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The Different Shades of Grey by moogle
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The Different Shades of Grey

moogle

Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to JKR.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. They were greatly appreciated.

The New Prisoner

It had been two weeks since the day Ginny had discovered the truth about the child. Two, miserable weeks. She was still no closer to escaping from the manor, and the sight of her rapidly growing stomach was just a constant reminder of how little time she had left.

At first she had considered enlisting Narcissa's help. The woman was still the mistress of the manor, after all, and she had comforted Ginny that night. But just before Ginny had opened her mouth to request the blonde's help, something had whispered that it would be wiser for her to keep quiet about her plans for escape.

Narcissa was being more friendly towards her lately, but that did not mean that the woman would be willing to jeopardise both her own and her son's life just so Ginny could escape from the manor. It was Draco that Narcissa loved; Draco that she would protect in the end.

So Ginny had kept her thoughts quiet and tried her best to come up with a plan. She had discovered, after many walks around the grounds, that the manor was warded in such a way that she could not escape unless she had a wand. Since the only way she could get a wand was if she stole Draco's, Ginny knew that this was going to prove extremely difficult.

Not only that, once she had achieved the impossible feat of getting his wand, she then had to determine what wards he had used so that she could break them. Ginny may be a powerful witch, but she was no genius. It could take weeks to figure out what wards were used to keep her a prisoner. Weeks that she did not have.

Then, still, she had to consider what she would do after she had broken the wards. She was not a fool. She knew that every Death Eater in England would be hunting for her once she escaped. She would need to get somewhere safe very fast, but after spending so long as a prisoner, she had no idea where the order would now be stationed or even if anyone was still alive that could help her.

Everything was resting on chance. She would need more than luck to get Draco's wand, a brain she did not have to get past the wards, and the intuition of a seer to find the rest of her people if she wanted to succeed.

It was a plan doomed to the impossible. Unfortunately, it was the only option she had.

Ginny sighed as she stared out her window. The sky was painted a dark grey, becoming almost black in the distance where a storm brewed. It was going to be a horrible day. She just knew it.

As if on cue, a deep growl of thunder rumbled through the sky. Rain started to fall from the thick shroud of clouds, slow at first, and then it was pelting down in heavy droplets, so that all Ginny could see was the dagger-like jets of water slicing through the air.

"Just perfect," she muttered to herself.

She had been hoping to go for a walk outside today but there was no way she was going to trek through that weather. Not that Narcissa would let her anyway. The blonde still liked to treat her like glass and was very insistent that Ginny take extra care of herself. Walks in the rain were most definitely prohibited.

Ginny tore her eyes away from the window and made her way towards the door. She had barely opened it an inch when she heard voices coming up the hallway from the direction of the stairs.

"Someone in the inner circle has betrayed the Dark Lord," came Draco's familiar voice. "That's the only way they could have known about Potter."

Ginny gasped. They were talking about Harry.

She leaned forward to listen more closely.

"Or they managed to kidnap a prisoner of their own," suggested a male's voice Ginny did not recognise. "There was a whole camp-load of people at that base you attacked. Any of them would have been able to tell the dissenters that Potter was taken."

"Then how did the dissenters know where our base is?"

There was a pause. Ginny took the chance to open the door a bit more to get a better view.

She could see Draco standing with his arms folded and wearing a frown on his face. His companion, an unremarkable man with brown hair and sallow skin, was more relaxed in his stance and yet at the same time more agitated in expression.

"I don't know how they found it," admitted the man. "The dissenter we caught killed himself before we could get any more information out of him, but at least we know it's Potter that they're after."

Draco shook his head. "Something just doesn't add up. I know these men. I know they would never attack the base they knew the Dark Lord to be residing in, even on the off chance that Potter was also there. They don't take risks like that and they've never been known to attack head-on before, which you say they did."

"I suppose it is out of character for them, but it is plausible that they decided to take a risk this time. This is Potter we're talking about. They've been wanting to get their hands on him for years."

