AN: Oh my GOSH. I can hardly believe that I got this chapter DONE. First of all, it has been sitting on my hard drive for at least three months now in bits and pieces. I've barely sorted through all the mess of false starts and pointless notes. I could've started fifteen new fics w/ all the different beginning chapters I wrote. But, phew! I finally finished. Last night I was seriously contemplating leaving a note on the site to say that I'd rethought the whole sequel and decided that I just couldn't do it. Thankfully, I had a total epiphany tonight and actually might have created a plot for it! So yay! And here it is. It's going to start off fairly slowly as I begin but it'll pick up significantly as the chapters progress. This first chapter is just a refresher basically and to establish everyone's thoughts and emotions since the previous fic. I really hope you guys still remember me and like it!
Enjoy!
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To be or not to be a Malfoy
sequel to "To be or not to be a Weasley"
Prologue
Author: Adrial
A hundred days have made me older
since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lights have made me colder
and I don't think I can look at this the same
But all the miles that separate
They disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face
I'm here without you baby but you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams
And tonight it's only you and me
Everything I know, and anywhere I go
It gets hard but it won't take away my love
And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done
It gets hard but it won't take away my love
I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl it's only you and me…
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An uncommonly cool breeze rustled the tattered shutters that encased a small, darkened window. The grimy pane of glass was obscured by months of dust and neglect, and swallowed the glow of the pale moon as it poured light onto the deserted street below. Nearby, invisible arms shook the branches of scraggly trees that seemed to have been frozen in mid-stretch towards the sky. More or less, not a soul lay disturbed as spring bid farewell before slipping past in the night for another place in the world, thus leaving behind the tiny town for the wrath of summer's fire.
On the coattails of the departing whispers of springtime, a massive figure, dressed in black robes and armed with a heart of contrasting character, stepped into the darkened doorway below the forgotten window. His ebony skin glowed with a sheath of light perspiration and he adjusted his hood around his shadowed face, leaving only two luminescent blue eyes visible to the night.
Next to him, the rustle of robes followed as a second form appeared with the sound of snapping branches. This considerably smaller figure was washed by the night's glow as the moon peaked out curiously from its bed of clouds to witness the new visitor's arrival. His hesitation was evident as he slowly removed his hood to reveal a pale face; playful moon rays glinted upon a flash of contempt that flickered momentarily within the liquid color of his eyes before diving once again into the black vapor that billowed ominously around them. For a moment, the tension in his shoulders relaxed as he looked silently at his massive companion. But feeling the eyes of the night upon his back, he swiveled his penetrating gaze to the skies as a young buck would freeze in the forest, weary of those who craved his blood.
His escort waited a moment before grasping his shoulder and nodding away from the open street. They stepped carefully across the cobblestone path and paused for a few seconds. After a moment, a third anonymous figure emerged, addressing each of the two men with a careful nod. Flanked on either end by the two imposing figures, the youngest figure closed his eyes silently for a moment, feeling the rampage of his heart's stress rattle against his ribcage.
The clouds parted once more for the silent orb to witness as the newly arrived man muttered quietly into the air and the wind began to kick up around the hems of their robes. A lonely streetlight fizzled before dying in the darkness, and the air thickened with the burning aroma of powerful magic. The looming buildings bordering the narrow street stretched and groaned at the call of magic, though no curious faces poked out from behind curtains to inquire the cause.
As quickly as the bustling breeze began, it halted at the feet of the three companions. More words were silently spoken, but the only utterance that the newly buzzing night allowed was one simple phrase.
"Welcome home, Mr. Malfoy."
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The Burrow
June 21
Embedded in a sea of dark grass, Ginny Weasley turned over onto her side, her eyes squinted closed. Her calm breathing was barely audible over the eerie melody of the night, but as she dreamed, the crease between her brow deepened and only the clenching and unclenching of her fists indicated the painful twist her heart gave every time the images faded and her world dissolved into another snapshot of her past.
**********"Are you afraid of the dark, Weasel?"
"Maybe…" She bit her lip. "There used to be a ghoul up here. I've never actually been up here before, well at least not without Ron or Dad or Mum. But that was ages ago…" She shivered again. Draco smothered the impulse to hand his cloak over to her. She was actually frightened.
