Author's Note: Devil of Lake666: I tried to email you this chapter but it just bounced back so send me an e-mail if you can.
Without further ado:
Chapter II: Curosity Nearly Kills the Cat
Ginny's eyelids refused to droop as she stared at the high-ceiling, her clasped hands pillowing her head as she laid wide-awake listening to her roommate's shallow breathing. Hermione had crept back into their room on soft feet two hours ago, but Ginny had refused to acknowledge her, and just turned to the wall as the bushy haired girl had crawled into bed.
But Hermione wasn't the reason she wasn't participating in a blissful slumber. Her mind was whirling with a myriad of questions and possibilities. Who was their new guest? Would her mother introduce him tomorrow morning? If not, why was he here? What was his purpose? Was he part of the Order? By the look of the trainers he wore, Ginny assumed that was a no. And above all what did Snape have to do with it?
When the ceiling refused to answer her, Ginny shook her head and turned onto her stomach. Brown dawn was beginning to pool on the floor through the grimy windows, a sign that her mother would be coming in shortly to wake her for help with breakfast. The days were beginning to start earlier at Grimmauld Place and Ginny couldn't help but feel that it was her Mum's own way of preparing her for something. A 'something' she wasn't sure she wanted to be prepared for at the age of sixteen.
A yawn escaped into her pillow and Ginny could feel the familiar heavy weight on her eyelids. She wasn't going to fight the Sandman and she would only be resting them for a moment, but soon she found herself sitting on a broomstick alone in the sky staring down at the Hogwarts' Quidditch pitch except for an indiscernible voice yelling up at her.
"Ginny, get up."
Eyes flying open, Ginny sat up straight on her too firm mattress. She'd spent the last two summers of her life here, but couldn't get over waking up in a place other than the Burrow or Hogwarts and it took her a moment for her eyes and mind to register her surroundings. The gas lamp had been turned off the night before, but the rising sun had spilled through the window onto the wooden floor like a muddy rectangle giving enough light to see the rest of her bedroom.
Underneath an olive green duvet, Hermione had stretched out on her back and was sound asleep. The t-shirt she'd
left hanging over the door of her wardrobe was still holding it partially ajar and standing in the threshold of her
temporary bedroom was her Mum, a dirty wooden spoon in her hand.
"What time is it?" she groaned, squinting against the sudden light of the gas lamp her mother was busy lighting and trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
"Time for breakfast," she answered. "Now, stop being a lay-about. I need your help down stairs. Get Hermione and the boys up too."
Ginny could feel the after effects of her insomnia and wanted nothing more than to curl up into her warm sheets and sleep until noon, but she couldn't, throwing off her covers to shock her body with the house's cold air. The soles of her bare feet wanted to protest as they met the floor, but she ignored them as her eyes narrowed on her roommate. Hermione had slept through her Mother's morning greeting and Ginny felt the odd urge to dump a bowl of cold water on the girl's bushy head.
000oooo000
Ginny yawned for what felt like the tenth time that morning as she took the bowls down from the cupboard. Chairs screeched across the floor behind her as Ron and Harry tucked in. They had already set the silverware (the only job they ever had) and were patiently awaiting their breakfast. She could feel her brother and Harry's eyes following her as she set each of their bowls down with a thud, but she instantly regretted it. No matter how hacked off at her brother and his friends she was, it was no reason to damage another person's property. The sudden realization of whose china it was sent a stab of sadness and guilt plunging into her heart.
Shaking her head to clear it of such depressing thoughts, Ginny sat down at her bowl of porridge and waited for her mother and father to tuck in. Nothing had been said yet about their new guest, but she supposed that they would most likely want to announce his arrival instead of having a stranger just sitting down to breakfast. But the majority of the meal was a quite affair, her Da and Lupin were going over the morning paper while Harry, Ron and Hermione whispering about Merlin know's what, and her Mother excusing herself to fuss around the kitchen.
Frowning, Ginny looked over the front-page her Dad was holding. The lettering was unusually small and her eyesight not being as sharp as she wished it to be wouldn't quite let her see the full headline, but three words did catch her eye: Ambush, Malfoy and Missing. Leaning over the table unaware of her hair falling into her porridge, Ginny squinted,trying to read more of the story, but the sudden folding of the paper sent her back against her chair.
Her face felt on fire as her eyes met her old professor's and he quickly set the paper face down beneath his bowl. Knowing the chastising she was about to receive for nosing, Ginny sat back and waited, but Lupin simply gave her a warm smile and turned to her brother.
"It seems the Cannons are doing quite well this year," he said conversationally. "Ron, don't you agree?"
Quidditch seemed to be the perfect opening topic because Ron and Harry fell into a very detailed discussion about the problems the Gryffindor team was going to face in the coming term.
Half-listening to her brother and Harry's vow that Malfoy was going to find his Nimbus in a very unpleasant place if he tried to pull the same dirty tricks he had last year, Ginny turned her head to watch her mother.
