The next few days that went by were filled with silence. Ginny slept a lot more and was growing weaker by the day. She was barely eating anything. They received a letter from McGonagall saying the antidote was in its final stages of being ready which brought hope to all of them. Draco and Ginny hadn't spoken since their argument a few days ago. He still slept on the couch in his room but during the day he wandered about the Manor to avoid Ginny. Harry, Ron and Hermione just went back to doing their daily routine of book reading and playing wizards' chess. It was one afternoon that Draco came running into his room where they all were holding a piece of paper.
"Granger, take a look at this. I found it in my father's office" he said handing the paper to her.
She took the paper and looked it over. Her eyes grew wide and a smile formed over her face. "It's all about the wards around the Manor" she shrieked standing up from the couch she was lounging on. "It's a time release spell that's on the ward" she stated.
"What does that mean?" Ron asked
"It means the ward will lift after two weeks" she said with excitement.
"We only have a few days left then" Harry said suddenly.
"But why two weeks of all time frames?" Ron asked
"I think that's pretty obvious" she said in a sad voice turning her head to look at Ginny.
The excitement seemed to have died down and they all turned their focus on the redhead sleeping in the bed before them. She was getting worse and worse each day.
"I hope she can hold on until then" Ron whispered.
Hermione went over and hugged him. "She will Ron, she's strong" she gave him a small smile.
"Why don't you guys hit the Quidditch pitch for a bit and clear your minds. I'll stay with Granger and watch over Ginny." came Draco's voice suddenly not looking at any of them.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked Hermione more than Draco.
"Yeah it's fine go ahead." she said giving Ron a quick kiss.
Harry and Ron left the room and Hermione wrote a quick note to McGonagall about the timer on the ward and then joined Draco on the couch, each of them had a book in their hand. They read in silence for a while with just the sound of the occasional turn of a page and the crackling fire. Ginny gave a few coughs in her sleep as they read and Hermione would peek her head over to make sure she was ok. Ginny started coughing again, this time harder. Hermione got up and walked over to her and Draco put his book down to glance over at Ginny.
Hermione reached the bed and saw Ginny was sweating out a fever. She quickly pulled the blankets off of her. Her body was sweaty and clammy.
"SHIT!" Hermione cursed loudly.
Draco instinctively jumped up and walked over to her.
"What's wrong?"He soon saw the condition Ginny was in and didn't require an answer.
"Draco help me get her to the bathroom" Hermione said trying to keep Ginny alert enough to try and walk a bit.
"Watch out I got her" Draco said and gently lifted her in his arms. Ginny could barely keep her eyes opened. She just let her head fall against his chest as he carried her to the bathroom. She started coughing roughly again and squirmed out of Draco's arms when they got to the bathroom and she threw herself over the toilet and threw up. She could barely hold herself up over the bowl. She had vomit in her hair and tears down her face. She didn't even know why she was crying.
"I'll be right back I'm going to grab some more towels" Hermione said and hurried out of the bathroom.
Ginny coughed again and soon another round of vomit spilled out of her. She was slumped over the bowl, resting her head on one of her arms.
"I didn't know I had that much in me to throw up" she said in a frail voice letting a small smirk cross her lips and she closed her eyes.
Draco just looked at. He just realized he was kneeling beside her and had been rubbing her back as she vomited. He quickly pulled his hand away.
"No, please don't stop. I think it's helping" she breathed heavily. Her eyes remained closed. She was too weak to keep them opened it seemed and apparently too weak to bring up their argument the other night. He just wanted to cradle her in his arms and tell her everything would be ok and that he loved her. He wanted to apologize to her for all the horrible things he ever did or said to her. He felt himself get a bit teary eyed at how much he really did care and love Ginny. He didn't know what it was about her but she drove him crazy and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her lips again. Ginny suddenly gave another round of coughing and vomiting.
"I'm glad you're here with me" she suddenly whispered; her eyes closed still and her head resting again on her arm. "You make me feel so safe." She took a deep breath and small cough escaped her mouth. "I really like you" she said so low that Draco wasn't sure if she meant for him to hear that.
Did she just say that to me? He thought to himself. No, she's delirious right now look at her. She has a high fever and barely knows what she's saying. He simply responded "I like you to Ginny" as she started dozing off into a light sleep.
Draco continued to rub her back.
Hermione ran back in with a few more towels and started filling the bathtub with cold water.
"Her body is on fire. I need to get her in the bath to cool her down. Just help me get her in the bath and I'll change her after into dry clothes." Hermione said checking the temperature of the water. She turned the tap off.
Draco scooped Ginny up in his arms again and carried her over to the tub and gently placed her in. She immediately gasped out in shock.
"FUCK THIS IS FREEZING!"
"I know Ginny, but you need to cool down a bit you're burning up with fever." Hermione said taking a wash rag and wringing it out over Ginny's head.
Ginny shivered and her body was starting to tremble from how cold the water was. "P.......Pl.......please get m.....me out of h....here." she chattered.
"I will, just a few more minutes, come on let's get your hair cleaned up." Hermione said helping Ginny wash herself up.
After Draco helped her get Ginny out of the tub he left the bathroom so Hermione could help her change into some dry clothes. He grabbed himself a dry shirt after seeing his was soaked from where Ginny's wet clothes laid against him. He sat down in front of the fire waiting for the two girls to emerge from the bathroom.
Soon the bathroom door opened and he was glad to see Ginny only needed to lean on Hermione to be able to walk. Hermione helped her climb into bed and she immediately fell asleep. Hermione turned to face Draco and she let out an uneasy breath. Draco looked at her. She was soaking wet, her hair was a tangled mess and was sticking to her face. Her hands were trembling and she rubbed her face to try and rid any unpleasant thoughts that were clouding her head. Draco stood up and walked over to her.
