Unofficial Portkey Archive

Written by: Kagome-sama

Translated by: Kagome-sama (yes, me -.-;)

Beta-read by: Jess and TeaWithVoldy Thanks so much! *HUGS!*

Disclaimer:

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's note:

I'd like to thank everybody for the nice reviews they wrote about my story. I'm not picky about feedback, feel free to write whatever you want. I don't bite and I'm always happy to read your opinions! :)

Note: This fic is written OotP-wise. Don't read it if you didn't read OotP!

A delicious smell woke Draco up and made his stomach growl, reminding him how hungry he was. He stretched his arms and legs lazily as he looked around. Nothing had changed since the day before… however…

He stood up and thought about having to wear Ron's clothes again. He didn't like them at all; it wasn't that they didn't fit him well enough, but rather that his pride couldn't stand them. He decided that he'd need to go buy some new ones, but the very thought of going back to Diagon Alley gave him the creeps. Fortunately, it was very unlikely that anyone would've recognised him last time. After all, who would've suspected that the filthy vagrant that he had resembled was actually one of the richest men in the country.

He put on the warm maroon jumper and robes, which was also made in the same sickening colour. What taste do you have, Weasley? he thought, quite disgusted. He then finished tying up his shoelaces and went straight to the kitchen, settling his hair in order with his hands; these days he spent very little time on his appearance, having more important things to think about. Right now his most urgent desire was to find something to eat. Draco was absolutely starving - of course, sleeping very close to the kitchen didn't help.

'Morning, Malfoy. You're definitely up early,' Ginny's joyful voice called to him from the distance. The girl was busy preparing the meal and she didn't bother to turn around.

'Seems like you're an even earlier riser than me, Weasley. The smell of your cooking woke me up,' he said, trying to be polite. He still remembered what he had done the night before, and he was still ashamed of himself. He had shown his weakness… in front of a Weasley. He'd never forgive himself for that.

'Oh, if you're hungry, the eggs and the bacon are on the stove. You can lay the table and have your breakfast,' she ordered, still preparing the meal and talking to him without looking at him. Draco decided that he would try to do it himself; if he had to wait any longer for Weasley to do it for him, he was sure that his stomach would begin to cramp. He approached the stove and put two eggs and some bacon onto a plate.

'No House Elves, huh?' he muttered, annoyed. Hearing that, Ginny raised her sight from the meal, and stared at him in surprise.

'Not here, Malfoy. Firstly, we don't have enough money to have one.' She noticed that Draco was sighing at her words, and kept talking, quickly, 'Secondly, Hermione would never agree to it.'

Draco rolled his eyes and Ginny smiled, watching him walk away from the stove with a plate in his hands and seating himself down at the table. As she had now finished preparing the meal, she decided to be kind and make him an orange-squash. After giving it to him, Ginny wiped her hands on her apron, and sighed.

'I'll have to go buy some stuff today. My wand's pretty dirty and I'll need to go to Diagon Alley as well,' she said to herself. Draco's interest in her speech grew when she said the last phrase.

'I'll come with you then,' he said sharply; it seemed more like an order than a request, and this annoyed Ginny.

'Says who?' she retorted, glaring at him.

'I do,' was his curt reply. They stared at each other, both determined not to be the first to look away. But eventually Ginny lowered her gaze and Draco smiled. 'It's not like I'm looking forward to going out with you either, Weasley. Still, I need to buy some new clothes and I've got go to Gringotts. And…' he stopped for a moment to drink some of his orange-squash. Then he stayed silent, not willing to say any more.

'And…,' she prompted.

'I have to go somewhere else,' Draco replied, trying to look very interested in his eggs.

'I'm afraid I'll have to follow you,' she said as she ordered the plates to wash themselves with her wand. 'You're still a wanted criminal you know.'

'That's the whole reason why I should go alone. There's nothing more conspicuous than a Weasley out shopping.'

'We can't let you go to Diagon Alley by yourself.' A voice said from behind them. Draco turned and saw Harry who still looked half asleep. His hair was even messier than usual and he was wearing blue robes with purple decorations. The hems softly touching his dark shoes. 'Don't misunderstand me. We do trust your oath… I'm pretty sure that you won't say anything ... willingly. I'm trying to trust you. However…,' Harry trailed off as he got himself some breakfast and sat down next to him at the table. 'However ... Voldemort knows how to wring the information out of you, so that's why we just can't risk it.'