He smirked again. "Don't worry, Weasel. The big bad ghoul isn't going to get you." Ginny scoffed and smacked his arm.
"Wow, Ginny, with an arm like that, it's a wonder you haven't caused me serious damage."
"What did you just say?" She began to smirk devilishly at him. Draco didn't like that smirk. Not-at-all.
He swallowed, "Erm…that you hit like a prissy little girl?"
"No…before that. What did you call me?" She was smiling full-on now. Draco didn't like that either.
"Weasel?"
"No."
"Flame-head?"
"I think not. I believe," Ginny sat on her knees and practically bounced with glee, "that you just called me Ginny."
A small smile played upon her sleeping face, but the visions persisted, unwilling to remain on any one long enough for her to dwell on them. Her world turned bright with dawn and the smell of the country filled her nose. Her hair was slick and her clothes felt as if she'd been doused with water or, she remembered clearly, been on the back of a powerful broom, gliding through an endless current of clouds with her arms locked tightly to keep from falling. Draco's glaring face was boring down upon her own.
"You know nothing about me."
"Oh, yeah?" Ginny glared at his profile, "What if I said that I could read you like a book?"
"Right. Page one: Poor little Draco Malfoy-he's so misunderstood!" His scornful tone kindled the growing fire in his eyes.
Ginny hastily spat back, "Page One: Spoiled little rich boy-desperately ashamed of his father!"
"Weasley…" Draco began warningly.
Ginny stood up furiously, "Page two: Draco Malfoy-afraid of becoming exactly what his father wants him to be!"
Draco was standing now, as well. "If you don't shut that bloody mouth of-"
"Page three!" Ginny continued, "Evil little slytherin biding his time until he gets his own pretty little tattoo! Page four! Draco Malfoy is a cowardly git who is too afraid to stand up for what he thinks is right because he's too bloody scared of disappointing Daddy!"
Draco lunged at her, pinning her to the ground with his entire body, a vicious snarl smeared across his face.
"Would you like me to turn to page five, Malfoy?"
In her sleep, Ginny rocked and quaked. She knew what the next sequence of images would be. It had been the same for two weeks; those faces, long and narrow black streaks of fear, luminescent green orbs for eyes. They held Ginny's fears in core of their being, and every time they haunted her dreams, she would be enveloped in a suffocating cloud of anxiety that hovered gloomily over her for days afterward, exactly like that night she'd spent in the infirmary last term, battling against the hallucinations.
And then like clockwork, he would appear. Blue eyes turned hollow silver, skin the a shade darker than death, smirking with hatred so tangible, she could hardly breathe around it.
"It's too late, Ginevra."
Ginny's eyes snapped open. Her lungs were burning unbearably, but she willed her heart to keep beating.
"N-no…I…Dra-"
"There is no Draco, Ginny. He's only a Malfoy. Always a Malfoy."
Tears spilled from Ginny's eyes, as his cold lips brushed against her ear once more.
"Never your Draco, again."
"NO!!"
As if breaking free of invisible steel chains, Ginny bolted upright into the night, turbulent pools of brown darting around her fearfully. Her chest heaved and her eyes quaked with tears as she drew her legs to her chest, rocking back and forth to calm her racing heart. From above, Venus winked and glittered but the swaying girl noticed nothing. After taking a few long minutes to calm herself, Ginny craned her neck and drank in the farewell aroma of spring, feeling the hot, sticky humidity of the summer night cling to her hair and neck. She sighed, curling her feet into the soft blanket of grass that surrounded her like a dark sea.
The moon's rays flirted with the gentle curve of her cheekbones and small nose. Her auburn hair turned black in the night lay strewn around her in a halo while she absently twirled her curly ends with her index finger, trying with every ounce of her being to dull the ache in her chest. The heat of the night seemed to stifle her, yet she remained completely immobile. Truthfully, she feared that movement would make her existence in the current moment all too real to her. It had been something that she'd feared for nearly two weeks now-trying to outrun her reality.
