Confusion
By Lauren G. (aka RowlingIdol)
Author's Note: This is the first chapter of this story to be named after a song. At the end of this chapter, I will be displaying the lyrics before you get to the ending author's note. This chapter is a high speed, turbulent ride filled with sudden turns and drops. Sort of long too.
Chapter 5: Be My Escape
"You better not let Crookshanks eating too many mice. I don't want him getting sick in the house." Mrs. Weasley said, still busy at the sink. Harry walked around Ginny and called up the stairs.
"Oy Ron! Up for some Quidditch?" There was a loud clattering noised and Ron basically came flying down the stairs.
"Lemme try my hand at Seeker Harry! I bet I can beat you!" Ron said, thumping Harry on the back as they ran outside. Ginny was still standing stock still. Hermione had her lips pursed, arms folded, and her right foot tapping impatiently. Ginny gave Hermione a guilty smile. Hermione grabbed her arm and dragged her upstairs.
"Please don't yell like Mum!" was the first thing Ginny pleaded to Hermione after she had been shoved into her own room. Hermione shut the door.
"What the hell is Draco Malfoy doing here?" Hermione demanded.
"Well…" Ginny started.
"SPILL IT!" Hermione angrily said through clenched teeth.
"Well it all happened when I was helping clean up Fred and George's store in Diagon Alley. Fred and George got drunk and I went downstairs into the store so I could throw out the rest of their Firewhisky and I heard someone walking around outside. And then they broke in and I attacked them and then I saw it was him and he was begging for help and I didn't hit him with the Firewhisky and-"
"Wait. Slow down." Hermione said, pulling up a wooden desk chair and sitting down. "He was what?"
"Breaking into the store." Ginny said breathlessly.
"After that."
"Begging for help?" Ginny squeaked.
"Begging. You mean on his knees, pleading?"
"Basically, yes." Ginny said, looking at the floor.
"And then what did you do?"
"Well, he passed out and then I pulled him into the backroom and when he woke up I gave him soup and milk. He told me he had been on the run, hiding. He had been hiding in Borgin and Burkes and came out to loot around for food. He was STARVING Hermione!"
"That doesn't explain why he's in your father's old shed." Hermione said, crossing her arms yet again.
"Well, he was so weak. I didn't want to leave him… So while Fred and George were still passed out upstairs, I let him wear one of the employee robes and we Apparated here."
"You APPARATED! Ginny! You KNOW the Ministry has limited its use to emergency issues only!"
"It was his idea." Ginny blamed, swinging her feet off the side of her bed.
"It doesn't matter whose idea it was, Ginny. He is a murderer and people think he's dead."
"He's not a murderer!" Ginny screeched.
"You don't know that! He could be plotting your downfall this very second!" Hermione pointed a finger in Ginny's face.
"He's not." Ginny said, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.
"He has you brainwashed, doesn't he?"
"NO!" Ginny said, on the verge of throwing a fit.
"Just how long were you going to keep him in there?"
"Until he had enough food and rest. And then he was going to leave." Ginny said.
"Well that has to change." Hermione said. She stood up and turned to leave. Ginny flew off her bed and ran to the door and stood in front of it, blocking Hermione's exit.
"What are you going to do? Are you going to tell Mum and Dad? They'll have him killed!"
"I need to tell them, Ginny. He needs to be turned in. I'm sorry!"
"Please Hermione! Let me do it! I'll take care of it! Don't let Mum and Dad know!" Ginny pleaded. Hermione stood back and looked at her.
"Please Hermione." Ginny said once again.
"Fine!" Hermione said, throwing up her hands in surrender. "You better do something about it. If you don't, I will." Hermione reached for the door handle.
"Wait. I have a question." Ginny asked. Hermione turned and looked at her.
"How did you find him anyways?"
"It wasn't me. It was Crookshanks." Hermione said, smiling slightly. "I knew Crookshanks liked mice, but I never knew he liked strange men relieving themselves in bushes." Ginny blushed. Hermione opened the door and left.
oooooo
Ginny went out to the shed after everybody had gone to bed. She carried a small lamp to the shed with her. She knocked once before letting herself in. Draco had his elbows leaning on the top of one of the shelves and was staring out the window.
"Hi." Ginny whispered, setting the lamp on a nearby table.
"Hi." Draco said, not looking at her.
"We need to talk." Ginny said. She took a deep breath. "If I don't turn you in, Hermione said she'd tell my parents about you." Draco stayed silent.
"I'm sorry." Ginny whispered, close to tears.
"No." Draco said. Ginny looked up.
"What?"
"Don't say that." Draco said, turning his head to look at her. "This is the curse that follows me. Anyone who tries to help me ends up getting hurt. And so do I. That's why I've been running for so long. It's….." He looked down.
