Chapter 17
"Now, take a left here."
"Which way is left again?"
"When your pointer finger and thumb make an L shape…"
"Ha ha, smartass. It's pitch black, how do you expect me to know which way is which?"
"Intuition."
"Sorry, I left that in my other pants."
Draco rolled his eyes and put his hands on the petite red-head shoulders, veering her to the left corridor. They had been looming the pitch black corridors for a good half an hour and his irritation seemed to be raising to dangerous heights every second he was with her-a Weasley… a Gryffindor. It was bad enough that he was going to help her, now he knew they were in store for a dangerous punishment if they were found together. The odds of that were slim, because not many people knew about the secret potions storeroom deep in the dungeons, but there was always that chance that someone would happen to wander down there. He knew that he was being overly paranoid but he'd rather be paranoid then get caught (quite literally) red-handed.
Ginny, however had different things on her mind. No, she wasn't worried about being caught with a Slytherin, even one like Draco. Her only concern was to help her friends out of their comatose beds. The risk was well worth it to guarantee their safeties. It certainly wasn't going to be a pleasurable experience, but she was willing to risk it. She was willing to risk her short temper to save them. Being with the guy who was responsible for their current states was making her anger boil right to her ears, but she had to control herself. She would not hex him, let alone kill him, which she was very much considering after roaming the dungeons with him for Merlin knows how long. He was very irritating, him and his snippy comments, which always seemed to be uncalled for. Of course, she had let a few sarcastic comments escape herself. But that just meant that they were even. Fire and ice.
Draco let his hand trail the stone walls until he felt the presence of wood. He grabbed Ginny's shirt and tugged her into the room. She let out an audible noise of protest as he shut the door behind them, muttering a locking charm just in case.
"What the hell was that for?"
"Had to get your attention somehow," He responded with a shrug, walking up to the few candles scattered throughout the room and lighting them.
"You could have just told me we were here." She said hotly, plopping down on a creaky wooden stool.
"That would've taken too long. I saved us time and your teeny pea brain strain by just pulling you in here."
She huffed, "Well if I have a pea brain, yours must be the size of a grain of floo powder!"
He snorted, "Very clever, Red. But you're wrong of course. It's about the size of my d-"
Ginny put her arms up as a disgusted look formed on her face, "Do not finish that sentence or you won't have one left."
He had heard about her infamous hexes so he dropped the subject quickly, wanting to keep his privates attached to his body. Lighting the last candle, he motioned for her to come stand by him next to a large cauldron. She complied and he muttered the charm to light the fire before turning to talk with her. "The remedy is simple and quick to make, but we have to be very careful about the timing or else we could kill her."
Ginny gulped, "Well is there any way to know when we've overdone it?"
Draco shook his head sullenly, "No. We'll find out when we give it to her."
"Well that's reassuring." She quipped sarcastically.
He made no response to that and focused on the business at hand. He summoned the book he had used to make the potion and turned to the marked page. "We need some boomslang skin, rat spleens, powdered pine root, and three newt tails."
Ginny scrunched her nose in distaste, "Lovely combination. Is all of this stuff in here?"
He nodded shortly, "All along the shelves. The other supplies are in the cabinet. You get the ingredients and I'll get the other stuff."
"Okay"
The two set off to opposite sides of the room and gathered their designated items. It took Draco only a few moments collect the stirring ladle and knife set, so after he was finished, he helped Ginny get the rest of the ingredients. Within a few minutes, they had it all lying out in front of them and Draco was once again reading out of the book.
"Chop the newt tails in two-inch sections and drop one in every three stirs counterclockwise, starting after you place the first one into a bubbling cauldron."
"I'll slice if you stir." Ginny offered.
"Sounds fine to me" He agreed.
Ginny began chopping and put the cut up tails off to one side for Draco to put into the cauldron. After she was done, she set to grinding up the pine root, reading the directions mentally and making sure she didn't make it too fine. According to the book, it had to be ground into a thin powder and put in right after the last rat tail. Ginny informed Draco of this as she finished.
"Okay well I'm just about to put the last piece in, so get ready."
She bustled over to him and watched as he dropped it in. Quickly following its small splash into the boiling water, she sprinkled the powdered root in and stepped back, watching a small burst of auburn smoke rise. Draco turned to the book and leaned against the table.