'What d'you want to do then, are you all going to come with me?' Draco hardly hid a laugh, 'I'm sorry to have to point this out to you, Potter, but I don't reckon that Weasley would be that useful against the Dark Lord, if he finds us. Or… maybe you want to keep me tight on your leash?' he drawled, glaring at the Boy-Who-Lived. They stared at each other, exchanging glares of pure and utter loathing. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Ginny cleared her throat.

'Whatever you want to think, Malfoy, I'm going to follow you everywhere you go, and that's final.' She took off her apron and clapped her hands together to clean them. Then she hurried off towards the door, 'I'm going to get ready. Harry, please tell Hermione that everything's almost done, she just have to put the pots on the stove and keep an eye on them.'

She was about to leave the room, when she stopped for a moment and turned around again. 'If you want to come with me, be sure to be ready in half an hour. We've go to leave early to avoid the tonnes of Muggles who are always around for the morning peak hour traffic,' she told Draco. Then she left, leaving the two boys speechless.

'I doubt anyone could recognise me if they tried,' huffed Draco, brushing off the soot from his clothes. Ginny cleaned his face and ruffled his hair, which he tried to set back in order a moment later, making it look even worse. She tossed him the hat that he had to wear as part of his disguise. Draco was still cleaning his clothes and muttering about how much he hated Floo powder when Tom, the innkeeper, appeared behind the bar, glancing at them with curiosity in his eyes.

'Oh, I thought that I heard voices over here,' he said. 'Let's see… good morning, Miss Weasley. Who's your comp-?' Tom shut up suddenly as Draco glared at him. The innekeeper froze, eyes wide, and immediately took his handkerchief out his pocket and wiped away the sweat from his forehead. He opened the side door of the bar and approached them.

'Merlin's beard… I thought you were dead, or kissed by a Dementor,' he hissed under his breath, showing an expression of surprise.

'I'm sorry I disappointed you,' retorted Draco. His face showed nothing but confidence, but in reality his heart was thudding loudly in his chest. So, there were still people who could recognize him, even dressed like that. Damn… 'If it makes you feel better though, you were nearly right.'

'My boy, I can't say that I liked your father. However, you're not your father, Mr. Malfoy, are you?' As he said that, a flash of pure loathing appeared in Draco's eyes. This scared Tom to death and his face turned as pale as a sheet. 'Oh… err… I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy… I… didn't mean to offend…,' the man started to stammer and mutter aloud. Ginny put a hand on his shoulder and beckoned for him to shut up.

'Tom, we don't want anybody else to notice us. You know, he's wanted by the Ministry… so… can you please let us leave and not say anything else? We're in a bit of a hurry.' He stared at her very seriously as she said these words. Tom picked up his handkerchief again and wiped at the sweat drops which were forming on his forehead again. 'Of course, Tom… you can understand that…'

'O-of course. Of course Miss Weasley. Of course, I-I came over here because… I saw a… mouse. Yes, I'm trying to kill that bloody mouse, yes!' said Tom, trying to not stare at Draco as he grabbed a poker from the side of the fire. Draco sneered and put on his hat, sending Tom a glare which turned the innkeeper's blood to ice. It was much too similar to Lucius's one for comfort.

Then, Draco grabbed Ginny's arm and walked straight towards the door on the other side of the room. Ginny just had time to hide her hair under her hat to stare reprovingly at him as they exited the inn and found themselves in front of the wall. A few moments later, they were walking amongst the crowd of witches and wizards that filled Diagon Alley. Only then did Draco let go of her arm, and Ginny kept watching him with narrowed eyes, shocked by his behaviour.

'Malfoy… was it really necessary to grab my arm and run away like that?' she asked, hurrying after him, not wanting to lose him in the crowd. All around them children were running from one shop to another, yelling and giggling about the window displays. One of them bumped into her, causing her to stumble, and she had to quicken her pace in order to catch up with Draco again.

'If I hadn't done that, you would've stayed there all day chatting with that bloody git. Moreover, please stop calling me that, it's dangerous.' He replied, glaring at yet another boy who crossed the road and stopped in front of a shop-window, sticking his tongue out at them.