Devilishly, the rays lit upon two crystals in the corners of Ginny's eyes. The round gems quivered in their places for a moment before losing their grip on the edge of their auburn-lashed cliff. They slipped solemnly down, winding across pale freckles and two pink lips pursed tightly together.
Using her last defense, Ginny closed her eyelids over the accumulating moisture, but her will was not strong enough. A thin silver line wriggled beneath her lashes and dove over her face with fierce rebellion.
Above the battle of will and emotion, stars blinked brightly on the horizon as wispy clouds overtook the sky, promising rain. Ginny's heart gave one last painful throb and her body quaked with the force. Curling onto her side, she fought away her fear and anxiety. The longer those dreams haunted her nights, the more she feared for the worst.
Had the last year been for nothing? What would the summer bring? She mulled over these thoughts, trying to sort out reasonable answers yet overcome by more questions that popped into her mind before any reason was formed.
She took in a shaky breath and tried to calm herself. It had been the first time she had cried since leaving Draco on the platform two weeks prior. For a while, perhaps the first few days or so, she had actually believed that she would be alright. So what if she had no idea where Draco was? As long as Dumbledore was confident in his safety, she was sure no harm would come to him. But then there was the possibility that Dumbledore had misjudged his plan; what if Lucius, by some cruel trick of dark magic, had slipped into his secret hiding place and stolen Draco in the night?
That day in the Daily Prophet, the announcement of the Ministry's continued wizard-hunt for Lucius Malfoy was printed in bold on the front cover. On the corner of the article was a picture of Draco, her Draco, standing beside him in a portrait. His face was strained yet every bit as aristocratic as she remembered. What was troubling was the allegation captioned beneath the photo.
As the hunt for one of You-know-who's most dangerous followers, Lucius Malfoy, continues the Ministry of Magic stresses to all to be on the look out. Malfoy is rumored to have rejoined his fellow Death Eater fellows and, once again, these reckless criminals are not to be approached…While authorities search tirelessly for Lucius, his immediately family, wife Narcissa and 17 year old son Draco Malfoy, have been unable to be reached for comment. When questioned, sources say that no one has seen or heard from Mrs. Malfoy or her son in months. Their whereabouts remain uninvestigated; however, ministry officials say they will be on the lookout…It isn't bold to say that both may be helping hide Lucius or, worse, joined ranks beside their Death Eater husband and father in his continued loyalty to You-Know-Who.
Ginny had flung down the paper as if it were on fire. She knew that she wouldn't be able to survive three months if that was the rubbish she would be subjected to every day-having to wait for the paper to tell her if Draco had been found, if he'd been taken by his father, if Dumbledore's security had been finally breeched. She didn't know how she would be able to handle any more.
To exacerbate her situation, her brother had constructed a Ron-sized wall around himself to ward her off. He wouldn't speak to her until she vowed to admit to her relationship with Draco and to cut off all contact with him at the same time. She blatantly refused and forced herself to believe that it was none of his bloody business in the first place who she saw or didn't. As far as she was concerned, the only contact she would be having with Draco during the summer, anyway, was the longing hope that he might actually think of her.
At least he hadn't gone totally stark raving mad and blurted it all to their family, but she could only count on his silence for so long. He probably didn't want to give their mother a heart attack. How bloody noble of him.
Ginny leaned back on her elbows and sighed. Her stomach was already swimming in anxiety as the following morning's post drew nearer. She shook her head to try to clear her mind of worry, though only managing to jumble together the horrible visions of Draco's name listed in black as one of those attacked recently by a Death Eater, or worse…attacked and killed.
The screen door of her house suddenly creaked open and light flooded the back yard.
"Oy, Gin! Mum says if you don't get your skinny ar-"
"Ronald!"
"What I meant to say is that our lovely Mum says if you don't get in here now, she's going to give your share of dinner to the ghoul!"
Two shadows spilled out over the lawn and Ginny shifted her weight on her elbows, just making out her mother and brother who were probably standing there with their eyes squinted against the night, peeled for any sight of her.
Every part of her body felt as if it weighed about ten times its proper weight as she heaved herself onto her feet, her chest feeling heaviest of all.
