"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 19th, 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 request, 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!