'What should I call you then? And where are you going at this speed?' she asked, already out of breath. She was doing her best to keep up with his pace, but she couldn't maintain this speed for long and she didn't want anybody to notice-they already had enough problems without people staring at them.

'Call me Dray. Where d'you think I'm going? To Gringotts!' he said, dryly. Then he stopped for a moment and span around stopping Ginny in her tracks. 'I warn you, Weasley, you've permission to call me by that name, only in this situation.'

'Fine. But you have to call me Ginny.' She glanced back at him, very seriously, 'and… please go slower, Mal… err… Dray.'

'Ok, ok,' he said, resuming his walk but lowering his speed. A few minutes later they were in front of the huge, white, high building that had been used as the Wizard's bank for centuries.

They climbed up the stairs and opened the door, crossing the white and black marble floors, which were shining as usual. Draco hurried up a bit as few goblins stopped to avoid bumping into them.

Draco looked around, experiencing the wonderful feeling of finally being at home. Gringotts was always the same-the Wizarding World could change as much as it wanted, but not Gringotts. You could breathe a different, almost ancient air in these enormous rooms.

They approached a free goblin, who was counting money. Reluctantly, the creature tore his sight away from the gittering gold and blinked at them as Draco cleared his throat.

'Good Morning. How may I help you?' he asked with an oily tone, rubbing his long and slim fingers together.

'I want to take some money out vault five hundred and thirty,' Draco replied, under his breath, staring around suspiciously. He took a key out his pocket-he had retrieved it from his old Muggle clothes that morning. The goblin inspected it carefully, then he stared once again at the boy and his companion.

'Everything seems to be in order. I will have someone take you two to the vault.' 'Dokidook!' he called, addressing another goblin who was standing nearby. He then instructed him to take them to vault five hundred and thirty. The new goblin bowed respectfully and beckoned Draco and Ginny to follow him.

They descended to the dungeons of the bank and, when they arrived at the front door of the right vault, the trolley stopped. The goblin let them get out and he took his time to open the door.

When they finally entered the vault, Ginny's eyes widened in amazement. It was the largest vault that she had ever seen. It contained hundreds, no… thousands of gold and silver pieces that had been meticulously stacked in neat piles. And that wasn't all. All around there were also paintings, frames, massive gold candelabra, documents that seemed ancient and important and jewels of varying sizes.

The girl tried not to let Draco notice her astonishment, but it wasn't easy; her entire family could've lived for generations on only a small part of what the vault contained. However, Draco had clearly noticed her shock, he sneered at her as he filled his pockets. After that, the boy approached some other objects in the room, and carefully chose three of them, putting them into the pocket of his cloak.

'Fine. We can go now,' he said to the goblin, who showed them the exit. When he closed the door, the goblin immediately gave the key back to Draco, before stepping into the trolley again.

'Malfoy, what are those thing you took?' she asked, sincerely curious.

'It's none of your business, Weas -- er Ginny,' he snapped. They came out the dungeons, still upset from the quick trip, and made their way out of the bank.

'Good. Now, the second stage,' Draco muttered, starting once again to walk much too quickly. Ginny had to stop him once again to remind him that she couldn't walk that fast; he sighed and slowed down a bit.

But, suddenly, Ginny's heart sank as someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned around to see who it was and she met the accusing gaze of Cornelius Fudge. She felt the blood drain from her face.

'I thought I heard your voice, Miss Weasley. Or should I say… Mrs. Potter?' The Minister asked as his face moved into the grimace that he used when he wanted to appear cheerful. In reality, Ginny mused, it made him look like a smirking pig.

'Miss Weasley, thank you very much,' she replied, cooler than ever. She had been Harry's girlfriend for two years now, but she absolutely hated it when people assumed things like that.

'I see. Why are you here with a stranger?' the Minister asked, gazing at Draco with interest. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief-Fudge didn't recognize Draco, after all. She tried desperately to think of a plausible answer while Draco was still, few steps in front of her, attentively observing the contents of a shop-window.

'N-no… what are you saying… in truth… I…,' she stammered, her heart thumping madly in her chest. If Fudge suspected anything, not only Malfoy would be sent directly to Azkaban; they would all be in serious trouble for having assisted a wanted criminal.