"Yes, but you also said that it was an easy win and that only three of our men were killed. I know we're good, but we're not that good. Something's not right about this, Nott. I can feel it."

The man, whom Ginny assumed must be Theodore Nott, gave an amused laugh. "I never would have pegged you for the tea leaves and crystal ball type."

Draco scowled. "Laugh all you want. I know I'm right."

"If you say so," shrugged Nott. "In any case, the Dark Lord thinks it would be wiser to have Potter moved to the manor here with you. We'll be bringing him by side-apparation in fifteen minutes."

"I'll have to remove the wards for that. I had to put anti-apparation wards all around the manor after the dissenters started acting up. I can't have them coming here unannounced."

"You'd best sort that out now, then. The Dark Lord won't be happy if anything happens to his precious Potter."

"I know," murmured Draco, glancing away from the sallow man. To Ginny's horror, his gaze fell directly on her, grey eyes narrowing as he easily pieced together that she had been listening.

Ginny quickly shut the door.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, though it was not so much out of fear from being caught. She was more concerned with what she had just overheard and what she now knew she had to do.

The wards were going to be removed. This was the perfect chance to make her escape from the manor, and yet, in order to succeed, she would have to abandon Harry-her Harry-to Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

It was an impossible choice to make, but one that could not be avoided.

There was once a time when she would have stood by him no matter what the cost to her own life. She wouldn't have even paused to consider fleeing when he was about to become a prisoner in her place, but things had changed since then. She had changed.

War made monsters out of everyone, Lara had said, and in that moment Ginny knew it to be true. The moment she had discovered the wards were going to be removed she knew, deep down, that she had already made her decision. This was too good an opportunity to pass up, and she had enough common sense to realise that even if she did stay, she would never be able to help Harry.

There was no room for bravery and loyalty here. In this world one had to fend for oneself. She had to escape, even if it meant using Harry to do it.

Ginny clenched her hands into fists. She hated herself for what she was about to do, but she knew that she had no choice. She couldn't let Voldemort win. She couldn't just give up; not when she still had a fighting chance.

"Please let this work," she muttered to herself.

Ginny opened the door and stepped out of the room. Draco and Theodore Nott were no longer in the hallway, much to her relief.

Having already learnt her lesson from the last time she had hung around when given an opportunity to escape, she quickly began to make her way down the stairs to the doors that led outside; thanking her lucky stars that Narcissa and Tinky were nowhere in sight.

By her calculations, she now had about ten minutes to get to the edge of grounds and wait for the wards to be removed. From there, it was simply a matter of running as far away as possible until she could figure out a new plan.

Not having a wand certainly made the 'getting away' part difficult, but she wasn't going to waste this opportunity. All she needed was a bit of luck. Either way, she had to try. She knew she was never going to get a chance like this again.

Wrenching open the doors to the grounds, she ran through the pounding rain towards the hills in the distance, her dress becoming steadily more wet until it was sticking uncomfortably to her like a second layer of skin.

At any other time she would have been annoyed by the discomfort her impractical clothes afforded her, but this time she could spare no concern for the fancy-and now soaked-dress she had been forced to wear. Soon she would be away from it all. She would be away from everything.

Her spirits lifted at the thought, giving her an extra burst of speed as the rush of adrenaline surged through her. She could do this. She just had to stick to the plan.

It was several minutes later before she finally reached the boundaries of the manor. She felt rather than saw the barrier keeping her in. An uncomfortable tingling sensation jolted through her body at the contact, forcing her back, but just in that same moment the feeling lifted.

A laugh of delight escaped her lips. The wards had been removed. She was free.

Ginny began to run again, her heart soaring as she passed through the boundaries and into the surrounding countryside, revelling in her escape. She had actually done it. She had actually managed to get away from the manor.

Spotting a wood not too far ahead of her, she started making her way towards it, knowing that even if she had managed to escape the manor itself, there was still a long way to go before she could call herself safe.

That was when something red flashed past her face, coming so close that she could actually feel the heat of the spell against her cheek.

