It All Began With Dwarfing Draco
16. Chapter Sixteen
He brushed his fingers gently over the picture frames, tracing where hers had been earlier on that day. The family members were still all smiles, blissfully unaware of what had happened. The steely eyes watching them flicked from one redhead to the next before focusing on the one they longed to see most.
Draco picked up the picture and stared at the laughing Ginny. He was startled when she looked up and waved as if knowing he was there. But then the others began waving as well and Draco scolded himself for getting his hopes up.
Setting the picture back in it’s place, Draco turned his gaze to the newly repaired window. The moonlight that streamed through the glass panes was the only light in the room but it shone so bright that that did not matter. Silvery light touched every surface and only a few shadows lived in far corners.
Turning from the window, Draco made his way over to Ginny’s bed and laid himself down upon it. He rested his head against the pillow and pulled the sheets up around him. Her smell was everywhere. On the sheets, on the pillow, in the air. It was driving Draco mad. He would smell her and turn around as fast as he could only to see thin air, no Ginny.
He twisted a corner of the sheets in his fingers as he felt sleep beginning to take over which was odd seeing as he was going ‘round the bend from worry, anger and fear. But no matter how hard he tried to fight it, sleep over took him and sent him into a horrible new dream.
~Dream~
A small girl with crimson hair sat rocking in a corner of a stone room, knees pulled up and head down.. She was singing something but it was only coming out in a harsh whisper. The room was completely dark minus the trickle of moonlight that came through a small grate in the wall.
A door opened and in came a group of people in dark robes. They swarmed in by the thousands, packing into the tiny room and surrounding the girl who still hadn’t raised her head. The mass parted in two and a gigantically tall man came through them. His black robe hid his face from view and he laughed as he approached the girl.
"Virginia," he said in an amused tone. "You tremble so much that you look like you should be a leaf in the wind." The girl’s head shot up and her face was shown for the first time. Her blue eyes were wide with fear and her lips parted slightly. She pushed herself hastily backwards as far as she could into the corner, her eyes flicking wildly around to find any means of escape. The man laughed again and continued his approach.
"No, please," the girl begged, shaking her head as tears began to stream down her face. The man reached out and leaned down to her to brush his scaly and scabbed hand along her cheek. The girl flinched at his touch, her whole body shaking now.
"I told you I would have you. You are mine Virginia and no one is going to save you." The man took out his wand and stood, pointing it at the girl. The killing curse was said and a green light shot from the end of the man'’ wand. The girl screamed.
~End of Dream~
Draco’s eyes shot open. He leapt from the bed and ran out of the room, out the secret door and down the corridor. He ran until he reached Dumbledore’s office and began yelling every password he knew. None of them worked.
"Dumbledore!" he shouted desperately. "Dumbledore! Open up!"
"Mr. Malfoy?" Draco whirled around to see the ancient professor coming from down the corridor. He was in his night robes and carried with him a piece of some pie.
"It’s Ginny," Draco said breathlessly. "I saw her. She is in a stone room and Voldemort’s going to kill her!"
"Calm down Mr. Malfoy and tell me everything that you saw." Draco nodded and told him everything that he had seen in his dream. When he had finished, a worried look came over Dumbledore’s face.
"We don’t have much time. Go wake Mr. Potter, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley. We will see if Mr. Potter’s plan will work."
"But we haven’t got it perfected yet…"
"It’s the only plan we’ve got at this point and time. We will have to make do with it for now." Draco hesitated but nodded. After receiving the password, Draco hurtled down the corridor towards the Gryffindor Tower. When he reached it, the Fat Lady gave him a curious look but excepted his password and allowed him in. He ran up the stairs to the left first and soon found the seventh year dormitories.
"Potter! Weasley! Get up!" Groans came from all over the room and heads began to pop out of the closed curtains.
"Malfoy?" Ron mumbled as he pulled his curtain back. Harry was now doing the same while putting his glasses on.
"Get up! Now!" Draco yelled.
"What are you doing here?" Dean asked from his bed but Draco ignored him.
"We don’t have much time!" Draco urged. Harry and Ron finally got the hint and scrambled out of their beds, grabbing sweaters and shoving their feet into their shoes. Draco then turned and headed out of the room and down the stairs. He tried to climb the ones to the girls’ dormitories but found that the moment he got to the fifth step, the stairs flattened and formed a slide. Draco fell forward and then slid to the bottom. Harry and Ron were snickering at the bottom.
"Can’t use the stairs mate," Ron said, very amused. "Boys aren’t allowed in girls’ dorms."
"Then how the hell were you two able to do it when I was in Ginny’s?!" Draco bellowed as he got to his feet.
"Simple." Ron pushed a picture of rather snobby looking man to the side. There was a hole in the wall and Ron stuck his wand inside. The stairs automatically popped themselves up. Draco looked back to Ron. He shrugged but did not pull his wand out of the wall. Harry started up the stairs.
"I’ll go get Hermione, you two wait here." He continued up the stairs and disappeared around the corner.
"And what, pray tell, is the reason for pulling us out of bed?" Ron mused as a door opened and closed upstairs.
"I had a dream," replied Draco.
"So."
"So, I see things in my dreams. I went to tell Dumbledore and he sent me to get you three."
"You’re a Seer?" Ron said in an awe struck voice, which brought a smirk to Draco’s face.
"Only part." Before they could speak anymore, Harry and a sleepy looking Hermione came down the stairs.
"What’s going on? What happened?" Hermione asked when she saw Draco.
"Dumbledore needs to speak with us," Draco said and then turned, heading towards the portrait hole. "Come on." The four hurried to Dumbledore’s office as quickly as they could, the three Gryffindors sharing similar confused glances behind Draco’s back. When they arrived, Dumbledore was waiting for them. He was fully clothed now in his day robes. He nodded to them but was not the first to speak.
"What happened Professor?" asked Harry.
"I fear Miss Weasley is in great danger at this moment. It is time to put your plan into action, Mr. Potter."
"But we don’t even know where she is!" Ron exclaimed suddenly.
"I am well aware of that Mr. Weasley. I have already taken care of that and we should know the whereabouts your sister soon." At that moment, as if on cue, Faux came swooping through the corridor and landed gracefully on the stone gargoyle, a piece of bark and what looked like house tiling clutched in his beak. The pieces where then dropped into Dumbledore’s outstretched hand. He studied them carefully before looking back up at the great bird.
"Well done Faux," he said and turned back to the four students. "It is time."
Author’s note: Okay, I made a huge mistake. When I said in my last author’s note that it was Peter Robin’s lullaby it was really Christopher Robin’s lullaby. And I’m supposed to be a Winnie the Pooh fan. Gah! Okay well here’s the next chapter, I hope you like it and I’ll try to have the next one up soon.
Text from the Wayback Machine's capture of the site, 5 November 2005.