'She was waiting for me,' said a voice, allowing Ginny's heart to calm down a bit. She was glad to see Remus Lupin's familiar face. Ginny gave him a brilliant smile. 'Please, Miss Weasley. If you keep smiling at me like that I'll certainly envy Harry Potter for my entire life!' They both laughed. Fudge stared at them suspiciously.

'I thought…' he said, eyeing Draco who kept staring at the window, shamming lack of interest.

'Who, Mr. Fudge? T-that man? Oh, I j-just asked him for the time…' she retorted, and finally the Minister seemed to believe her.

'Well, have a nice day, Miss Weasley. Give my respects to Mr. Potter. Lupin, I'll see you tomorrow at the Ministry,' he said, setting out to leave. He waved to her politely, nodded to Lupin and left. Even as he was leaving, he continued to stare at Draco until he disappeared into the white walls of Gringotts. They all gave a sigh of relief.

'What on earth were you thinking? Going for a walk in Diagon Alley! Thank Merlin Harry sent Hedwig to me and asked me to keep an eye on you two, it could've ended up worse!' hissed Lupin as he followed them down the street.

'I wanted to go alone. I told Potter it wasn't a good idea to come here with her, but he insisted,' Draco replied, still shocked.

Cornelius Fudge was the most stingy, stupid and annoying wizard he had ever met. While Lucius pleased him with huge donations to the Ministry of Magic, Fudge had been his best friend. But the second that he got the chance to ruin Lucius, he immediately took it. The first time, when he had sent his father to Azkaban at the end of their fifth year at Hogwarts, Lucius had succeeded in gaining his trust back with money. The second time, however, no price would've been high enough to save his life.

'You didn't have to come here, Malfoy. You're still wanted, after all,' said Lupin, breaking the thread of Draco's thoughts. He stared at the man as they approached Madam Malkin's shop. Then, he eyed the shop-window and decided that he ought to buy two of the robes that were shown there. He wouldn't have the chance to come back to the shop, so it was useless ordering new robes, risking the possibility that Madam Malkin would inform the ministry before he'd be back. He would have to take what was already available and be content with it. The green robe wasn't that bad and neither was the black one.

'I needed some decent clothes, and I had to go to some shops, Lupin. Now, please, give me the opportunity to buy my stuff before Fudge changes his mind,' Draco drawled, sending him a dry look and going into the shop, followed by Ginny.

Immediately, a short, friendly witch came closer, striding towards them. Then, she caught sight of their clothes and Ginny's hair and her smile died on her lips.

'Good Morning, sir and madam. Err… if you're looking for the second-hand robe shop you're in the wrong place. You need to go out and head towards Gringotts then-' she started to say. Ginny blushed to the roots of her hair. She couldn't blame Madam Malkin; she and her family never came into the shop. She had only had entered the shop to buy her Hogwarts uniform and one other time when she was with Harry. Madam Malkin's robes were astonishing… but her prices were astonishing as well. Thank goodness Lupin stayed outside the shop. She would've never lived down the embarrassment she was currently feeling.

'I'm not in the wrong place,' was Draco's curt reply. He glared at Madam Malkin with a severe and aristocratic glance, as he pulled his hat off. The witch froze, her face as white as a sheet.

'M-Mr. Malfoy… Merlin... I thought you were dead,' she muttered. Then she sat down on a chair close to her, until her face returned to its normal colour.

'Yes, you and the rest of the Wizarding world,' he replied, colder than before. The witch stood up from her chair and rubbed her hands, coming closer to him,

'I-I'm sorry for the terrible mistake. Bu-but I-I'm not used to-' she stammered, blushing. Draco approached one of the windows and beckoned for her to shut up.

'Please, don't waste my time. I want to try on those two robes in the shop-window, the green one and the black one.'

'But Mr. Malfoy! I'd never permit you to wear clothes that were not made exactly for your size… I…'

'I will repeat it one more time, and slowly. DO-NOT-WASTE-MY-TIME. You know perfectly well that I can't come back.' Draco's glance would've melted an iceberg.

Madam Malkin recoiled slightly. Then she breathed deeply and began taking down the robes from the window display for him to try on.

