A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone. I love reviews. And to answer a few questions that have come up, no Draco is not a victim of his father's manipulations. He makes his own choices. Speaking of Lucius, he could care less if Draco has Ginny locked away, he has other things to deal with. And if you are getting 20 million alerts, this is the reason: when ever I try to upload to this site, my connection pretty much dies. So every time I hit submit, y'all get an alert. Sorry.
CHAPTER 3 Fall
"Don't ever do that again," Draco hissed as she turned her head away.
"Why . . . why would you do that?" she quaked, unable to control her trembling.
He stared at her, his expression strangely curious. "This is what I was born to do."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears escaping her eyes.
He let out a cold, bitter laugh. "You're sorry? I have you locked away here, and you're sorry?"
She had no words for him, so she sat still, letting the tears roll.
"What did you want?" he asked after a long silence. "Sully said you called for me."
"Nothing," she shook her head.
"It was something," he said crossly.
"No, I was just, just lonely."
Gradually, Draco stood to his feet and reached for her hand. "Come here."
She stood to her feet and let him lead her to the small couch near the window. He sat down next to her and reached for the telly remote. They sat together, watching it until Ginny fell asleep again.
When she woke she was in the bed, wearing one of the nighties Draco had brought her. She hoped it was Sully who had changed her. He came back that night, and the next, and the next, and they continued their ritual of sitting in silence and watching the telly.
"Have you heard . . . anything about my, my family?" Ginny dared to ask one evening.
"No," he answered shortly without looking at her.
"Nothing? The De-, they haven't said anything?"
"No. They haven't."
Ginny chewed nervously at her thumb nail. "Why don't you say we?"
"What?" he snapped, finally dragging his eyes away from the program to glare at her.
"You said they. Aren't you one of them now?"
"What fucking difference does it make to you?"
"Sorry." Ginny stood to her feet and crossed the room to her bed, yanking back the covers and sliding inside.
The noises from the telly tried to fill up the silence in the room.
"What are you doing?" he asked finally.
She didn't answer.
"Hello?" he barked.
She heard him rise to his feet, and felt the bed move as he sat at the edge.
"Why are you asking me about that?"
"What else am I going to talk to you about?" she demanded, sitting up. "There's not too much we have in common. I guess we could always talk about you kidnapping me!"
Draco's face contorted and she wondered for a second if she had gone too far. "Why don't you not talk
at all?"
"Because I get bored!" she shouted. "And lonely. It really sucks being locked up in here for months and
months!"
He had no reply.
"So forgive me if I ask you questions that you don't like!"
"Just make sure you don't do it again," he said spitefully.
"Get out!" she yelled. "Get out!"
"This is my house. I don't have to go anywhere."
"I hate you." She grabbed the only thing within reach, a small vase, and threw it at him. "I hate you!"
He ducked the vase and was on top of her in an instant, one knee pinning her chest to the bed, one hand clasping both wrists firmly above her head, and his other hand clenching her jaw so tightly that her teeth were cutting into the sides of her mouth. "You need to learn to control your temper, Weasley," he snarled. "One more incident like that and you won't have the things you have now. You could have it a lot worse."
"Please, get off," she gasped. "I can't breathe."
"Understand?"
She nodded her head the little that she could, but he didn't move. "Please, I can't breathe!" The room was beginning to fade from her vision and her brain was barely processing anything. "Please!"
At last Draco rolled off of her, and she gasped for air as he stomped from the room. He paused for a moment and then raised his fist, and smashed it into the wall.
Ginny sank lower into her bed and she wondered if he wished he had been hitting her.
****
He stayed away.
At first Ginny was glad, fearful of him, but as the sunlit days grew shorter and the leaves on the trees turned from green to golds and oranges, she missed him; she missed having a person. She craved human interaction, and the telly was of no use. Finally she broke down and asked Sully to beg him to come back.
"He gaves me no answer," Sully squeaked, and Ginny thought he would never return. She went back to her habit of lying in bed without eating, sleeping the time away.
The days were short and gray when Draco returned, bringing a dinner tray. "Sully says you're not eating," he told her flatly, his voice waking her up.
She stared at him, afraid to say anything that would anger him and cause him to leave her alone again. He seemed thinner than she remembered, but maybe she was wrong, as his arms still appeared sculpted. His ice colored eyes were haunted, and she noticed that he wasn't wearing a button down shirt. For the first time, she saw him in a thin undershirt and worn denim trousers. She hadn't been aware that a Malfoy would own such clothes.
Ginny struggled to sit up and found that she couldn't; the week of consuming nearly nothing had left her vulnerable and exposed.
Draco looked at her with obvious disgust written across his pristine face, before helping her into a sitting position. "You're going to eat now," he muttered once she was situated.
Ginny nodded, afraid to try the rich looking bowl of chowder in front of her, but even more scared to contradict him.
Draco moved until he was sitting directly in front of her and handed her a goblet of water to drink, and then dipped the spoon into the bowl and lifted it to her lips.
The chowder was excellent, as all the food she had been served was, but her stomach rolled even at the small spoonful that she had swallow. She took another tentative sip of the water and prayed that everything would stay down.
Draco lifted a second spoonful to her lips, and then a third, and on the fourth, Ginny's stomach could handle it no more and before she could stop herself, she leaned to the side and retched.
Draco jumped back in surprise and then immediately rang for Sully while Ginny began to cry.
"She's sick," Draco told Sully stiffly.
Sully glanced at the situation and said timidly, "Master, if I mays?"
Draco gave a sharp, rigid nodded.
"I thinks that she needs a light broth. She has not eaten all week."
"Fine," Draco told her.
"I'm sorry," Ginny sobbed. "I'm sorry."