Ginny let out a gasp of fright. She turned her head to see a man sprinting towards her; a man with blond hair and grey eyes that she knew would be no less menacing than the dark clouds above her.

"No, no, no!" Ginny muttered under her breath, forcing her legs to run faster. "How did he know?"

Another curse soared past her, again missing her by a hairsbreadth. She felt her stomach lurch and abruptly changed directions in the hopes of throwing off his aim.

Draco cursed loud enough for her to hear, a fact that gave her little comfort. He was unbelievably fast and was catching up to her quickly. It didn't help that she was three weeks pregnant, which, in her case, meant somewhere between three to four months.

Ginny could feel the tears streaming down her face, but she refused to give in. She had to keep running. She couldn't go back. Not when she was so close to being free. The forest was right there…

Maybe something would happen to help her escape from him? Maybe someone would come out of those trees right now and hex him?

Or not.

She could hear the heavy thud of his footsteps coming closer and then something hard and very wet collided into her from behind, dragging her down onto the ground. For a moment she was too winded to do anything-not to mention trapped under the much stronger body pinning her down-but as soon as the air rushed back into her lungs, she began to fight back with everything she had.

"Get off me!" she screamed, kicking, scratching and hitting at any part of him that she could reach, not even caring that she was hurting herself in the process.

Draco let out a string of curses as he struggled to pacify her into submission. His wand had slipped from his hand when they had fallen to the ground and now lay a few feet away from them. He reached out for it now, but Ginny saw what he was trying to do and gave an almighty shove that sent him sprawling backwards. With greedy eyes she began to scramble her own way towards the fallen wand.

"I don't think so," growled Draco, yanking her back by her leg before she could close her fingers around the wand.

Ginny immediately began kicking at him again, hearing the satisfying thwack when her foot collided with his face. He groaned in pain but did not release her leg. Instead his grip tightened and, before she knew she it, she was being dragged with an alarming degree of speed towards him, fingers leaving muddy trails where her nails had dug into the ground.

She shrieked in panic, trying to break from his hold, but it was like he had suddenly gained the strength of a giant. The next thing she knew he was straddling her hips, one hand holding both her wrists securely above her head, while the other pinned her body down by a firm hand on her shoulder.

Ginny glared up at him through the merciless rain, still trying to catch her breath from their struggle. He was breathing just as heavily, his eyes narrowed with unrestrained venom. It was a look that would have made a lesser person beg for mercy, but Ginny had never been the begging type, and nor was she going to cower before him now.

"Looks like I've caught you again, Ginevra," he taunted, allowing his lips to curl into a dangerous smirk.

The effect was somewhat ruined, considering he was dripping wet and splattered with mud-though Ginny knew she would look no better-but that didn't stop her from letting out a small snarl of frustration as she tried to shove him off her again. Draco did not budge; only using more force to keep her down to the point where she could actually feel her body protesting in pain.

Ginny couldn't take it anymore. With tears streaming down her face, she collapsed back against the ground, breathless and defeated.

It was over. He had won.

Draco stared at her suspiciously for a moment and then finally relaxed the death grip he had on her, though not enough to let her escape.

"Had enough?" he asked, voice filled with satisfied mockery.

Ginny replied to this taunt by spitting at his face.

His eyes flashed, and he actually raised his hand to strike her, but then something shifted in the grey, and he abruptly let his hand drop back to his side. They stared at each other for a moment, like two cats with arched backs, both expecting the other to suddenly pounce, and then Draco let out an exasperated sigh.

"You're a real nuisance, you know that?" he muttered, dragging them both to their feet, while still keeping a firm grip on her arm so that she could not run again. It was obvious that he didn't trust her to cooperate with him.

Ginny wasn't quite sure that she even trusted herself to speak. She was still trying to come to terms with what had just happened.

He had been going to hit her, she had seen it written all over his face, but then he had just let it go. He hadn't even shouted at her. It was just so strange…

Of course, she should have been pleased he had decided to go easy on her this time, but Ginny had experienced Draco's temper more than enough to know that this behaviour was very out of character for him. She didn't understand it, and she wasn't sure that she liked it either.