In the end, it turned out that they were too long for him, but Madam Malkin told him that her assistant would fix them while he was still there. Draco allowed it, but he forced the girl to work where he could see her, and to hurry up. Waiting for it, he bought various clothes to wear under his robes, including some black jumpers. He didn't want Madam Malkin to leave the shop either-he couldn't take the risk that she might call the Aurors.

In the meantime, Ginny pretended to have come into the shop to look for a present for Ron, and she asked the prices of the hats. When she saw that Draco had almost finished his purchases she made as if to leave. Draco played the role of the wanted criminal with her too, though, and he forced her to stay in the shop until he left-he really hoped that Madam Malkin wouldn't understand his trick.

The shopkeeper requested that a badge with the Malfoy crest was sewn onto his new cloak. Draco agreed, but only if the cloak could be made to be double-faced, so that he could wear it on the side without the badge showing, normally.

When he had finally changed his clothes and was ready to go, he said goodbye to Madam Malkin and went out of the shop wearing his new hat to hide his face. The witch bowed at him profusely, and this pissed him off. Why should he have been annoyed by the fact that somebody respected him more than Ginny? He didn't understand why, but his insides burned when he noticed that the witch didn't even consider Ginny worthy of a glance. Since when he did care about the feelings of a Weasley?

'Where are you going now?' asked Lupin, breaking Draco from his wondering thoughts for the second time that day. Ginny seemed to be relieved to be out the shop and, for once, Draco understood how she was feeling.

'I have to pay a visit to Ollivander's to clean up my wand. Then I'm going to go to the Eeylops Owl Emporium to buy some food for Hedwig. D'you want to follow us, Remus?' asked Ginny, smiling at her old professor.

'I'm afraid that I must go now,' replied Lupin, his glance following someone who was disappearing into the distance. 'Please try and not to get yourselves into trouble, ok?' he said as he watched them leave before he briskly set of in the opposite direction.

They were almost opposite Gringotts, when Draco suddenly grabbed hold off Ginny's arm and dragged her down a dark alley on the left hand side of the road. She was about to demand to know what the hell was going on when she bumped into a witch with a hooked nose and greasy hair who gave Ginny a very evil sneer. She barely managed to contain a terrified scream of fright.

Author's note:

This is the end of chapter 5 ^_^.

I'm evil, I know… leaving you with a cliffhanger of this sort! Has Draco gone crazy? Maybe his speeches of honour were only lies? Or… where did he go? You'll find out in the next chapter, of course >:)

Please review :)

Now, let's reply to the nice people who reviewed the last chapter :)

dreamcatcher_3107: I know that it's hard to picture Hermione with Ron. But think that maybe the choices you make in life are not caused by what you deeply feel in your heart, but also by the circumstances... and by what you feel for your friends. I can't be more precise, here, but you'll see what I mean when we will arrive at a scene in the second part of this four parts saga. I know it's long... but when you'll arrive at that scene, you'll understand. Anyway, Hermione likes Ron very much... but...*shuts up*
As for the cliffie, I'm afraid this chapter has a cliffie even worse than chapter 4 ^^; Thank you again for the review!

Ezmerelda: Yes, time will tell, Ezmeralda. Even because it may be a shock for people who always thought at Draco as a mouth that uttered insults, realising that he's a human being, instead. Everything at the right time... if the events would get too rushed, you'd feel that something's wrong, don't you think? ;) Keep reading, and thank you for the review!

sexybabehp17: :) well, Draco had did something that he shouldn't have done. His Malfoy's pride yells at him that he shouldn't show his weak side in front of a Weasley, but he also did a thing that hurts a bit his man's pride: he was helped by a woman. So he can do the only thing that would give him back dignity: say that he's sorry. You will know more about Marion in chapter 7, it's approaching :) Thanks for the review!

Rea Yume: well... think at Dumbledore gone, McGonagall killed in an useless fight, Arthur dead, Molly almost crazy for the sorrow... the Death Eaters and the true Dementors (not the one that the Ministry of Magic modified) looking for you... your family, your friends... everybody is in danger if you show up. Now you have the reason why Harry and Ron stay hidden and keep their arse on a seat reading books to find a solution. Faster they find why the Green Torch didn't work, faster they will be free to go back to their lives...
As I've said also to sexybabehp17, you will "meet" Marion in chapter 7. Yes, it's a sad story... and thanks for the compliment *^^*. Thank you for the review!