Alright my lovelies. The drama starts. No more fluffiness. Keep reviewing though please. I adore reviews….
CHAPTER 13 Left Behind
Ginny's O.W.L.s came and went and she managed to survive. Ron hadn't said anything else about her mysterious rash, and she had made sure Draco didn't leave anymore hickeys; at least, not on her neck. She and Draco hadn't stopped seeing each other, but with the looming summer vacation, Ginny found herself more worried than excited. At Hogwarts, she was able to see Draco every single day. Sometimes they met in the empty dungeons, sometimes up in one of the unused classes on the 7th floor, and he crept to her room at least once a week. But during the summer, she couldn't think of a single way to see him. It wasn't like her family was going to invite him to the Burrow or to Grimmauld Place or where ever they were staying, and she wasn't going to be a welcome guest at Malfoy Manor. But as worried as she was about not seeing Draco, he was a thousand times more concerned about seeing his father.
Three days before school let out, Ginny and Draco were hiding directly outside of the Hogwarts gates. Lying in the warm sun, Ginny picked handfuls of grass and piled them into neat hills on Draco's back.
"What are you doing?" he groaned.
"Nothing," she lied.
"Are you getting me dirty?"
"No." She flicked her wrist and knocked a tiny pile of dust towards him.
"Oh yeah?" Draco grabbed a handful of earth and threw it at Ginny.
"Ew!" she exclaimed as it hit her robes.
"Terrific," Draco exclaimed crossly. "Look what you did."
"What I did?" Ginny asked, eyeing the dirt on his hands. "You picked it up."
"No, I-"
Ginny heard the voice at the same time. Harry's voice, drifting over the wall.
"He's in Hogsmead."
"But how do you know?" her brother demanded.
"I know he's there. He's waiting for me. I can finish this now!" Harry's voice was urgent.
"But what are we going to do, Harry?" Hermione spoke up. "We can't just walk out!"
"We'll take the passage," Harry said finally. "The one I used in our third year."
"Where is that?" Ron asked.
"The hunchback witch statue on the third floor."
"Do you remember the password?"
"Yeah. Dissendium."
Ginny and Draco exchanged glances as the voices faded. "Do you think they're going now?" he asked.
"Probably," Ginny admitted, feeling guilty. Harry, Hermione, and Ron and been dedicatedly researching You Know Who, and she hadn't helped at all. Instead, she spent all her time with Draco, ignoring Ron's outbursts and Harry's dirty looks.
He closed his eyes and remained silent, and when he opened them, Ginny was almost afraid at the look of resignation in them. "I'm going with them."
Ginny nodded, troubled, but not surprised. "So am I."
Draco bit his lower lip. "I've got to get my cloak so that no one will know my face. The Death Eaters would
kill me in two seconds flat if they see me."
They scurried back inside the grounds one at a time, and waited until Harry had disappeared inside the castle before following.
"I'll meet you there," Draco whispered as they parted. "Don't go without me."
Ginny nodded. "Okay."
She made a beeline for the statue and danced impatiently, waiting for Draco.
"Ms. Weasley."
She whirled around and saw Professor McGonagall walking towards her.
"Yes ma'am?"
"I was wondering if could have a word."
Ginny looked around helplessly, but Draco was no where in sight. "I, um . . ."
"It will just take a moment."
"Sure." She bit her lip as she followed her professor down the hall, opposite the direction Draco would be coming in. As they began climbing the stairs to her office, Neville's voice cut through the quiet.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Longbottom," McGonagall greeted him.
Ginny waited until he was nearly out of sight and then said, "Oh. I forgot. May I go speak to Neville for just a moment, professor? I'll be quick."
"Very well," she agreed.
Ginny raced down the stairs. "Neville!"
"Yeah?" he turned to face her.
"Listen, listen, it's very important," she whispered. "Harry thinks You Know Who is in Hogsmead and he's gone to face him."
"What?" he gasped.
"Shh, shh! I'm supposed to meet Draco at-"
"Malfoy?"