"I'll be right there, Mum!" She called. The two forms illuminated by the light pouring out from the kitchen retreated back inside at her response, and Ginny was left to walk the short distance to her house in silence.
As she stepped inside, she barely had time to remove her dew-slicked shoes before she was assaulted by a large, very itchy animal.
The animal, as it were, turned out to be an old dusty throw that Mrs. Weasley had wrapped around her shoulders.
"I don't know why you insist upon lying about in the dark at all hours of the evening like that-How are we to know if anything happened to you?" She looked at her daughter sternly, ignoring her exasperated pleas of "I'm fine, Mum!".
"You'll be just fine when you've eaten a decent meal and had a nice warm bath. Now sit down and tuck in. We're expecting Harry soon."
Ginny shrugged off the horribly uncomfortable blanket and slid into her seat next to Ron's. The table was littered fit to feed a small regiment with thick puddings, steaming meat and endless cups of pumpkin juice. But as Ginny stared at the small feast, she found her stomach turning and curling over itself rather uncomfortably.
"Mum, I don't think-"
"Ginevra Weasley, there'll be none of that tonight. I've let you get away with skipping lunch three days in a row. You will eat this meal and every other one that is set before you and be thankful that you have one in the first place." Mrs. Weasley scolded Ginny with red cheeks.
Just then, Ron noisily stumbled into the kitchen. He was toting a large trunk and large owl cage. Inside, a beautiful ivory owl hooted agitatedly as her carrier unceremoniously plopped her cage down on the floor beside the entrance.
"Tonks has just flown this in. I asked her to stay for a bit and eat but she looked rather fussed about something and hurried off," He shrugged and fished around for some of Pig's old owl treats to pacify Harry's owl, Hedwig.
"I'm sure it was nothing, Ron. Why don't you set Harry's things in the den for now? Mundungus owled just a moment ago to say that Harry will be escorted here later this evening." Mrs. Weasley busied herself with setting a place for Harry to eat later. He would have sat next to Fred, but there were no more places set for any other visitors and the latter end of the table remained empty.
Ginny took a moment to realize the staggering changes that had occurred in their household over the past couple of years. At the table seated for ten, only three places had been set, yet the food still spilled from one end to the other. Bill and Charlie, now both working full-time for the Order, were each stationed in secret locations at the moment. They usually received an owl from both at least once every two weeks to let their family know that they were "alright, just busy."
Percy….Well, Ginny quickly wrote of thoughts of him. She'd gotten used to his empty seat long ago. Then there was Fred and George who had been swamped with the success of their rapidly growing franchise. They were even in negotiations to open shop in Hogsmeade in the fall and had been shacking up there while scouting a location.
Mr. Weasley was gone nearly every night and returned early in the morning, eyes puffy and sleep-deprived, where he slept until ten and left again for another day at the ministry and night with the Order.
And so there were three. The empty feeling of their home was so suffocating to Ginny that she, at times, would knock over books or leave the wireless volume up just to fill the house with the sounds of would-be inhabitants. Even Ron had been locked up in his room most of the time, though no longer because of his row with Ginny. She secretly wondered if he was planning to open his own joke shop with the way random owls would fly in and out of his bedroom window during the day just as in the days when Fred and George received their secret orders over the summer.
Of course, she was too overwhelmed with her own ails to fret over her remaining brother's odd behaviour. She'd worry when he stopped doing strange things. She longed for the day that Hermione would come to stay for the remainder of the summer as she usually did; it would be nice to have a female to talk things over with.
Ginny slowly ate a bite of food and chewed for a moment before mumbling, "Will we be spending the summer at Grim-"
"Ginny…" Her mother warned her. They were to be on the lookout at all times and that meant watching any mention of Order business.
"Erm…we will be spending this summer like the last one?" Ginny played with her Yorkshire pudding. Ron greedily filled his plate and tore off a turkey leg.
Mrs. Weasley shrugged, "I don't know, dear. With the way things have been lately, it might…it might be best after all for us to have a…safe place to go." She seemed to have to force out her response. Ginny and Ron glanced at each other knowingly.