"My fault." He whispered. There was a long silence between them.
"I need to know something." Ginny spoke at last. Draco didn't answer.
"Have you killed anyone?" Ginny softly asked. Draco turned and looked at you.
"Is that why you're running? Because you murdered someone?" Ginny asked.
"Is that why you think I'm hiding?" Draco whispered harshly. "Is it?" In the light of the lamp, Ginny nodded, biting her lip.
"I'm hiding BECAUSE I wouldn't kill anyone! I suppose Harry's told you. I was supposed to kill Dumbledore. Voldemort wanted ME to kill him. Me, Ginny! ME!" There was quiet.
"You said Ginny." Ginny whispered.
"Well, it's your name right?" Draco asked, going pink slightly. More silence.
"I was lucky to have lived. Since Snape killed Dumbledore and not me, my head was on the chopping block. Snape explained that he had made a deal with my mother. Once Voldemort heard that, he re-considered.
"Once my father was let out of Azkaban, he forced me to fight in the war with the others. Said that since I failed my first chance to prove myself to the Dark Lord, this would have to do. In the midst of battle, I was able to break away from the curse that my father had put on me to make me co-operate. I ran away and I hid. If I didn't kill, I'd be killed. And if I did kill, I would be killed as well. That's why I hid."
Ginny shuffled her feet.
"We can leave tomorrow for the Ministry. I'll have Hermione back me up." Ginny said. Draco was quiet yet again. Ginny stepped closer to him, head hung low. Crickets chirped outside in the bushes and an owl hooted in the distance.
With one swift movement, Ginny wrapped her arms around Draco's waist and gave him a quick squeeze.
"I'm sorry Draco." She whispered, her eyes screwed shut. She let go and hurried out of the shed. As the shed door thudded shut, a tear slid down Draco's face.
oooooo
Early in the morning, Ginny got up and quietly left. She had stopped by Hermione's room and solemnly told her she was going to the Ministry. Hermione had nodded.
"Can you tell them I went to help Fred and George re-paint?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded again.
"You better take care of this." Hermione said. She yawned and closed the door on Ginny. Ginny walked downstairs and exited through the back. She had the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes employee robe slung over her arm to give to Draco.
She opened the door to the shed.
"Ready?" She asked Draco, who had been waiting for her. Draco just nodded. It looked as if he had stayed up the entire night. She handed him the robe. He put it on.
"Can you Apparate?" Ginny asked Draco. He just shrugged. Ginny frowned. With a turn of her heel, she Apparated and landed near the old phone booth, Draco not far behind. They stepped into the booth.
"Ginny Weasley and Guest." She spoke.
"Business?" Asked the automated voice. Ginny pondered a moment.
"Job interview with the Minister." She cleverly stated. She had seen an ad in the Prophet about openings at the Ministry. Two buttons were dispensed. Ginny picked them up.
`Ginny Weasley- Ministry Hopeful' read Ginny's button. She blushed at Draco's button and slowly handed it to him.
" `Handsome Suitor'? " Draco read from his button. Ginny went bright red and stared at the floor.
The phone booth shook and lowered them into the Ministry of Magic. Once there, Draco put his hood on and followed Ginny closely as they made their way through the fountain plaza. At the wand check in, the man there was giving Ginny the `eye'. When it was Draco's turn, he gave the man a dirty look from beneath his hood. The man looked startled and hurried them along.
Next was the elevator. It being quite early, there were only two other people in the elevator. The purple notes that hovered in the air were immense. There were about 100. They brushed up gently against Ginny's cheeks. She smiled. At their floor, Draco and Ginny emerged into a lobby. There were several young witches and a few wizards waiting in plush chairs. A pompous looking secretary with a clipboard was ushering people in and out of the Minister's office.
"Ferguson?" called the secretary. A girl stood up and was ushered into the office.
"Name?" The secretary asked Ginny.
"Um. Ginevra Weasley." She said. The lady wrote it down. Ginny and Draco took seats in some empty chairs and awaited her turn.
`I hope this works.' Ginny thought to herself. About forty minutes later, she was called. The secretary was interrupted with a swarm of purple letters and Draco managed to sneak into the office along with Ginny.
"Hello. Please take a seat." Rufus Scrimgeour said calmly. Ginny hesitated.
"Is something the matter?" Scrimgeour asked.
"I'm not here for a job interview, Minister." Ginny said weakly.
"You're not? Are you perhaps in the wrong department?" Scrimgeour leaned back in his seat and stared at Ginny. Draco stepped forward and lowered his hood. The Minister's eyes squinted.
"Well, I'll be. Young Mr. Malfoy." Scrimgeour smiled.
"Hello Minister." Draco whispered.
"Well… I can see this isn't a job interview." He pressed a button on a small black box on his desk.