"We have ten minutes until we have to put in the spleens."
Ginny sighed, not looking forward to the next few minutes. She hated silence, it made her uneasy. So she decided to make conversation, no matter how much she detested the company. There were only so many things you could talk about with someone you barely knew.
"So…"
Draco gave her a look, "If you're trying to make conversation, don't bother unless it's worth my time."
Ginny sneered and let her mind work. Oh how she hated him! It really wasn't a surprise that a guy like him would commit such an act on two innocent people. It was then that it struck her. A conversation topic-an answer to a question that she knew should be put to rest.
"Why'd you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Don't play coy, it's not becoming."
"Really? I heard that some girls find it quite sexy." He said with a small smirk.
"Well I'm not `some girl'," She said blithely, "Now tell me. What could possibly motivate you to poison your best friend?"
"I didn't poison him!" He defended, "I poisoned his mudblood lover."
Ginny leaned toward him and poked a finger hard into his chest. "Call her a mudblood one more time and you won't be able to reproduce."
He held up his hands in defense. "Alright, alright, don't get your knickers in a twist."
She backed off towards a nearby empty shelf and leaned against it, crossing her arms. "Get on with it, then."
Draco looked at her reproachfully for a second. "Why should I tell you, anyway?" Ginny lifted an eyebrow and he let out a puff of air. He knew that she would take any actions necessary to ensure that he told her the truth, so why bother coming up with a lie? He knew that he couldn't fool her. She had already called him out on many occasions and he wasn't about to let another lie take him and his balls to another planet. Taking a deep intake of air, he started.
"He was my best friend. We've been through everything together. Birds, detention… birds. But then this one bird in particular comes along and he disappears. It was bad enough that he was letting her come in between us, but to find out that it was a Gryffindor of all people came as a real blow. Everyone knows of the feud and why we can't be left in one room with the other without someone getting sent to the hospital wing. So why would he risk his own neck to be with some girl? Don't get me wrong, I understood the partner part, but then he started sneaking off just to be with her and I knew that something had to be done. My best friend was being lured over to enemy lines and I couldn't do a thing about it unless I sent out the message that people were watching them."
"You were the one who threatened her, weren't you? The one who told her that Harry was only interested in her for the sake of the assignment?" She asked breathily.
He nodded, "I wanted to get my point across. But then he had to go and convince her otherwise. It was really aggravating, having to start over again from scratch. That is, until I thought a surefire way to finally end it. All I needed to do was make sure the little mud-I mean, Granger, was out of the way with no possible way for him to talk her out of it. It was simple, really. I brewed a potion to put her into an eternal sleep that would become permanent within the first twenty-four hours."
"Wait, permanent?"
"Yeah… it was the only one that didn't involve injury. I thought that might be a bit harsh."
"A bit-you put my best friend into an eternal sleep!"
"Whoa, slow your roll Red. It doesn't become permanent until she's been under its effect for a day."
"When did you give it to her?"
"Yesterday around mid-afternoon."
"Alright, so we have a few hours, then."
"Thus why I said to calm down."
There was a small pause before Ginny chose to speak up again, "You did all of this to get your friend back?" For a moment, she thought he was human. That is, until he opened his mouth again.
"Well that and to finally prove once and for all that Slytherins and Gryffindors shouldn't mix."
Her eyes narrowed, "So that's it? You did it for the feud?"
"Basically."
She scoffed and turned her head to the side, not wanting to see his despicable face. Not so long ago, she had thought along the same lines and now that her best friend was in love with "the enemy", it really put things into perspective about how stupid the whole thing was. She wanted to strangle Draco, but knew that she couldn't. The struggle had an effect on her external composure, as her eyes started to water.
"Are you crying, Red?"
"No." She said stubbornly, rubbing her eyes dry. "I'm trying not to strangle you."
That was a shock to him. "Really?"
"Well what do you expect?" She asked venomously, "You put my best friend and the love of her life in a coma because a few people a thousand years ago decided `Hey, I don't like you.'"
He was silent for a moment, searching for something to say. He found a sliver of something hidden in the back of his mind that he chose to say. Granted, it wasn't the best thing to say at a moment like this, but it was all he had. "I'm not the only person who thinks like that!"