During the last few months the homes of three aurors had been attacked. Though no one seemed to have been harmed, The Order had been on its toes ever since-one of the homes had belonged to a cousin of Kingsley Shacklebot's. Mad-Eye and Tonks came by the day after news broke of the attacks to raise defense shields against the Burrow. "Just in case," they'd said.
The feeling that their home was no longer the safe haven of their youth overwhelmed both Ron and Ginny, but Mrs. Weasley seemed to be having the most difficult time with the realization. With the war in motion, hardly any place could be called "safe" any longer.
The party of three finished their meal with mounds of leftovers still remaining a short while later. Mrs. Weasley kissed each of them in turn before heading upstairs to bed, leaving the dishes to wash themselves in the kitchen sink.
Ron yawned rather loudly and patted his sister on the top of her head.
"Best be getting to sleep myself. Wonder what's keeping Harry…" He turned to her for her thoughts but Ginny was already off on her own train of thought and barely heard him.
"Gin?" He received no response and shrugged. "G'night then."
Ginny was kneeling by Hedwig, offering her a stale owl treat and staring off into space silently. After Hedwig had calmed down a bit, Ginny opened the door of her cage and let her stretch her wings on the kitchen floor. Grateful for the break from her tight confinement, Hedwig flapped up onto Ginny's shoulder gracefully and affectionately nipped her earlobe.
"You really are a beautiful owl, Hedwig…" Ginny stroked one of her ivory wings and admired the effect of moonlight on her feathers. She walked to the door leading to the back yard and carefully opened it. Hedwig wasted no time before dashing off of Ginny's shoulder and off into the early night and Ginny watched her wings fly against moon rays until she became a spot in the clouds and her eyes stung from the strain.
Just as she was about to close the screen door and head up to bed herself, a group of dark shadowed figures dotting the night sky above caught her gaze. Startled, Ginny fell back against the doorframe, her heart beating faster than ever. They were flying lower and lower, circling around a central figure and heading straight for the yard of which she was facing.
Every cell of her wanted to turn back into the house and yell for help but the dark cloaked figures were speeding so quickly towards the earth that she barely had a chance to slip back into the house and into the kitchen, when five figures landed softly on the dark grass not ten yards from her.
The central flyer, his broom slung over his shoulder, seemed to be staring directly through the door and at her. He nodded towards one of his comrades who had been speaking softly to him for a moment. Behind them, a shorter figure hitched his cloak around him and had his face craned toward the sky, possibly to see any signs of having been followed. After a minute, he seemed satisfied enough and turned back around to the mingling people around him. In the night, a round, electric blue bulb situated right where an eye would have been on his face blinked brightly.
Ginny felt her fears slide off her like water, and she shook her head for having been so paranoid. Smiling, she threw open the door and jogged over to the group.
"Harry!" She grinned at the flyer who had been in the middle of the others and ran up to him. His hair was messier than ever and he was cold as ice when she wrapped her arm around him in a quick embrace.
"Wotcher, Gin!" A tall, red-headed witch strode around them and beamed down at Ginny. Tonks could have been mistaken for Ginny's older sister with her auburn tresses and freckled cheeks. Her eyes shone a dark shade of blue.
Mad-Eye Moody stalked over to them and grunted, "Why don't you just bleeding call out to the town who we've got 'ere? Blimey…kids…" He growled but Ginny ignored him.
"Calm down, Mad-Eye." A pale-faced man said. Ginny turned to him and waved in greeting.
"Hello, Professor Lupin." Remus' cheeks were as thin and sallow as ever, and Ginny remembered the full moon that was spilling out over them that very moment. She wondered if the potion was strong enough to sustain his broom-flying and hoped it was. He looked as if it was taking a super-human effort for him to just keep standing.
"We better be off, Remus. Dumbledore will be expecting us." A wizard with a very wheezy, aged voice said. Ginny remembered him to be Elphias Doge.
"Right you are, Elphias. We'll be seeing you too soon, I expect." Lupin smiled weakly at Harry and Ginny and mounted his broom. Ginny bit back the urge to invite him to rest the night there; she didn't want to offend him by suggesting he was too weak to handle Order business in his condition.