Draco finally took the time now to wipe the spit from his face, shooting her another dark glare, and then he dragged her roughly by her arm to where his wand lay on the muddy ground.

He bent down to retrieve it. In that split-second, Ginny realised that this was the chance she had been waiting for.

She kicked him hard in the leg, sending them both sprawling to the ground again, thanks to the vice-like grip he had on her arm. With triumph gleaming in her eyes, she closed her fingers around his wand.

The magic throbbed through her blood, the dormant power awakening with an overwhelming thirst for release, and it was with great satisfaction that she levelled the wand on Draco's now stunned face.

"Well, well," said Ginny, slightly breathless. "It seems the tables have turned."

"I wouldn't do that, Ginevra," warned Draco, watching her warily as he slowly got to his feet.

"Do you think I'm scared of you? I'm the one with the wand!"

She looked half-crazed brandishing the strip of wood at him, but Draco was unmoved by her ravings and continued to stare at her in a cautious but calculating way.

Ginny's brow creased. Something wasn't right. He seemed too calm for someone facing the tip of a wand.

Draco took a step towards her.

"Stay away from me," spat Ginny, aiming the wand more firmly at him. "I'll kill you, I swear I will."

He laughed as he took another step forward. "You won't kill me, Ginevra. You don't have it in you."

"I said stay back!"

Sparks flew out of the wand. Draco paused in his steps, though there was still that calculating gleam in his eyes that made her feel just a little uncomfortable.

Ginny knew she had to get rid of him. It was the reason she hadn't disapparated yet. If she left now he would just go tell Voldemort that she had escaped with his wand, and then they would trace it back to her and catch her. All her efforts would be wasted because of him.

Her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn't know what to do. She didn't even know where to go. All she knew was that Draco Malfoy now stood between her and her freedom, and it was up to her to get rid of him.

For a moment she just stood there, hesitating in her indecision, and then Draco let out a low laugh.

"You Gryffindors are all the same."

Ginny frowned. There was a flash of silver, and then her wand-arm began to sear with pain, as if someone had just impaled a hot poker right through the limb.

She dropped the wand in shock and fell to her knees, a half-stunned moan breaking from her lips. In one quick stride Draco had claimed the stolen wand and levelled it at her face.

"You shouldn't have hesitated," he stated, smirking at having ousted her yet again.

Ginny could only gasp in pain. She stared at her arm and felt a rush of nausea twist inside her at the sight of the silver dagger sticking out of her flesh, watching as the blood oozed out from the wound like a crimson snake.

"Are you going to stop trying to escape now?" asked Draco threateningly, his voice leaving no doubt that he had well and truly lost his patience with her and would not be held accountable for the consequences if she kept pushing him.

She nodded, swallowing back her tears.

He knelt down and without preamble wrenched the dagger out of her arm. A fresh cry of pain escaped her lips. She swayed dizzily on the spot, clutching at the wound, which was now seen to be bleeding profusely.

"I did warn you," reminded Draco, wiping the dagger clean on his pants before slipping it back into its hidden sheath up his sleeve.

"Just shut up and get me back to the manor before I bleed to death," gritted out Ginny, closing her eyes as her arm began to throb violently.

Draco laughed, genuinely amused by her answer, a fact that would have surprised her had she not been in so much agony. He took her wounded arm in his hand, examining it closely. One healing spell later, the deep gash in her flesh had closed. He then helped her to her feet.

"I'm not going to thank you," announced Ginny, stubborn to the last.

"I never expected you to," replied Draco, rolling his eyes. "Now hurry up. I need to put the wards back on."

She allowed him to pull her back into the boundaries of the manor and watched as he performed a few complicated spells. The air crackled with magic and then went quiet again, the only sound being the storm growling in the sky and the rain falling from its darkened face.

Ginny knew the wards were back in place.

