Disclaimer: most of the characters don't belong me; they belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Warner Brothers, and various other people. I'm merely borrowing them for my and other people's enjoyment, and am making NO profit off of it.
Author's Note: I am SO SORRY that I haven't updated! I had finals at school - which are FINALLY over with - so I was spending all my time studying. To make it up to you, I'll post two chapters. Anyway, this is the one you've all been looking forward to. Enjoy!
Chapter Six
Draco found me in my compartment on the way to school.
"Weasley, Dumbledore wants to see us when we get to the school," he said, making sure to flash his Head Boy badge at Harry and Ron, who glared at him, but didn't say a word.
"Okay. Thanks for telling me," I said. He nodded and turned and left. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at him, disbelieving.
"Hermione, do you realize that Draco Malfoy just came into the compartment, had a civilized semi-conversation with a Weasley, and left without insulting us?" Ron asked, amazed. I rolled my eyes, but my heart was light. I knew what Dumbledore was going to talk to us about…our dragons. I smiled slightly to myself and leaned my head against the window and fell asleep.
Dumbledore stared down at us over his half moon spectacles, his eyes twinkling cheerily. I smiled in spite of myself.
Dumbledore could always make me feel happier, no matter what.
"Mr. Malfoy already knows about this, but I thought reviewing might be a good thing. You will be on your own to feed your dragons. Whatever you need, just let Hagrid know and he'll get it for you. You can't fly your dragons, I'm afraid. No one is to know that your dragons are here. You're free to visit them at any time as long as it doesn't interfere with your studies. Now, I think there's a feast that we ought to attend," Dumbledore said cheerful and stood up. I smiled and we followed Dumbledore out of his office and into the Great Hall for the feast.
"What did Dumbledore want to talk to you and Malfoy about?" Hermione asked as she watched disgustedly as Ron shoveled food into his mouth and swallowed without chewing. I thought back to what Dumbledore had said about no one knowing.
"He just wanted to see how our stay in Romania had gone," I said and took a rather large bite out of a chicken so that I couldn't answer any questions she asked. Hermione, luckily, seemed to have believed the story and turned to talk to Harry about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Cadaver. My eyes kept wandering towards the Slytherin Table during the feast. They would settle on Draco and I would snap out of my trance when he moved, as if to look towards me. The tenth time I caught myself doing this, I decided it was time for bed. Apparently Dumbledore agreed because at that moment, he released us. Mya found me as we made our way to Gryffindor Towers.
"Gins!" she called out and fought her way through the crowd to me. Her light brown hair was curled and down to her chin and her skin was a beautiful mocha shade. I grinned and stopped to wait for her.
"Mya!" I said and embraced my friend. We continued back on our path to the dorms.
"How was your summer?" she asked. I smiled.
"Brilliant. I got to go stay with my brother in Romania with the dragons!" I said excitedly. Her jaw dropped.
"Wow! I thought it was exciting that I got to say home for a week without my parents, but man! Dragons! Were they scary?" she asked, amazed. I laughed.
"Absolutely not! They were so amazing, though. Really powerful looking and everything," I said as we climbed through the portrait hole.
"Charlie's the one in Romania, right?" she asked, starting the climb to our dorm. I nodded.
"Yeah. Mum about threw a fit over him wanting to take me, but in the end she let him. I'm so glad she did. I had such a great time." We reached the door to our dormitory and opened it. A wave of weariness hit me and all I could do was change into my pajamas before dropping onto my bed and falling asleep.
The week went by fast. Before I knew what was happening, it was Friday afternoon and time for my Defense Against the
Dark Arts lesson, which I was not looking forward to. Ron's class had had it that morning and had come to lunch
with Parvati and Lavender whispering how it was a bad omen to have a teacher with cadaver for a name and
Hermione fuming. For the second time in seven years, we had gotten a Defense teacher that absolutely hated
Hermione. After hearing all the bad things they had to say about her, I was not looking forward to this class.
Mya and I took seats in the middle of the room and pulled out our books, parchment, quills, and wands. A tall, willowy
woman with long wispy white hair was seated at the desk, her head down, and her quill flying across a paper. The bell
rang but she ignored it. Remembering our Defense teacher from two years ago, Professor Umbridge, the class's
talking immediately ceased. She stopped writing after a few moments and sealed the letter with a tap of her wand. She
handed it to the owl that we had not noticed perched on the back of the chair and it flew out the window, dipping
slightly as it took off. Professor Cadaver stood up and walked to stand in front of Collin's desk.
"Good afternoon, class. My name is Professor Cadaver and I will be your Defense teacher this year," she said in a frail voice, giving us a small smile.
"According to the notes that Professor Dumbledore has given me on what you've covered, your class is well behind in your education. I don't blame you, of course, what with all those staff changes. No matter. I'll get you caught up in no time. Now, copy these notes down and we'll discuss it," she said, flicking her wand at the board and it was instantly covered with notes. We frantically started copying the notes.
An hour and a half later, we left the class rubbing our cramped up hands. Once we finished one board full of notes she would discuss it for a moment before replacing it with a whole new set of notes. We had gone through nine boards.
"Man, I think my hand is going to fall off!" Mya moaned as we made our way to dinner. I laughed.
"Oh, Mya, dear, you know it won't. I can't figure out why she and Hermione don't like each other. She seems like the type Hermione would like, you know," I said, frowning thoughtfully. Mya shrugged.
