Chapter 2 - Down the Rabbit Hole
A/N: Just to clear up any confusion, Draco knows Ginny's last name, but alas, couldn't be bothered with learning her given name.
Also, thanks for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!
Dinner at the Burrow was an uneasy affair. Draco had wanted to remain upstairs with his mother but Mrs. Weasley insisted on having him sit with the rest of them at the dining room table. Draco almost commented that a dining room table would generally be in the dining room, not the kitchen, but managed to bite his lip rather forcibly instead. Having brought an army of house elves with him, Draco left them strict instructions to contact him if there was any change in his mother's condition before sighing and trudging downstairs.
Fred had come home to enjoy his mother's cooking while his twin brother was on a date with Angelina Johnson. To his utter delight and amusement, he had come across Draco and Ginny in the bathroom. He laughed about it throughout dinner and Ginny, who sat diagonally across from Draco, merely played with her food the entire time. Bill was busy trying to keep Fleur's attention focused on him but she would start up inconsequential discussions in French with Draco and it took all of Bill's means of persuasion to distract Fleur once again. Remus had excused himself to think of the woman he once loved and perhaps still loved and managed to do what Draco was dying to do, sit beside Narcissa's bedside.
Mrs. Weasley kept asking Draco trivial questions that made his head spin a little.
"How many O.W.L.s did you take?"
"All of them."
"Oh, that's very impressive. Bill and P-Percy," Mrs. Weasley had trouble saying Percy's name and had to pause for a moment, "took every O.W.L. too. What is your favorite subject?"
"Well, I suppose Potions. Though I like Transfiguration too."
"And what is your favorite food, dear?"
"I rather enjoy lentils. Lentil soup." He looked down at his mashed potatoes. "But these are good too."
"Are you fond of potatoes then?"
"Uh, not particularly. But I do enjoy it on occasion."
"Oh that's nice. But you haven't touched the ham."
Draco did not know how potatoes and ham could be attached with an opposing contraction such as 'but' in their particular conversation but let it pass and instead, replied somewhat awkwardly, "I don't eat it."
"Excuse me, dear?"
"I'm a vegetarian."
"Oh," was all Mrs. Weasley could manage.
Even Ginny had looked up during that comment, not that she was listening intently the entire time. There were moments she was telling herself not to listen intently as well.
"Are you really or are you just trying to be polite, Malfoy?" Fred said with a mouthful of ham.
Draco made a face. Fred's manners were deplorable, exactly like Crabbe and Goyle's during meals.
"Don't call him Malfoy," Ginny finally said when Draco remained silent. She also didn't like the look on his face. It was a bit of the old Draco creeping back in. "Wait, when was there ever a new Draco?"
She didn't realized she had made the last comment out loud until she noticed all eyes were turned to her. Ginny again dropped her eyes to the plate and Fred barked, "I suppose seeing Draco in only a towel has made our sister go bonkers."
______________________________________________________________________________
When Ginny snuck downstairs to the pantry later that night, she was surprised to find a shivering Draco Malfoy wrapped up in a blanket with an open book in his lap. She closed the pantry door and sat across from him.
"I seem to run into you a lot."
Draco managed to arch an eyebrow. "Is twice a lot?"
Ginny scowled. "Are you always this sarcastic?"
"What do you think, Gin?"
Ginny smiled a little. Only her favorite brother, Charlie, called her that. She had been somewhat angry that Draco didn't know her name but she supposed other than the Bat-Boogey Hex, he had little reason to notice her. It still stung, of course, but she had managed to accept it without her Weasley temper taking over.
"You could use a warming charm, you know," she chastised.
Draco shook his head. "I'm not exactly cold."
"Your shaking indicates otherwise."
Draco looked at her for a moment before pushing his hair out of his eyes. He had not slicked it back or combed it meticulously as he generally did and now, despite his efforts, it fell in haphazard strands past his brow. Ginny thought it was a good look for him. "It's from the Cruciatus Curse."
"Oh." After a moment, she asked in a trembling voice. "Who-o?"
Draco snorted. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"But why? What have you got to do-"
"I've got everything to do with it, don't I?" The question hung heavy in the air before Draco spoke again. He shook more violently this time. "No, I don't have anything to do with it. And certainly my mother never did. It was because my father was such a wanker, following a fanatical half-Blood calling for purity. It's all so foolish and we, his family, have to pay for his failure."
"So you don't believe in it? In purity?"
Draco sighed. "I thought I did. I grew up believing in a lot of things my father once said, you know." He rubbed his eyes. "But I don't know anymore. It's like I went down the rabbit hole."
"What?" Ginny didn't understand the phrase he used.
"I tried to stop Potter," Draco said instead.
Ginny gasped. "You mean, from going to the Ministry?"
"Yeah. Unlike that other fool, I'm rather adept at Occlumency.".
"Why would you do that for Harry?" Whatever Draco meant by the rabbit hole, she was sure she was going down it too.
"I didn't. I did it for my mother. I did it for myself. What if Voldemort had succeeded? I would have been branded with the Dark Mark before I was even sixteen. I have seen what Death Eaters do for…amusement. I might be a lot of things but I'm not a rapist or a murderer."
Ginny nodded, believing in the firmness of his voice, the intensity of his silver eyes and the faint shuddering of his damaged body. "So what are you going to do now?"
Draco sighed. "Your father just returned from Order Headquarters. They will protect my mother until I can cure her. In exchange, I will work for them."
Ginny sat up, her entire body rigid. Her voice again trembled as she whispered, "As a spy?"
"No, as a healer."
Draco reached a pale hand out and his finger gently grazed a scar on Ginny's cheek. He could see the fear and confusion in the youngest Weasley's brown eyes. "Where did you get that?" But he already knew the answer. Her mind was open to him.
"At the battle in the Department of Mysteries."
Draco gave her a sad half-smirk. "You Gryffs are so foolishly brave," he said as he traced the scar with the tip of his finger. He felt the tingle of power vibrate in his hand as he healed the mark on her freckled cheek.
Ginny reached up and felt smooth skin instead of the scar she had expected. "How did you do that? And without a wand?"
Draco shifted and closed the book in his lap before responding. "I've always been able to do that."
Ginny stared at him. Her eyes felt oddly unfocused but they were in fact focused. Just, it was on Draco and only Draco. Everything else around her seemed distant, blurred, unimportant.
"Draco."
"Yes?"
"I just wanted to say your name. Because that's who you are. You're not your father. You're…Draco, just Draco." Ginny looked down, feeling foolish for saying something so simple, and did not see him lean forward. He was already pressing his lips gently to hers before she realized he was kissing her and she at long last pushed her fingers into his silky blond strands, something she had wanted to do since she had accosted him in the bathroom that afternoon.
Anyone noticed the Muggle reference? Any guesses on how it will play out in this story? (Probably too early for you to tell but it will become apparent soon enough...)