She surprised him with her level tone. "I know. The whole school shares you're stupid, prejudiced, ancient opinion. Congratulations, you're a clone, one in a bunch of a thousand."
"A clone?"
"Yes, a clone."
"I am not a clone."
"Could've fooled me."
His anger peaked and he stomped over to her frowning face. Her face remained stony as he came within an inch of it. "Never associate me with someone who lacks their own thoughts."
"Malfoy, you're the poster child for it." She said in a pitying tone, as though she was telling a three-year-old that they couldn't have a lollipop.
His jaw clenched as he spit out, "You have no idea. You don't know me or the way my mind works. The decisions I've made are a mystery to your squeaky clean `Oh, should I buy the pink thong with the lace or the blue with pearls?'"
"I hate thongs."
"You're missing my point, Weaslette!" He nearly shouts. "You have to place to judge me."
"You're making it hard not to." She says simply. "Should I recite what you just told me? How you nearly gave your so-called best friend a stroke when he found out that the girl he loves wouldn't wake up, causing him to go insane and meet the same fate as she was dealt with?"
"Shut up."
"Now they're both in a coma and might die if you and I can't make the remedy right."
"Shut up."
"So now what, macho man, are you going to do the same thing to me? Leave me here to rot while you get back to your perfect life?" she asked, inching her head closer to his.
"SHUT UP!" He screamed.
She smirked, "There's the reaction I was looking for. You going to hex me now?"
"It's tempting." He said through clenched teeth.
"Then do it."
He pulled away, running a hand through his platinum locks. His back was to her and she could see the tense muscles through his tight pale blue shirt. She wanted him to be this angry, so why was she suddenly regretting it? It couldn't be sympathy. He had just put her best friend's life in danger; she couldn't feel anything but hatred towards him.
Draco turned back around and her thoughts stopped. He spoke so softly that she had to strain her ears to hear it. "You really know how to get a rise out of me yet you have no idea what nerve you've hit."
She shook her head. "Not a clue." Pausing for a moment, she decided to push a bit. "You want to tell me?"
"Not a chance."
She nodded in understanding. They were both saved from the awkward silence when a bell rang. Ginny's arms guarded her ears from the piercing noise and watched as Draco tapped his wand against a small timer. She gave him an odd look as he put in the rat spleens. He caught it and raised an eyebrow in question.
"You set a timer?"
"I don't want to take any chances."
"You do care." She put a hand over her heart for emphasis.
Draco sneered at her, "I don't want my best friend to die. Is that so hard to believe?"
Ginny shook her head, "No. But the fact that this potion is going to cure Hermione might be."
"She's just an added… ah… bonus on your part."
Ginny let a ghost of a smile pass on her lips. It disappeared as she realized that Draco had to power to make the potion deadly. Her head bowed, "I don't know what I would do if I lost her…" Draco didn't respond and she continued, more to herself. "She hated this whole feud thing from the moment she read Hogwarts: a History. Said it waste of energy when there are more important things to worry about… like homework."
Draco snorted, "Sounds like Granger."
"It's just that… it would happen to her, right? The one person who dared to be different, challenge her peers and gain the affection for the last person she had ever expected."
"Your half-wit brother?"
Ginny chuckled, "Yeah, him too."
"Honestly, was he ever dropped on his head as a child?"
"Believe it or not, no he wasn't. Trust me, I've asked."
They both laughed and Draco checked the potion. The directions had said to wait for it to turn a pale green color and at the moment it was a dark shade of violet. He turned to Ginny to see her playing with one of the empty glass vials. It was weird having a civilized conversation with her. At the beginning of their journey down to his "secret room", he couldn't have thought of a worse person to work with. But now, he could name off at least five, and for being with a Weasley, that was a lot. He had almost told her about his one weakness, or rather, his one strength. He had stopped himself, his mind screaming that it would be a horrible idea to even ponder the thought. Only Harry knew about what he had given up, and he was planning to keep it that way.
Ginny was studying the vial with faux interest as she twirled it around her fingers idly. Truth be told, she didn't like the way she was talking with Draco. Not one bit. She still hated him, of course, but these growing conversations between the two of them were making her second guess that persona of him. Never a good sign. She had always been a stubborn person, sticking to her opinions of people from the moment she met them. She had always hated Ron, ever since he had told her that if she were to ever tattle on him, he would get the ghoul in their attic to come attack her in her sleep. Hermione had always been nice to her, ever since her first year, and thus their strong friendship was born. Harry she had hated because of the feud, which really wasn't a very good reason, so it changed when she figured out that Hermione cared for him. She had hated Draco because he was an arrogant prick and always would be, end of story. But now… she didn't even know anymore. Could one conversation change her opinions?