"Thanks, guys," Harry breathed, still shivering. Tonks gave them both another bone-crushing hug and hopped onto her broom as well. Mad-Eye simply gestured to his eye without saying a word. Ginny and Harry both nodded to his reminder to be on the lookout at all times. Elphias nodded to them and soon enough, they were watching the four figures disappear in the clouds.
"Let's get you inside, Potter, before you freeze to death."
"That'd be nice, thanks," Harry grinned and followed Ginny into the kitchen.
"So…how's everything?" He said as Ginny started the water on the stove and took out a tea cup for him.
Ginny didn't look up from her work when she replied. "Oh, fine, fine…Ron's been up to something in his room ever since we got back, but other than that, normal as ever." She handed him the cup and shrugged.
"Normal? Here?" He snorted into his tea. Ginny laughed and sighed.
"Yeah, well…Mum says we might have to stay at headquarters for the summer. Everyone's gotten really shaken up since the attacks last month."
Harry stared at his cup silently for a moment. "Er…yeah. I've been there for a week or so. Dumbledore finally realized it's my house, so I should be able to stay there once in a while." His tone wasn't spiteful but loosely joking, and Ginny smiled a little.
"Just think, when we're there, Hermione and I could help spruce it up a bit more. Some silk draperies…new lighting…oh, I saw the most adorable dusky daffodil blue wall paper in Teen Witch last week," Ginny rambled, watching the color slowly drain from Harry's face.
"Sounds…lovely, Gin." He downed the rest of his tea as Ginny broke into giggles.
"Oy! When was anyone going to tell me we had company?" Ron stalked over to where they sat and pulled up a seat.
"Alright there, Harry?" He helped himself to the tea. Harry nodded and leaned back in his chair. It was hard to believe that just a few months ago, he was sure he'd never be able to have civilized conversation with his best friend ever again. And all because of one brown-eyed witch.
He suddenly found himself imagining Hermione throwing herself into his arms when she arrived. He wouldn't even mind if it was in front of the entire Order, as long as it happened.
When he woke up from his thoughts, Ron and Ginny were smirking at one another and Harry felt a flush creep onto his cheeks.
"So," Ron quirked, "How's Hermione?"
Harry crossed his arms over his chest defensively and countered, "She's fine, thanks. And I suppose you'll know how Luna's summer has been?"
Ron raised a finger to retaliate but was left open-mouthed and speechless. Ginny rolled her eyes at the pair of them and scooted back in her chair to make her exit.
"I'll let you two take care of the cups. Good to see you again, Harry. Goodnight." She didn't wait for a reply before disappearing up the stairs. Once she was in her room, she threw herself onto her bed, stuffing her face into her pillow. How lucky for them that they could actually speak to their girlfriends. That they were simply an owl away. That at any instant, Ron or Harry could floo to their homes and make sure they were OK. She hated feeling helpless, but it was all she could do at the moment without having a way to reach Draco. So, with a sigh, she whispered another prayer for him into the night that he would never hear.
Something hard poked into her cheekbone, and she felt a twinge in her heart as she reached beneath her pillow and pulled out an aged journal. It was only a year or so old, but had been distressed by the constant sifting of its pages. Ginny could see each one by heart already, but she flipped through them anyway.
So many memories ago, she found a photo of herself and Draco (it was really the back of his head) as he studied and she lay beside him on a seemingly real carpet of grass. They shifted in the picture, and Draco lifted his eyes from his reading and looked at her briefly, a small smirk playing on his lips. The next moment, Ginny threw open her mouth in laughter.
The pages fluttered shut over the happy memory as Ginny slammed the book closed. Stuffing it back under her pillow, she wiped her eyes and pulled the sheets up to her neck.
Somewhere out there was her Draco. The cold slytherin with his arrogant smirk and platinum hair that she loved to rumple. She could picture him sleeping in a foreign bed, doused in moonlight from a window high above and warm, thinking of her. But a cruel part of her mind quickly snapped and reminded her that he would have much more important things to think about than her, for instance-staying alive.