Draco shook his head. "Sully will take care of this and I will get you a bath. Then we'll try some broth."
"Okay," she wept, angry at her weakness and mortified at her feebleness.
Draco stood and went to the bathroom and moments later she heard the water running. Sully quickly snapped her fingers and cleaned Ginny's mess and then removed the dinner tray. The elf then climbed onto the bed and stood over Ginny.
"Lift up your arms, Missus," she instructed.
"What?" Ginny whispered, wiping at her tears.
"Go on now," she commanded. "You cannot bathes with clothes on."
"But I'm-"
"They is dirty anyways."
With another snap of the elf's fingers, Ginny found herself very naked. She yanked the blanket over her chest as Draco reentered the room.
"I'll carry you," he instructed.
"No," she tried to protest. "I don't have any clothes."
"I don't think you'll have any in the bath either," he muttered.
"No, I, please-"
"Fine," he shrugged with indifference. "Sully, get her robe."
Sully simply snapped her fingers a third time, and Ginny was wearing the robe. Draco tentatively helped her from the bed. She was determined to walk on her own, to stop making a fool of herself in front of him, but her legs had other plans. She felt absolutely ridiculous, as her legs gave away the second time and she stumbled, clinging desperately to Draco's arm. She had never in her life been so vulnerable and pathetic, and she had brought it on herself by refusing to eat. She bit the inside of her lips and tightened her grip on Draco. She would not allow him to carry her to the bath.
It felt like an eternity of baby steps, but when she finally made it, she lowered herself to the side of the tub and let out a small laugh. "Oh gods. I did it."
"Can you get it?" Draco asked woodenly.
Ginny nodded, hoping he didn't notice that she was gasping for air. "Are you . . . going out?"
"No."
"Oh." There was no way she was allowing him to see her naked. Absolutely no way, especially now that she was so skeletal.
"I'll turn around."
Ginny eyed his back before cautiously removing the robe and sliding into the bubble filled tub.
The large bathroom was silent except for the occasional movement of the water.
****
After her bath, Draco fed Ginny her broth, and allowed her to go back to sleep. When she woke, the room was dark, except for the bluish glow of the telly.
"How do you feel?" Draco's words floated to her from across the room.
"Okay," she answered quietly.
He crossed the room and pulled the cord to signal Sully. "Bring us dinner," he commanded when she appeared.
Ginny sat still at the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do or say.
"It's snowing," Draco told her after a moment.
"It is?"
He nodded. "First snow of the winter."
Ginny's eyes moved to the large window. Sure enough, in the light of the telly, she could see the silver flakes falling past. "What month is it?"
"Almost November."
"Oh." I've been here six months.
"Here you is, Master," Sully appeared, balancing a large tray of food. "I bring broth for the Missus."
"Thank you," he replied shortly, placing the tray on a table.
Ginny forced herself to sit at the table and methodically dip her spoon in the bowl and raise it to her lips. Six months . . .
She barely noticed Draco sitting across from her, and started when he spoke. "I have arranged for you to freely roam the Manor and the grounds when you are ready."
She froze, the spoon hovering over the bowl.
"My parents are not here anymore. Mother never liked this place and convinced father to go back to the Manor in Wiltshire."
"Where is this place?"
"Stonehenge."
There was a short silence. "Thank you," she said.
Draco didn't lock her door anymore, but it was nearly a week before Ginny felt strong enough to venture from her room. Draco showed her the dining rooms, the kitchen, several different living areas, guest rooms, the library, his office, the gardens, and the stables. It was a magnificent house, even if several of the portraits in the gallery sneered at her and clucked their tongues at Draco.
One afternoon, when the sky was clear, but the air was icy cold, Ginny attempted to leave the grounds. She walked away from the Manor in what she perceived to be a straight line, but managed to end up exactly where she started. She attempted it several more times when Draco was gone, but the result was always the same. The fourth time, when Sully entered the foyer to take her coat, the elf shook her little head sadly.
"Have you not got it figured, Missus? There are many, many charms and wards and curses on this Manor. You cannot ever leave."
Ginny nodded. "I had to try."
Usually Draco was at the Manor for dinner, but occasionally he wasn't. He and Ginny dined at the large table in the nicest of the dining rooms, and when he wasn't there, Ginny took her dinner in the library. They had little to talk about, but it was comforting to know that she wasn't completely alone.
One gray morning, Ginny woke to find Sully in her room, setting up a miniature Christmas tree.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked with a yawn.
"It's almost Christmases," the elf reminded her. "We is decorating the Manor today."
Ginny paused, midway to her armoire. In the month or so since Draco had allowed her to rove freely through the Manor, she had given very little thought to her family or the fact that she was indeed, a prisoner. Dear gods, her family. Where were they? Were they even alive? "Sully?"
"Yes, Missus?"
"Do we have any copies of the Daily Prophet?"
"Not for you Missus."
Ginny's heart sank. So she wasn't allowed that either.
Draco was present at dinner, and so she summoned all her courage. "Draco?"
"Yes?" He glanced up in mild surprise.
"Please don't be upset with me, but . . . I have to know." She paused and swallowed a large breath of air. "Do you know anything about my family?"
Draco was silent, and she began to wish she had never opened her mouth. "I know some, yes," he nodded finally.
"Are they safe?"
"I doubt it."
She bit her lip. "Are they alive?"
"Currently, yes."
A ridiculous swelling of hope surged in her chest. If her family had been in danger since at least the summer, and was still alive, then she was confident they would stay that way. "Thank you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: The next chapter is where things start moving along. The biggest warning in store for you is character death. Also, we'll deal with insanity, some sex (cause I know y'all are pervy like that - or is that me???), violence, and all the wonderfully dark things I can drag up.
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