She was bustling around the small kitchen adding scones, croissants and a jar of homemade jam to the picnic basket she was carrying. Too busy coveting one of the freshly buttered goods, Ginny didn't notice that her eyes were following her mum right out of the room until the door had closed with an unnoticeable click. Suddenly curious, Ginny kept her eyes glued to the door until her mother had returned with an empty picnic basket in one hand and no signs of an explanation in the other.
Lunch and dinner had resulted in the same odd behaviour her mother piling food into a container before disappearing from the noisy meal only to return empty-handed. The ritual had become habit at every meal for the rest of the week and Ginny began to glance at her watch when her Mum exited the room. From the time she shut the door to the time she returned was exactly eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds give or take a tenth.
But this observation just came along with the other two things that kept Ginny occupied. She had been trying to get her hands or eyes on the copy of The Daily Prophet her Dad had been reading, but to no avail so she'd looked through the other bi-daily installments for a similar phrase or wording, but had found nothing.
Her nocturnal ventures had faired no better as she had sat every night with an Extendable-Ear in hand in the exact same spot behind the banister, but Snape had not returned.
Throwing her thick, messy braid behind her, Ginny plopped onto her bed to stare at the ceiling. According to her homemade calendar it had been exactly one-week today that their guest had arrived and from the meals her mother had been packing up he hadn't gone anywhere.
It hadn't occurred to her to ask about him, but to ask about him meant that she had seen him and if she had seen him, that meant she had been spying. And spying was something Ginny didn't want to have been caught at, but the continued awkward silences between her parents and certain members of the Order were beginning to thin what little patience she had left.
Sighing, she searched the brown stains on the ceiling for answers. It was a habit she had fallen into out of boredom and this instance was no different. Today had been a rarity, nearly everyone was out of the house and Ginny was just contemplating how unusually quiet it was when the crash of breaking glass pulled her from her lethargy. From the sound the accident couldn't have been far from her room and Ginny jumped up from her bed padding to her bedroom door.
Strawberry jam was slowly sliding down the wall to pool on the floor with the shards of a glass jar, but that didn't hold Ginny's attention long. Light was pouring into the hallway from two doors down and the only obstruction was her mother's shadow and that meant only one thing. The door to the stranger's room was open.
It was the first time Ginny had actually seen it open. She'd tried a few times to catch her mother bringing him goods at lunch, but the older witch had always bested her and trying to open it herself or listen through the thick wood had resulted in nothing but a temporary shock and silence.
Her mother's angry whisper wasn't answered and as her mum locked the door and cleaned up the mess with a sweep of her wand an odd chill slithered down Ginny's spine.
She smiled to herself. Finally, she knew something no one else did.
During the big cleaning two summersago, she Ron and Hermione had been told to clean the room that stood between her own and their guests. It was a fairly good sized room filled with practically nothing, but there was one oddity, it was the only room that had a cupboard built into the wall.
After discovering only dirt and cobweb, Ginny had been chosen to clean it out. She'd grumbled about her brother being a Size-ist, that just because she was the smallest didn't mean that she should have to crawl into uncomfortable spaces for the sake of a thorough cleaning job, but with spider's nest covering her hair she climbed in.
Ridding the small walls of the cupboard of their thick dust had been more than a chore and when Ginny began to see the signs of actual wood she'd felt herself smiling. Swiping with her worn rag, she had jumped when she felt something underneath her palm. Orginally she'd thought it was a very arge insect stuck to the door but on closer inspection it turned out to be a tiny, but ordinary doorknob.
Curious Ginny tried to turn the small handle, but swore when it didn't budge. The small door was intriguing in of its self, but for someone to have locked it meant something much more interesting must be on the other side. Telling neither Ron nor Hermione, she had quietly climbed from the cupboard and excused herself from the room. It was a short trot to her own room, and she'd plopped onto her bed, digging through her rucksack until she found what she was looking for - a hair pin.
When she'd returned Ron and Hermione had been busy dragging oversized plastic bags to the rubbish chute so sneaking back into the cupboard unnoticed had been easy. Using a trick the twins had taught her, Ginny pried the small door open to disappointment. It was just another cupboard that led to another messy and equally boring room.
But this time it would be different. There would be something worthwhile on the other side.
000oooo000
Forming a plan hadn't been a long or hard process. It was simply built on good timing and stealth.
Her father, Lupin and the other three teenage wizards hadn't returned when her Mum became occupied preparing dinner and Ginny took it as her only opportunity to go completely unnoticed.
She hadn't been in the middle room since after they had cleaned it and it looked quite different as she opened the door. Five cots dressed in simple white linings and folded brown duvets at their ends were rowed against one wall and a window glass cupboard of potions and gauzes lined the other. With a sudden knot of pain in her stomach Ginny understood the exact purpose of this room.