"Hey Red?"
Ginny turned to Draco, still twirling the vile, "Yeah?"
"Could you prepare the boomslang skin while I finish stirring this thing?"
She nodded and removed the slimy substance from its glass container. She had never been the biggest fan of potions, the reason being that she simply hated all of the nasty ingredients they were always forced to work with. That and the fact that Snape creeps her out, but that was unimportant.
Draco motioned for her to put in the skin and she hurriedly threw it in there, wiping her hands on her pants to get the slimy feeling off from in-between her fingertips. He noticed her discomfort and offered a rag. She greedily took it and scrubbed furiously.
"Germapheobe much?" he asked jokingly.
She scrunched up her nose, "No, I just hate slimy wet things."
"Well that's disappointing."
It took Ginny a moment to grasp what he had just said. When she did, she slapped him with the rag. "Pervert!"
He rubbed his upper arm where the rag had made contact, "Hey, it's in my nature as a male to turn everything you say dirty."
"Surely you can't turn everything I say into a perverse pun?"
"Try me."
Ginny contemplated for a moment. "Oranges."
"Orange flavored condoms," He replied without a second thought.
"Quidditch."
"Fourteen people riding thin broomsticks in thin pants. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out."
Her tone now turned questioning. "Wallpaper?"
"Wall sex." It was like the beat of a drum. Ba dum bum.
"Pillows?"
"Lesbian pillow fights."
"Hmm…" Ginny thought for a while, trying to come up with something so simple he couldn't turn it into something tainted. "Unicorns."
"Easy. Their horns could constitute them as forever horny or be used for a nice replacement of a sh-"
"Okay, I get it, you're a genius."
"Oh, any guy can do it, it's implanted in our brains from the moment we hit puberty."
"That explains so much…" She trailed off, thinking of how much her brother had changed in his fourth year, not only voice and appearance wise, but with his attitude as well.
The potion began to bubble and the air turned serious once more. They both turned to the cauldron and Draco double checked with the book to make sure that it was done. The potion was a murky yellow in the book… and the potion in the cauldron matched it exactly. Draco grabbed a medium-sized vial and poured the potion into it with the ladle. Ginny handed him the cork and they looked at each other with worry in their eyes. The potion still had a chance of not working. The book said to get the timing perfect and to serve it to the recipient within fifteen minutes of completing it. They had one shot. It was already close to noon and the ingredients were too scarce to make another one.
"We'd better go now if we want to get there in time." Draco said, trying to keep his cool.
"But what about the leftover potion?" Ginny asked as they hurried to the door.
"Leave it. I'll clean it up later."
Ginny left it at that and followed Draco out into the dark hallway once more. As she closed the door behind them, cutting off the last source of light they had, she became instantly aggravated at the pitch black hallway. "Why can't we just Lumos some light?"
"I already told you. There are charms in these hallways that prevent it from working. They aren't meant to be travelled."
She remained quiet until a rather important detail perked up in her mind. "Umm Draco?"
"Yeah?"
"How long did it take us to get down here?"
"About a half an hour, why?"
"Didn't the potion say to get it to them within fifteen minutes?" Her voice was gaining pitch as panic started to settle into her system.
Draco paused for a moment before cursing. "Shit." He stopped and turned to her, though she still couldn't see him. But she knew that he was looking at her, or what he presumed to be her. "We're going to have to run, Red."
"Shit."
"Yeah, now let's go before it's too late!"
Ginny and Draco began sprinting down the winding hallways. As Ginny's eyes began to adjust to the darkness, she could make out a little of Draco's silhouette to follow. She didn't really feel like running into walls this time. The two of them picked up the pace as much as their lungs and limbs would allow. They both knew that their bodies would collapse if they strained themselves too much but all of that was put behind them. They had to save Harry and Hermione from a dark fate that was threatening to consume them.