Draco looked considerably paler after this display of magic and actually swayed a little in his exhaustion. He let out a breath and then turned back to her. "Come on," he said gruffly, yanking her forward again. "My mother will start fretting if we don't get back soon."

Ginny was silent as they began their slow trek back to the manor, neither having the energy to do much more than drag their feet. She was still frustrated that her plans had been foiled, and shot another fuming glare at her captor.

"How did you know I was out here?"

"I saw you when I was removing the wards," he replied shortly.

Ginny fell silent again. Her eyes fell on the sleeve where she knew the dagger was hidden. She found it strange that he hadn't just threatened her with the dagger as soon as he had realised his wand was out of his reach. He'd never shied against using violent methods on her before.

"If you had that knife all along, why didn't you just use it on me to begin with?" she asked, voicing her thoughts. "It would have saved a lot of trouble for you."

Draco sighed in some exasperation. "Because you're a psychotic wench that needs a good whipping and probably would have got yourself stabbed. I wouldn't have used the dagger at all if you hadn't been so stupid and stolen my wand."

Ginny blinked, surprised by his honest, if brutal, answer. "Why not?"

"It is not in my best interests to hurt you while you are pregnant. You, however, make it very difficult for me not to. I'm surprised you've managed to live this long with the way you carry on. Even a Saint would be tempted to commit murder with you around."

"What do you expect?" retorted Ginny, stung by his words. "You kidnap me and treat me like I'm the dirt under your boot, your stupid Dark Lord forces me to have sex with you so that I can get pregnant with the spawn of Satan here, and then, when I finally get a chance to escape, you come along and ruin it. Don't you think I'm just a little justified in my frustration?"

"You're the enemy. Why should I care about your frustrations?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "So what if I'm the enemy? The world isn't split into black and white, you know? You can't tell me that you haven't felt the connection between us."

Draco came to an abrupt halt, his eyes narrowing as he swung around to face her.

"Let's get one thing straight, Ginevra. There is nothing between us. Nothing. All this nonsense you keep spouting about connections and feelings is all in your head. I don't care about you, I never will care about you, and the only reason I slept with you in the first place is because I haven't had a woman in a while and you just happened to offer yourself."

"You know, I might have believed that the first time, but I'm not stupid."

"No, you're just insane," retorted Draco irritably.

"Maybe you're right? Only someone completely insane would enjoy being with you, but you know what, Malfoy, at least I can admit it! I hate you, believe me when I say that, but I'm not stupid enough not to realise that something changed the night we had sex. You can deny it all you want, but I've seen the way you look at me, and I know you've felt the pull just as much as I have."

"You're delusional," spat Draco, walking ahead.

"Delusional?" cried Ginny, stomping to catch up with his longer strides. "The only one delusional here is you!"

"Shut up!" he growled, rounding on her again. "You have no idea how close I am to losing my patience with you, Ginevra, so unless you want to resemble a pincushion by the time we get back inside, I suggest you keep your stupid mouth shut."

Ginny scowled at him, but she swallowed back the number of retorts that came to her tongue and said no more.

They walked in fuming silence back to the manor, the tension between them so high that one could almost see the sparks crackling around them. Draco threw open the door to the entrance hall for her, glowering after her as she walked inside, and then slammed it shut behind him.

Their eyes met again, each matching glare for glare. Ginny lifted her chin haughtily and stalked towards the stairs, leaving a trail of mud and dripping water everywhere, and nearly collided with Narcissa, who was coming from the other direction.

"My word, what on earth have you been doing?" exclaimed Narcissa, stunned out of her usual calm by their odd appearance. "You're absolutely soaked to the bone, and is that blood on your arm, Ginevra?"

Ginny glanced down at her blood-smeared sleeve and gave a bitter laugh. "I almost forgot about that."

And he called her psychotic. She wasn't the one throwing hidden daggers at people.

"Ginevra tried to escape, Mother," explained Draco, scowling at said redhead. "I had to take drastic measures to ensure her cooperation."