The shocking realization brought out the frightened child she had been fighting to keep at bay and she was suddenly overcome by the compulsion to pad back to her temporary room and lay silently on the bed until dinner.
Time is of the essence Ginny, reminded a clear voice cutting through her apprehension and causing her to shake her head.
After quietly shutting the door, Ginny stepped lightly across the room moving between two cots and falling to her knees at the small door. Even after the remodeling the house-elf's door had gone unnoticed and she easily opened it.
Claustrophobia had never been a weakness of hers, but she was beginning to feel flustered as she had to wriggle inside the crawlspace. It was a bit smaller than she had remembered it and at sixteen it wasn't as easy to climb through as it had been at fourteen, but she got the outside door shut.
Beginning to sweat, Ginny relaxed against the closed door. This was harder than she had originally thought, but it was going to be worth it in the end.
<>She just knew it.
With the door shut, the cupboard was too dark, the only light being the thin ribbon of yellow beams coming through the floorboards, but that was all Ginny needed. Taking a breath, she faced the door. Physically it was how she remembered it, still small and grubby, but it looked different somehow. Logic told her that she knew this transformation had not been real but it was no help against her growing anxiety. Hand trembling,she reached out and touched the dusty door knob, but instantly recoiled. It hadn't shocked her.
In all honesty, she hadn't expected her mother and Snape to forget about it. She had thought that she would have gotten this far only to be met with disappointment at their cleverness. She had thought that they would surely have noticed something like an extra door, but as she took a deep breath and grasped the knob. It was obvious they hadn't.
The opposite cupboard was dark, but Ginny climbed into it anyway although something made her hesitate opening the door.
Once she opened that door there was no going back. If the stranger saw her, she would most likely be punished for her actions, but at least she would have a bargaining chip against her brother.
I only want a tiny glimpse, she told herself. He's probably asleep anyway. He can't be all that bad, if Mum's bringing him his meals.
Suddenly the image of a strawberry jam and thick glass flashed across her inner eye, but Ginny ignored it and opened the tiny door.
Ginny suspected that if you tried hard enough you could probably blow smoke the room was so cold but it would have done you no good had you wanted to see it, because the room was so dark she couldn't make it her own hand. She forced herself to ignore the nerves that were racking her stomach and sending gooseflesh over her bare arms and legs.
The floor was splintered and scratched her hands and knees as she blindly squirmed through the door. One hand before her as she crawled, searching for something to navigate her, but she didn't move far into the room before she felt a large flat surface against her left side and used it as a guide to slowly stand up.
Panic was beginning to pool in Ginny's stomach as she tried to look around to see exactly who or what was in here but not even the sun could penetrate the thick curtains. There was nothing.
Realization wormed its way into Ginny's head. Maybe it was the wrong room. Relief overrode Ginny's pang of disappointment and a chuckle nearly escaped her lips before a sound of brushing fabric and moving air caught her ear.
Ginny froze. Her muscles reflexively tensed at the sudden sharp sting on her neck. Something pointy was pressing painfully against her throat and her crowded mind couldn't force her body to move.
"Drop your wand," ordered a voice out of the dark. It was deep and drawling and took nothing away from the menacing feel of the wand against her neck. She tried to lick her lips but, her mouth had gone dry and for the first time since she'd put her plan into action, Ginny realized that this had been a bad idea.
"Don't make me repeat myself," threatened the disembodied voice, jabbing the weapon deeper into her skin.
Grimacing, Ginny went on to tiptoe to escape the pain but the weapon only followed her. "I don't have one," she honestly answered, sickened by the whine in her own tone.
"Then whatever weapon you do have, I advise you drop it."
"I told you already I don't have one," Ginny repeated. Her fear was ebbing with her sagging limbs as the familiarity of the voice pressed her mind to remember a face, but her memory came up blank.
"And I don't believe you," he continued. "So let's see your hands. Palms up."
Letting out a shaking breath, Ginny raised her hands, proving her innocence, but her sudden relief was demolished as long fingers wrapped around her forearms and the wizard pulled her fully into the room, blinding her eyes with the sudden kindling of the room's gas lamps.
"Who are you and what do you-"
Ginny felt her breath leave her lungs as she stared at the equally shocked boy who had pulled her into his room. She had had her suspicions about their guest and now she yearned to take back being right. She wanted to be wrong and that it was a kind old wizard from the original Order or a young Recruit, but all the wishing couldn't deny the truth.
It was Draco Malfoy.
TBC...
Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update, but you know how RL can be. I hope to get the next chapter
out quickly.
Special thanks to Rainpuddle13, who is not only a great author but an awesome BETA who came up with
this chapter's clever title!
Thanks to: Swimchick1614, WaitingfortheSun, SauronofMordor, Ezmerelda, Anonymous, lukkiseven, Katiex,
Adrial, Eri, and last but not least Elyse (and as you can see it will definetly not just be a oneshot, sorry if it came
off that way before).