With those battling thoughts to keep her from sleeping, Ginny spent another restless night rolling over and over in her bed, aching for strong arms to hold her and tell her that everything would be alright, for that ironic laugh to warm her heart…
Slowly, the hands of sleep crept upon her sometime in the night, pulling her into their world until the sun would awaken her once more to reality. And in her sleep, Ginny felt as if she weren't alone, as if he was there in the whispers of nighttime, soothing her to sleep.
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In a cold, barren room, Draco stared silently at the ceiling. A lone window offered his only view of the outside world but years of dust and grime blocked out any moonlight that might have wanted access to the shabby abode. He sighed, contemplating his whereabouts and how in the world he had gotten himself into this mess. Hatred for his father filled his veins while cold fear for his mother's safety froze in his chest. With no connection to anyone but a select few, he was sure to drive himself mad before school began.
Grunting in frustration, he ripped back the covers and went over to the murky window pane. A discarded rag sufficed to wipe away a nearly clear patch on the glass, and he peered through it, taking in the full moon. A hazy red ring encompassed the silvery orb, and he suddenly found himself thinking of her. Though he tried not to, it was all he could do to push aside the reminder that it would be over two months before he would see her face again. Would she be alright? Would she forget him?
The realization that he feared what he would do without Ginny in his life caused him to close his eyes tightly and force the thoughts back deep into his chest. He was a fugitive now, in hiding and in constant fear that at any moment he would be found and killed for treason to the Dark Lord. What would he do if he couldn't say goodbye to her? If caught, would his last thought be of amber curls and hazel eyes just as Voldemort's steady wand sucked the life out of his body.
Someone rapped on the door sharply. Draco remained silent, unwilling to speak to anyone at the moment. After a second or two, the clink of silverware signaled that his dinner had been left at the door and heavy footsteps stalked down the hall. He sniffed at the smell of boiled vegetables and scoffed.
If only I could have brought along an elf or something. Even fugitives need to eat properly. And look at the state of my robes…What kind of ruddy idiot only allows someone to bring a week's worth of clothing to a place he'll be living in for 3 months?
In actuality, he perfectly understood that his absence could not be easily detected while he was there and thus Dumbledore's reasoning for his light packing. He doubted whether an empty closet would suggest that he was gone on a mere summer vacation.
He had hardly left his room since arriving, but he knew that the constant sounds of different voices of people passing through meant he wasn't the only one shacking up there for the summer. Perhaps Dumbledore was running some type of Death-Eater Protection Program for all to seek refuge from their predestined loyalty to darkness.
Gazing at his surroundings, he scowled at the grimy wall papered décor and moldy wooden floor. A tattered old portrait of nothing at all hung solemnly in the corner, the only bit of artistic touch in the godforsaken hole he was calling "home" now. He vowed to find someone in the house next day that he could persuade with a few galleons to do a bit of dusting to make the place more hospitable to his refined tastes. With that thought to give him some purpose, he walked back to the bed and lay down. On the bedside table to his left, a bright, silver object caught his eye. Round and smooth, the surface glimmered like a beacon in the dank room.
Still legible in the light of the moon, Draco read the inscription on it carefully.
Dans votre coeur, couche la vérité de mon amour pour vous.*
In the lonely embers of the dying night, Draco's hands closed over the pocket watch Ginny had given him before they'd left for the train. The gentle tick, tock of time vibrated beneath his fingers, and he closed his eyes slowly. In that moment, he silently vowed to get himself through this nightmare. In his sleep, his grip on the watch tightened as her face sifted in and out of view, smiling and laughing, promising a future for him, one of sanctuary and love, hope and redemption.
Even if Lucius Malfoy tore through the dusty window and threw mortality in his face that very moment, Draco would have been content to face him as long as the impression of his auburn-haired angel would forever remain in his mind. For with Ginny in his heart, Draco knew that his fight against his father wasn't in vain. His name, his heritage, even his inheritance could all go to hell along with him if it meant keeping Ginny Weasley safe and happy. Finally, the pompous Slytherin prince had something to risk his life for.
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*phew* Review please!
~Adrial~
Adrial_06@yahoo.com
*In your heart lies the truth of my love for you.