"I hope you weren't too rough on her, Draco. You know she's in a delicate situation at the moment."

"I had no choice," snapped Draco, losing his patience. "It's not my fault she's stupid enough to try run away and refused to comply."

"Well, I suppose there's nothing we can do about that now. Come, Ginevra," said Narcissa, taking her by the arm. "Let's get you cleaned up. You're going to catch your death if you stay in those wet clothes any longer."

Ginny threw one last glare at Draco and then allowed herself to be steered up to her room by the masterful blonde, where she was then stripped naked and dumped unceremoniously into the bathtub of hot water.

Narcissa herself washed Ginny's hair for her as the redhead grumpily cleaned the grime from her body. The water had turned a horrible murky colour, but Ginny didn't seem to care. She was too busy glowering at the telltale marks on her body left by her latest dispute with her captor. Already she could see the bruises forming on her pale skin, and a thin, red line now remained where the dagger had pierced into her arm.

How she hated him, though at the moment she was just as furious with herself.

Why did she do it? Why couldn't she have just kept her stupid mouth shut? It wasn't as if she liked him. For all she knew the great 'connection' between them might be credited all to lust. He certainly didn't seem to care much about her. When he'd looked at her after she'd said that she knew he felt the pull too, his contempt for her had been all too obvious.

Ginny inwardly sighed. This was ridiculous. Maybe he was right? Maybe she was insane? Why else would she have feelings for a man who threw daggers at her and kept her prisoner? Only someone completely sick and masochistic would do that.

And yet, however improbable the idea might be, she just knew that there was something between them. It couldn't just be lust; it couldn't just be because she was insane-as she was beginning to believe that insanity for her was unavoidable at this point. There was something there, and she found herself incredibly irritated by the fact that he refused to admit it.

"Something is bothering you," observed Narcissa, rinsing out the shampoo from Ginny's hair.

A scowl twisted Ginny's lips. "I hate your son."

"He was only doing what he had to do, Ginevra. You have to understand that if you had escaped, Draco and I would be executed by the Dark Lord without a second thought."

"Draco wouldn't have cared about that," retorted Ginny, though she did feel a stab of guilt for having put Narcissa's life in danger. She'd been so caught up in her selfish thoughts for freedom that she hadn't even considered what would happen to the blonde.

"Maybe not," allowed Narcissa, able to admit that in many ways it was wishful thinking that her son still cared about her safety, "but it is true that we would both be killed if you escaped. I hope you consider that the next time you decide to get some harebrained notion into your head."

Ginny stiffened, her ready anger boiling to the surface. "I'm sorry, am I supposed to just sit here and wear fancy dresses, having this spawn inside of me making every day of my life rotten, just waiting obediently for it to pop out so Voldemort can perform his stupid sacrifice and kill me?"

Narcissa sighed. "You know I don't want that to happen to you, Ginevra."

"But that is what will happen if I don't escape. Don't you see? No miracles are going to happen to get me out of this mess! Voldemort isn't going to suddenly choke and die from a chicken bone or turn into a hippie and start spouting world peace."

"Now you're raving."

"That's because I'm sick of this! I'm so sick of being a pawn for people to shove around wherever they like. I'm not an asset, I'm not a damn vessel for demon spawns, and I'm not going to let myself be killed by some lunatic that has an obsession for power!"

"Things will change for the better, Ginevra. Just be patient, and for Merlin's sake, don't go running off like that again. You know my son has a temper. The last thing we need is for him to hurt the child."

"The child! The child! The child!" exclaimed Ginny. "That's all I hear about now. I hate this bloody child!"

Narcissa frowned. "I think you're clean enough now."

"You're just saying that because you don't like my outbursts," muttered Ginny mutinously, though she did feel a little subdued by Narcissa's icy calmness. The woman always knew how to put her back in her place.

"Yes, Ginevra, I am. I think you're being ridiculous, as you well know. Now get dressed, and maybe I shall take you to see the Potter boy. He is a friend of yours, isn't he?"