I'm hungry, a voice floated into my mind. I jumped.
"What's wrong Ginny?" Mya asked, stopping and turning to look at me. I gave her a shaky smile.
"Nothing. I'm just not too hungry right now. I think I'll take a walk outside and nick something from the kitchen later," I said. She looked at me for a minute before shrugging and continuing into the Great Hall.
I'm so sorry Goldenwing! I thought apologetically. I had been so caught up in worrying about Professor Cadaver that I had completely forgotten about feeding my poor dragon. I didn't go back to the common room to drop of my bag. Instead, I took it with me, stopping only at Hagrid's hut to get a goat for Goldenwing. When I got to the paddock that she and Vertigo were staying in, I found that I wouldn't be alone. Draco was out here feeding his dragon. He turned when he heard my footsteps and nodded towards me in acknowledgement of my presence. We stood in silence for a while, each watching our own dragons eat. Finally, he spoke.
"Have you told anyone?" he asked calmly. I shook my head.
"I was tempted to tell Hermione, but I remembered what Dumbledore had said, so I just told her that he wanted to ask us how our summers had been in Romania. Mya wouldn't understand about dragons. No one would, really, except for you." We were silent for a minute.
"Father is going to be released from Azkaban at the first of the year. If he finds out about the Council there will be hell to pay," Draco said quietly. I turned sharply to face him.
"What are you going to do? Surely you can't give up Vertigo!" I said. My dragon sensed my distress and rested her giant head on my hands. I stroked it.
"I would never give up Vertigo," he said in a quiet, yet dangerous voice. We were quiet for a few more minutes before he spoke again. "He's not going to find out. I'm going to go to Romania this summer and never go back. I can't go back. I don't fit in with that life anymore." There was another silence.
"I need to be getting back. I told Mya that I was going for a walk and she'll get worried if I'm out too late. It was good talking to you Draco," I said, and turned, picking up my bag, and left before he could say anything.
We fell into a routine. Every three days we would skip dinner, or meet at the paddock just after dinner to feed and wash our dragons. Sometimes we would sit in silence, but other times we would talk. Sometimes it would be about classes- we were both fond of Potions, Charms, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, and Herbology- other times we would talk about our dragons. Rarely would we talk about families. Oddly enough, when we talked about families, it would be his family. He would tell me stories of his childhood. I began to understand the mystery that was Draco Malfoy, and my feelings for him only increased.
One day in late December, just before Christmas break, we met at the paddock after dinner. Snow was on the ground and the dragons didn't like it one bit. I was wrapped in my non-regulation kelly green cloak and he was in a non-regulation charcoal grey one. Snow started to lightly fall and I automatically turned my face towards the heavens and opened my mouth, tasting the snowflakes.
"You're odd, Weasley," Draco said with a small smirk. I looked at him and mock glared. My glare dropped, however, when I realized he was only inches from me. We inched forward and my eyes fluttered shut. His lips pressed against mine and as he deepened the kiss, I felt the word around me spinning. My hands found their way to his shoulders as his snaked their way around my waist. It felt so good, so right. The kiss warmed me up and I felt like fireworks were exploding in my stomach. Suddenly he pulled away and I opened my eyes. He his eyes were wide and there was a flush spreading across his cheeks. Raw emotion was etched across his face and he took a step back, our hands dropping for each other. Neither of us spoke and he turned and left the paddock. My eyes closed as tears welled in my eyes. I was never going to have a chance with him, not if he ran after just one kiss. I let the silent tears flood down my cheeks as I brought a gloved hand up to touch my lips. Kissing him had been…amazing. I had never wanted it to end. Goldenwing reached her head towards me and rubbed against my own head. I reached up and scratched her behind the ear. She said nothing, but her presence was comfort enough. Another voice did speak, however.
Be careful with him. He's confused and doesn't know what he wants, young one. Don't take his running to heart, a voice said. I looked towards Vertigo to find him face to face with him.
If he doesn't want me, why did he kiss me? I asked sadly.
He does want you, but he's never felt like this. He doesn't know what to do, Vertigo said. I sighed heavily, glad that we would be leaving the next day for Christmas break. I bade the two dragons good bye and walked slowly back to the castle.
Lacey,
Happy Christmas. I can't wait to see you for a few days before school starts back up again. Goldenwing will be so
happy to be able to fly again. We're not allowed to do that because Professor Dumbledore is afraid that someone
will see them. I wish you were here. I could do with your guidance right now. I have a confession to make and a story
to tell. I lied when I said I didn't have a crush on Draco. Of course, I'm sure you knew this. You remember how
I've been telling you that we've been spending a lot of time together with our dragons, just talking? Well,
tonight he kissed me. I think it was on accident. Anyway, he broke the kiss and practically ran- except that Malfoys
don't run, do they? It would be too undignified for them. Anyway, I had a little chat with his dragon, who
practically told me that Draco likes me. He said that Draco wants me, but hasn't felt like this before, so he's
confused. This kiss was amazing, Lacey. You wouldn't think it, but Draco is actually a pretty amazing guy once you
get to know him. Anyway, I need to pack. I'll see you December 27th!
All my love,
Ginny
I gave my letter to Persephone and got into bed, my head spinning with thoughts of Draco.