"Mable, please re-schedule all my waiting interviews for this afternoon. And please send down Roberts and Ashford. That will be all."
With that, two men rushed into the room.
"Yes Minister?" asked the tall sandy haired man.
"Ashford, we have a situation on our hands." Scrimgeour indicated Draco.
"Good god!" Ashford said. "You're dead!" Scrimgeour cleared his throat.
"As you can plainly see, Mr. Malfoy is quite alive. Now how do we go about this?"
"Well." Said the other man who was Roberts. "We ought to lock him up before we can perform the execution." Ginny went white.
"Not so fast." Scrimgeour said. "What makes you think he should be sentenced so fast?"
"He's obviously guilty." Roberts said. "He is being turned in to his fate. He killed Dumbledore and many others."
"That's not true!" Ashford interjected. "Severus Snape killed Albus Dumbledore and there is no account of Mr. Malfoy killing anyone during the war."
"But he was a Death Eater! I know it!" Roberts argued.
"There is no way to prove that Mr. Malfoy is guilty of being a Death Eater. If he was, the Dark Mark would have already disappeared from his arm. Therefore, there is no way of proving his involvement with the Dark Lord. As for the other part…" Scrimgeour bore his eyes into Draco.
"We still need an explanation for his disappearance." Draco looked sweaty and clammy.
"Minister, I ran to save my life. I hid not because I was guilty, I hid because I needed to be safe. Those on the dark side have ways of persuasion too awful to mention. I ran because I feared what happened to those who failed at the hands of the Dark Lord."
"And what was that?"
"Death, sir." Draco muttered softly. There was silence.
"I still say he be sentenced to death." Roberts said.
"And I still say that he be let go." Ashford said. "You can't sentence an innocent person to death!"
"Yes I can!" Roberts yelled.
"It's settled then." Scrimgeour said slowly. "We will set a trial for Mr. Malfoy. If he proves to be guilty of involvement in brutal murders, he will be sentenced to death. If he proves innocent, he shall be let go."
"I say we kill him now. The scum." Roberts muttered looking at Draco.
"Mr. Malfoy, we will set a trial date for you."
"Minister! Please!" Ginny spoke up suddenly. All eyes turned to her.
"Minister, you can't sentence Draco to death!" Ginny pleaded. "You just can't! Please!"
"Miss… Weasley was it?" Scrimgeour looked at a paper on his desk. "You have something to say?" Ginny bit her lip.
"Yes. I do. You can't sentence Draco to death."
"You mentioned that already. And why do you say so?" Scrimgeour looked straight at Ginny.
"Be… Because." Ginny looked at Draco. "He's innocent. And I know it."
"I knew she knew something." Whispered Roberts to Ashford.
"You do? You can prove Draco is innocent? What makes you illegible to defend Mr. Malfoy?"
"Because…" Ginny started. "I'm… I'm his wife."
oooooo
Be My Escape
By Relient K
I've given up on giving up slowly, I'm blending in so
You won't even know me apart from this whole world that shares my fate
This one last bullet you mention is my one last shot at redemption
Because I know to live you must give your life away
And I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity and
I've been locked inside that house all the while You hold the key
And I've been dying to get out and that might be the death of me
And even though, there's no way in knowing where to go, promise I'm going because
I gotta get outta here
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake
I gotta get outta here
And I'm begging You, I'm begging You, I'm begging You to be my escape.
I'm giving up on doing this alone now
Cause I've failed and I'm ready to be shown how
He's told me the way and I'm trying to get there
And this life sentence that I'm serving
I admit that I'm every bit deserving
But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair
Cause I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity and
I've been locked inside that house all the while You hold the key
And I've been dying to get out and that might be the death of me
And even though, there's no way in knowing where to go, promise I'm going because
I gotta get outta here
Cause I'm afraid that this complacency is something I can't shake
I gotta get outta here
And I'm begging You, I'm begging You, I'm begging You to be my escape.
I am a hostage to my own humanity
Self detained and forced to live in this mess I've made
And all I'm asking is for You to do what You can with me
But I can't ask You to give what You already gave
Cause I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity and
I've been locked inside that house all the while you hold the key
And I've been dying to get out and that might be the death of me
And even though, there's no way in knowing where to go, promise I'm going because
I've gotta get outta here
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake
I've gotta get outta here
And I'm begging You, I'm begging You, I'm begging
You to be my escape.
I fought You for so long
I should have let You in
Oh how we regret those things we do
And all I was trying to do was save my own skin
But so were You
So were You
-------
Author's Note- CLIFFY! I am the Cliff-master! Next one should be full of good stuff, involving everyone's favorite couple (D/G of course! Do you need to ask?) and all the Weasley's. Hope everyone enjoyed the story and the lyrics. Please review and please stay tuned!
-->