Thanks again to all my darling reviewers. I know this chapter is another short one, sorry, sorry!
CHAPTER 7
Ginny watched out of the corner of her eye as Draco crept up the stairs of the Knight Bus. She knew he was in pain, probably in trouble, and as always, far too stubborn to say so. There were two witches on the bus, fussing over Hermione's still limp body and giving Luna anti pain charms for her arm. Stan walked in nervous circles around them, and Ernie sped on towards Hogsmead. "Lot of bad spells in the air t'day," Ernie muttered. "Can't cut through many of these places, you know. Gonna be a long ride."
"He's gone," Harry whispered, his voice high and disbelieving.
"You knew it had to happen like this," Neville said quietly.
Harry shook his head in shocked disbelief. "I thought he would get me."
"Don't say that," Luna snapped, her teeth clenched in pain. "We hardly want to know we went to support the boy who thought he was going to die!"
Ginny raised an eyebrow in surprise, and if she hadn't of felt so worn, she may have smiled. "But you did it, Harry. He's gone."
"Because of all you."
"No," Dean shook his head wearily. "Because of you."
Ginny waited several minutes then edged herself out of her seat and up the winding staircases until she found Draco on the third floor, leaning against a window.
"Hey," she greeted him quietly.
He didn't answer.
"You okay?"
He let out a small snort, turned, and limped towards a small bed that was crammed against a wall.
"Let me see," Ginny requested, sitting down beside him. Ginny stretched out her hand to touch the ripped and damp left side of his robe, and confirmed her fears as she saw the red wetness on her fingers. She glanced at Draco, but he was still staring out the window, so she slid off the bed, and kneeling in front of him, gently pulled his robes aside until she had a clearer view of his side.
"What?" Draco demanded as Ginny gasped.
His side was nearly split open, oozing blood and something else, something that Ginny wasn't sure of, but was the silvery green color of old dragon meat.
Draco glanced down at his side, and then at Ginny. "It was him, wasn't it?"
"What?" she asked, preoccupied with his wound. "I'm not so good at healing charms. I can go see if Hermione's awake yet."
Draco reached down and grabbed Ginny by the arms, using so much force her head snapped backwards before bobbing forward again. "Tell me. Was it my father?" His voice was lethal and acidic, and suddenly, Ginny felt very afraid.
"I don't know," she stammered, trying to pull away from him.
"Tell me," he roared, his face red and twisted with rage. "You spoke to him!"
Ginny nodded, tears escaping the corners of her eyes as all Draco's rage and the pain and trauma of the day came crashing down on her.
"Why would you lie to me? I've never lied to you." His hissing voice filled the small room, and Ginny was terrified that Ron would suddenly appear.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want to upset you."
Draco's fingers grew tighter on her arms as he glared at her, then without a word he released her. He held onto his side, doubled over in pain, and then as the worst of it passed, slowly stretched out on the bed, his back towards Ginny.
Ginny watched Draco for several minutes, then glanced out the window. The sun was low in the sky, but she didn't know if it was rising or setting. She had no idea how long they had been in the cemetery, no idea if it had been for minutes or hours. She watched the country side roll by and wished she was at Hogwarts, tucked safe into Draco's bed, knowing Dumbledore was there to protect them.
After a bit, the witch who had been fussing over Hermione downstairs made her way up the stairs to offer Ginny some pumpkin juice and small cakes.
"You must be starving dear," the witch said softly. "They said you have been fighting all day."
Oh. So we have been there all day. Ginny nodded and accepted the food.
"Is he okay?" the witch asked, staring at Draco who was now asleep, but moaning and thrashing.
Ginny shook her head and swallowed. "I don't think so. He got cursed. It looks bad."
The witch leaned over Draco and carefully lifted the edges of his robe. She shook her head and bit her lip, then pulled out her wand, held it over the wound and muttered a few words. Her wand slowly emitted a faint blue smoke and she stirred it, staring into it before speaking. "That's an ancient curse. One that evil wizards of old reserved for those they hated the most, family members who had betrayed them and the like."
How fitting, Ginny though bitterly as the blue smoke faded away. "How do you know?"
"I've studied a lot about the ancient world. I work in the historical department at the Ministry."
"Can you heal it?"
She shook her head. "I'm not a healer. I don't even know if the best of healers could do that. I can give him some strong pain charms though."
Ginny felt her heart sink even lower, as exhaustion washed over her. Draco grew silent as the charms took effect.
"Come down soon dear," the witch told her. "We'll be there shortly, and you must prepare yourself for what lies ahead."
Ginny hoped that nothing lay ahead because she was too tired to face it.
"Come up here," she heard Draco whisper sleepily.
She slowly pulled herself up to the bed Draco was lying on. She sat against the headboard and let Draco put his head in her lap. She ran her hands across his back, and tried to ignore the bruises she was sure were forming on her arms, and unconsciously recalled a time before when Draco had left bruises on her.
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