Ginny's eyes immediately lit up. "You'll take me to see Harry?"

"If it will stop these infernal ravings of yours, yes."

Ginny beamed, taking that as a compliment, and immediately began to dry herself. She quickly got dressed and then announced to Narcissa that she was ready. The blonde took in her sloppy appearance, barely repressing smile, and motioned for Ginny to follow her.

They walked down the hallway towards the other side of the guest chambers. Narcissa paused outside one of the doors and opened it carefully.

"Draco hasn't exactly forbidden you to see the Potter boy," she said quietly, "but I have a feeling he would not be happy if he knew I had brought you here. You'd best keep this to yourself."

Ginny nodded.

"Good girl," said Narcissa, and then pushed the door the rest of the way open. "I'll wait here. Don't take too long."

Nodding again, Ginny entered the room and heard the door click shut behind her. She stared at the bed, her heart clenching as she saw the familiar face of her fallen lover, with his iconic, lightening bolt scar still standing out vividly against his forehead.

It had been so long she had seen him, and she was surprised to see that he actually looked healthier than the last time she had gazed into his face. He was still emaciated, but his cheeks were less sunken somehow, his body less thin.

Was it possible that the Death Eaters had been healing him? And, if so, why?

Ginny shook off these troubling questions and sat down on the bed beside him, her fingers lifting to gently stroke his cheek. Her eyes began to sting, and once again she found herself swallowing against the uncomfortable lump in her throat.

"Oh, Harry," she whispered, "I've done something terrible."

There was so much she needed to confess to him. The guilt was almost too much to bear, and before she knew it, she was revealing all that had happened between herself and Draco, as well as her own selfish actions that very day.

"I was going to leave you, Harry," she choked out, tears trailing down her cheeks. "I was just going to leave you here and escape myself. I betrayed you; I've betrayed everyone. I don't even know who I am anymore. I feel like I'm losing myself to the Malfoys, as if I'm becoming one of them, and I'm scared..."

She gripped his hand, her head bowed. "I wish you were here with me now."

"As touching as this is," said a cold voice that Ginny had no trouble recognising, "I will not have you coming near my prisoner."

Ginny released Harry's limp hand and spun around to see Draco leaning against the wall, surveying her coolly through hard, grey eyes.

"What happened to Narcissa?"

"I sent her away. My mother may be my mother, but you forget, Ginevra, that she is just as much a prisoner as you."

"I don't know how you live with yourself," responded Ginny spitefully. "After all your mother has done for you, sacrificing everything so that you can be safe, you just go and throw it back in her face by keeping her a prisoner in her own home."

Draco's jaw clenched. "It wasn't my decision."

"And yet you still lord over her and go on power trips every moment she crosses you."

"My mother has been branded a traitor. It's because of me that she is still alive, but you wouldn't understand that, Ginevra. You're nothing but a naïve little girl."

Ginny lifted her chin. "Naïve I may be, but at least I'm not breaking my mother's heart and treating her like a whipping boy."

"No, you aren't," agreed Draco, "but then you don't have a mother."

For a moment Ginny just glared at him, tears welling up in her eyes, and then she ran out of the room without another word, no doubt to go sob her pathetic little heart out on her pillow.

Draco knew it was a low blow to mention her mother, whom he knew she had witnessed dying from the memories he had seen in her mind, but he had already used up his patience quota for her that day, and she had dealt a low blow herself by bringing up his own mother.

His eyes flicked to the man lying on the bed and a scornful look came onto his face. Why was she crying over Potter? He had known she had held a crush on the idiot during their school days, but she couldn't surely still have feelings for the raven-haired man now?

Not having the answer to this question, it was with a decidedly disquieted mind that Draco left the room.

A/N: Phew. That one took a lot out of me. As usual, I must apologise for typos, etc. I haven't had much sleep, and since I was determined to get this chapter out, I decided to just write when I probably should have gone to bed.

Anyway, your thoughts and feedback will be most appreciated, and I'll try update asap.