forest after nightfall, but it was looking more and more like that wouldn't happen.
Draco's wand lit the ground as he scanned for tracks. He had seen nothing thus far, but suddenly came across a large slide mark. Following it, Draco caught sight of a torn patch of fabric clinging to a fallen tree branch. He was sure it was Ginny's. Picking up the scrap, he looked for its owner.
Taking a few steps further down the hill, he found a large tree limb much like the first he'd seen. Peeking from under it was a tousled bunch of red hair and a scratched yet delicate hand. Lifting the tree limb from Ginny's body, he found her on her stomach, scratched and dirty. Draco grimaced a little, but tapped her shoulder. When she didn't move, he listened for breathing and felt for a pulse.
Relieved that she was alive, but unimpressed with her response to his tapping, he knelt beside her. He bent his head to her ear and whispered, "Weasley?" He paused. "Hey, Weasley, you all right?"
When she didn't respond, Draco turned up his nose, rolled up his sleeves and picked her up. With her face nestled against his chest and her legs draped over his right arm, Draco carried Ginny up the hill.
When Ginny woke up, she was lying on a silky deep green cloak by a fire at the top of the hill. She wondered where Draco was. He'd obviously found her, or she wouldn't have been there. Before she had more time to wonder, she heard Draco from behind her.
"Seems Miss Sleepy Weasel's woken up, hmm?"
Ginny grumbled in response. Draco walked up to the fireside and dropped the armful of kindling he'd found into a pile. He turned to look at her again. "You don't look so great."
Ginny felt awful. Her whole body was scratched and scraped, and her head pounded like she'd been drinking for days on end. Draco pitied her condition but couldn't hold back a chuckle when he looked at her clothing. It wasn't in much better shape. Her sweater was torn to shreds and her old black skirt was badly tattered.
"Malfoy!" Ginny squealed and covered herself up with his cloak.
Draco looked perplexed. "What?"
"Stop looking at me! I'm nearly naked!"
She was right. Her sweater had revealed much more when she had sat up than when she'd been lying down.
Draco smiled. "I don't know…have you ever thought of making a profession of that?"
Ginny frowned at him warily. "Of what?"
"Make a little money for your family...wouldn't have to pay for clothes..." He snickered a little, though he wouldn't have minded much if she walked around with her sweater like that.
Ginny slapped him. To Draco, it had come out of absolutely nowhere. He touched a hand to his cheek and looked at the little girl standing in front of him. Her cheeks were burning red and a scowl had come over her face. Her eyes pierced him with her anger. She spoke slowly. "Don't you ever talk to me like that again."
Draco's cheek stung. "So that's what I get for going back to rescue you, carrying you up a huge, steep hill and giving you my cloak?"
"No, that's what you get for implying things you shouldn't have." They stood in silence for a moment. Ginny's eyes seemed to soften a little. "But I'm glad you brought me up here."
Draco looked at the scratches on her arms. "What happened to you anyway?"
Ginny rubbed her aching arms and legs. "I was following you up the hill, and a tree limb fell and hit me in the chest. I fell backward and rolled down the hill with it. I don't remember much after that. Where did you find me? How did you know something happened to me?"
Draco threw some kindling into the fire. "Your light went out and I came to get you. Can't have you wandering around forests after dark. Anyway, you were under a different branch than the one that hit you in the first place, I think. You probably hit it on your way down."
Ginny wrapped herself in Draco's silky cloak and sat near him. "Thank you for helping me. For coming to get me. I really appreciate it."
Draco flipped his hair and stood up. "Yeah, forget about it, all right?" He looked around the area. "We'll stay here tonight." He pointed to the left. "There's a rivulet off that way. You can wash up a little there if you want."
Ginny figured water was probably a good idea. If she could clean her cuts and get all the dirt off, she'd probably be much more comfortable. She walked the short distance in the direction Draco had said the rivulet would be. Finding a clear area, she disrobed and touched her foot to the water. She wavered. It was very cold, but she was also very dirty. Braving the water, Ginny stepped in.
Draco spent his time adding little sticks to the fire while waiting for Ginny to come back. He slouched, breaking the little sticks into even smaller pieces before throwing them into the fire. He didn't much like the idea that he was waiting on her, let alone caring how she was feeling. To shake off his thoughts, Draco left to get more firewood. Why was she irritating him so? He used to be able to sit alone for hours without needing to move around and be with people. No, he didn't need her. People came to Draco Malfoy, not the other way around!
But in that moment, he heard it. He couldn't see her, but he could faintly hear her singing.
Draco stopped and listened to her sing. It was a sweet, slow song that pleased and relaxed him. He stepped closer to hear her more clearly. She was combing through her hair with her fingers when he finally found her. She was standing waist deep in the water, her back to him. The moonlight bathed her with an ivory glow that made her look soft despite her scratches, and her hair appeared darker than usual because of the water. In his mind, she was singing for him. Normally, if he were imagining a Weasley singing for him, that daydream would end with him laughing. But he didn't feel like laughing at all. He wanted to kiss her and touch her and nothing else would matter as long as they were there in the moonlight. He leaned closer, to watch her move in the water.
He recoiled. 'No,' he thought. He shouldn't be thinking these things. He shouldn't be watching her, listening to her. He needed to get out. He turned to head back to the camp. His pant leg caught on a bush next to him, making the whole plant rustle.
Ginny stopped singing. She turned quickly, her arm covering her breasts and opposite hand pushing the hair from her face. She looked around, and with a bit of a worried look turned to exit the water. Draco cursed, moving swiftly back to the fire and sitting next to it as if he had been the whole time. He put on a nonchalant face and took out his wand.
When Ginny came back from her bath, she found Draco sitting by the fire just as she left him. He had a charm going on his wand that left little colorful sparkles in a trail behind its tip. He was drawing circles when he saw her approaching. Putting the wand away, he looked at her. She was dripping wet, wrapped in his cloak, and it looked as if she was on the brink of tears. "Water that scary, Weasley?"
Ginny glared at him and produced her own wand from the skirt she was carrying. It had snapped in two different places. She had just noticed, and her face was filled with sorrow and desperation. She sunk to her knees next to the fire.
"There's nothing I can do, is there..." She spoke with pure lack of hope. "There's no one who can fix it..." She looked up at Draco. "...is there?" He shook his head. With resignation, Ginny tossed her broken wand into her pile of shredded clothes. Draco positioned himself on the most level ground near the fire and went to sleep.
Ginny looked at him. She didn't know why she hadn't told him she'd seen him in the bushes by the water. She could have yelled at him, but she didn't. She was more interested in what he could have been thinking watching her there, hearing her sing. She eyed him suspiciously. He didn't need to know. With an odd smile, Ginny curled into Draco's cloak and fell asleep.