~*~
Ron was in a right mood. Not only was his girlfriend in a coma, but his sister had taken off with Malfoy and had been gone for a good hour. He had heard what they had said before about how they could only revive Hermione. When she woke up, she would help them revive Potter and he had to make sure that didn't happen. An hour or so of deep thought (which was enough strain to give him a fair few headaches) had paid off. It was simple. All he had to do was threaten Hermione with the little bit of blackmail he had on her like he always did and she wouldn't help Potter wake up. She was so simple to manipulate it almost wasn't fair.
Ginny and Draco burst into the wing and Ron's neck snapped over to them. They were both red in the face and bent over, heaving heavily. It was obvious that they had run here, but why he didn't understand. Draco lifted his head to look at the clock on the wall and his eyes widened. He grabbed Ginny's elbow and dragged her over to Hermione's bed. Ron noticed that Draco had a vial of murky yellow liquid clutched firmly in his hand and assumed that was the antidote. No words were spoken as Ginny lifted Hermione's head delicately as Draco uncapped and fed her the potion.
The air was thick with anticipation and worry. Draco and Ginny were both holding their breathes as they kept their eyes on Hermione. Ron left his cot and was hovering near his sister. He knew that there was something amiss when she didn't even tell him to give her personal space.
Ginny was beside herself, forgetting the throbbing pain in her lungs with every breath she took. All that was on her mind was Hermione. Would the potion work? Were they too late? Draco seemed to be thinking the same thing as he stared down at Hermione with sweat accumulating on his forehead. He had never been so dependent on something in his entire life and this certainly was a hell of a first experience. There was no outward sign that the potion was working; the only thing to look for was the flutter of her eyes, the sudden intake of breath, something to tell them that it had worked and she was going to be alright.
A minute had passed and they had almost given up hope when Ginny saw Hermione's right eye twitch. No one else had seemed to notice, but when a small noise emitted from deep within her throat, a sort of half-moan, half-breath, everyone began to visibly relax. Draco shoulders slumped and Ginny could see a small smile grace his lips. Ron's mouth was wide open and a grin was beginning to form. Ginny was full out beaming. Her eyes began to flutter open and Ginny held back a scream.
Hermione began to see blurred figures around her bed as consciousness swam over her. She immediately recognized Ginny and Ron's fiery red hair and a head of platinum locks that could only belong to… Draco. She knew that he was behind this when her dreams began to run longer than normal. The damned pumpkin juice! She didn't want her first spoken words in what seemed like an eternity to be those of anger, so she settled on the one name that she saw was absent from the small crowd gathered around her.
"Harry… where's… Harry?"
Her voice came out husky and Ginny and Draco's faces fell. Ron's, however, remained smirking and Hermione's brow furrowed. Ginny tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as Hermione propped herself on her elbows. "Where's Harry?" She asked more firmly.
Ron was the first to speak up, "He's indisposed at the moment."
The way he said it, his voice dripping with venom, made her spine erupt in shivers. She looked questioningly at Ginny and she moved to the side, revealing a still figure seemingly asleep on a cot. A well of emotions swooped over her and jumped out of her bed. No one moved to stop her, not even Ron. He was taking a sick pleasure in the whole situation.
Hermione kneeled by his bed and traced the side of his face slowly with her palm. It moved a path down his shoulder and finally rested in his cold hand. She tightened her grip on it and closed her eyes. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying until she turned over to face the others and her voice came out high and pitchy. Her heartbroken tone was aimed at Draco, "What d-did you d-do to him?!"
Draco opened his mouth, but Ginny beat him to the punch. "He didn't do anything, Hermione." Hermione wondered why she was defending the monster when Ginny spoke up in a small voice again, "He did it to himself."
"What d-do you mean he did it t-to himself?" She asked shakily.
Draco answered her this time, "Well, when he found out that I poisoned you he came to see me and… heh… straighten me out. When I wouldn't give him the antidote he-he drank it…"
"Well give him the antidote, then!" She exclaimed.
"He can't." Ginny said, "Harry charmed the butterbeer so that the antidote wouldn't have any effect on him. So that only you could help him."
"HE DID WHAT?!"
~*~
A/N: IT'S BACKKKK! Sorry for taking so long!!! But I had a lot of time this past week with my parents surprising me with a trip up north. I hope you're not too mad at the ending, but I could only write so much =]
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