"Yes, please listen. I'm supposed to meet him at that statue on the 3rd floor of the humpbacked witch. It's a passage way to Hogsmead, but McGonagall's got me. Will you tell him to wait for me and I'll hurry?"
Neville stared at her, confused.
"Neville, I know you don't like Draco, but just tell him I sent you and it will be okay," she begged.
"Okay," he relented finally.
Ginny went back to her head of house and followed her to her office.
"The results of the O.W.L.s are not in yet," Professor McGonagall told her, "but I have heard that you excelled in many of your subjects."
"My O.W.L.s? But I just took them."
"Yes, but the rumors on the results come back to us very quickly."
"Right."
"But what I wanted to talk to you about, is the other rumors I have been hearing."
"What other rumors?" Ginny asked, glancing at the hourglass behind her teacher.
"Regarding you and Mr. Malfoy."
Ginny had no time to react, to wonder how the rumors were started or what they meant. "Yes, well-"
"I assume you are aware of his father's position in this war."
"Of course I am. His father tried to kill me, but I don't think Draco is his father."
"And neither does Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall forced a smile at her. "However, Professor Snape and I have been-"
"Professor Snape?"
"I am sure you are aware of his duty to the Order."
Ginny knew good and well that it was Snape's job to pretty much spy on the Death Eaters, or at least something like that. "Why would you talk about me with Snape?"
"Because it concerns us. As far as You Know Who and his Death Eaters are concerned, Mr. Malfoy is scheduled to join them this summer!"
"He's not going to," Ginny told her quickly, hoping this would end soon.
"He's not?"
"No," she sighed. "They wanted him to join right after the Holidays and be a spy, but he didn't. He did want Hermione told him to, and-"
"Ms. Granger?" Her professor looked at her with clear skepticism in her eyes.
Ginny nodded. "Yes. Hermione told him to tell his father he was flattered, but he needed to concentrate on his N.E.W.T.s!"
McGonagall sat back in her chair, digesting Ginny's words.
Ginny was paying no attention. She knew her Professor meant well, but the longer she talked, Ginny realized without a doubt the Draco had gone on without her.
"Are you alright, Ms. Weasley?"
Ginny glanced at her watch. She had been in here for nearly 25 minutes, and without warning, a painful pressure was filling her chest. Suddenly the room was hotter than she could bare and she was having difficulty breathing. "No! I have to go!" She jumped up and ran down the stairs, back towards the passage way. "Dissendium!" she shouted at the statue, banging her wand against it. The witch's back opened and as Ginny scrambled upward, McGonagall's voice rang out.
"What are you doing?"
"I have to go," Ginny insisted frantically, the panic gripping her. "They need me!"
"Who needs you?" She took hold of Ginny's legs and began to pull her back.
"No! Harry's there! He's in Hogsmead. You Know Who is there! Harry went to face him! Something happened. I can feel it!"
"Professor, what is going on?" This time it was Snape.
"She says Harry went to Hogwarts to face You Know Who," McGonagall told Snape before turning back to Ginny. "Who else went?"
"All of them!" Ginny hysterically tried to slide into the statue. Nothing was coming into focus anymore. The pain in her chest had spread through her arms and her back. "Harry and Hermione and Ron and Draco and probably Neville. I need to go!"
"Take her to Dumbledore's office," Snape said sharply. "I'll round up the Order."
"No!" Ginny screamed, panic overcoming her. Something was wrong. Something had gone wrong. "I have to go."
She didn't have to wait to go to Dumbledore's office. He stepped out of the room across the hall. "Ms. Weasley."
"He's there, Professor," she shouted. "He's in Hogsmead and Harry went."
"And you said Mr. Malfoy went?" he inquired.
"Yes!" she told him, beginning to cry as she struggled to breathe. "I think Neville went with him. They went to help. Something happened. I can feel it. Something bad."
"This tunnel leads to Honeydukes, I believe?"
She nodded, crying uncontrollably, the world fading in and out.
"Take her to the hospital wing." And he was gone.
Ginny cried and screamed and fought, and even though Madam Pomfrey poured a calming drought down her throat, the panic overwhelmed her she threw it back up, and then blacked out.
***
Any guesses about what went wrong?
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