"You ok Granger?"
She walked back into the bathroom and started cleaning up any vomit Ginny got on the floor and the toilet. She was trying to hold herself together. She was scrubbing the floor with such force.
Draco was watching her now. "Granger?" She didn't answer she just kept scrubbing.
"HERMIONE!" Draco shouted.
She stood up suddenly and faced him. Tears were swelled up in her eyes. She walked over to him and wrapped him in a hug. Her entire body began to shake with sobs. Draco felt pretty awkward in this moment but he knew she needed to cry. She was trying to be the strong one out of all of them and play peacekeeper between them. After a few moments he awkwardly brought one of his arms up and hugged her back and let her have a good cry.
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Later that evening Ginny woke up and was able to manage to get down some toast. She was thankful she could at least sit up in bed and have a conversation for a little bit. Hermione told her about the ward and Ginny seemed a bit more hopeful. The argument from the other night wasn't mentioned again and was kind of pushed to the back burner. They all became use to the routine of spending their days and evenings in Draco's room to watch over Ginny and then went to sleep and did it all over again the next day. Hermione was brushing Ginny's hair for her and Draco was letting Ron go through his wardrobe and make fun of his many suits.
"Jesus Draco, you think you have enough damn suits in here? Half of them look like the same exact one. I think I even saw some with tags on them still"
Draco gave a small laugh, "Yeah well you can thank my parents for that. Apparently it wasn't proper to wear the same suit twice." He said with a sneer on his face at the mention of his parents.
"Speaking of parents Draco, where is your mother?" Harry asked
"Your guess is as good as mine. I've barely seen her since the battle. She is turning the other cheek when it comes to my father's activities, including his treatment of me" he answered and then got up and walked over to his closet where Ron was rummaging through it.
"That's horrible, I can't imagine my mother ignoring something like that" Hermione said now brushing her own hair.
"I'm use to it so it doesn't really matter" he said brushing the subject off. "You think all those suits are ridiculous Weasley then check this shit out." he went into the closet and pulled out a large wooden box and clicked it open and unfolded the sides of the box. Inside were about 100 different cuff links. Some were gold, silver and even encrusted with diamonds.
"Are you serious?" Ron said in shock picking one up in his hand and staring in awe at it.
Draco just laughed and sat back down. Harry walked over to the box and looked over Ron's shoulder at it. He just smirked and shook his head.
"Wow Draco look at you now, in jeans and t-shirt when you have all this fancy attire" Harry teased.
Draco threw a pillow from the couch at him knocking his glasses to the floor which broke. They all burst out laughing.
"Honestly you guys, really?" Hermione laughed getting off the bed and walking over to Harry and repaired his glasses. "If I had a galleon for every time I had to fix these for you I'd have as many shoes as Draco does cuff links" she joked.
"Thanks" Harry said.
Draco glanced over to Ginny who was very quiet. She was sitting with her legs over the bed and her head down. Her flaming hair was falling around her face and lying over her shoulders. He thought back to their fight the other day and about the conversation he and Harry had. He wasn't sure what to do now. The situation between him and Ginny seemed to have been forgotten about as she grew sicker. Not to Draco though, his feelings for her were a lot stronger now especially after the kiss they shared. Now that he knew how close he was to losing her it seemed to be the only thing his mind could focus on. He must be thinking way too much because his head was starting to pound. He closed his eyes and opened them again from the throbbing. Then he felt the mark on his arm start to tingle. He jumped up from the couch abruptly causing all of the others to look up at him with a confused look. Even Ginny lifted her head at Draco's behavior.
"What's wrong Draco?" Hermione asked.
He looked up at them all his eyes were wide with the thought of having them all have to watch him go through this moment that he knew was coming. He tried to make a run to the door but he hunched over from the pain in his head.
"Draco? Are you ok?" she said taking a step closer to him. He quickly backed up against the wall and held his hand out for her to stay away. She stopped and took a few steps back.
"S.....stay.....away" he forced out through clenched teeth.
They all knew what was happening but they didn't expect it so suddenly. Draco hadn't gone through one of his father's punishments since they've been at the Manor. Draco held his head in his hands and soon fell to his knees in pain. The rest of them couldn't do anything but watch helplessly at the horrific scene before them. Draco tried so hard to not let the Cruciatus curse overtake him but he couldn't fight it anymore and soon he was on all fours screaming out in pain. Ron held Hermione in his arms as she couldn't help the tears that came down her face at the site before her. Ginny had her hand over her mouth to mask the gasps at having to witness Draco be tormented.
Draco tried standing up again and he lost his balance falling into the dresser and knocking everything onto the floor. He growled and screamed; he couldn't take it, this was one of the worst ones he experienced. The room started shaking and the lights were flickering. That cold eerie feeling filled the room and the fire once again went out. The windows didn't shake this time, instead they started icing over. They all seemed to notice this and it reminded them much of when the Dementors invaded the train in their third year. Draco's body was shaking uncontrollably; the veins in his head bulging, his face red and tears of pain ran down his face. He was on his knees again hunched over holding his head; his hands ran through his hair grabbing it as leverage. They didn't think his screams could get any louder but the one he let out made Ginny jump off the bed and try to run over to him to try and console him. Before she could get to him he screamed for her to stay away.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" he yelled his teeth were clenched so tight he thought they might break. He lifted his eyes to Ginny's to see her staring back at him. She saw his eyes turn from deep mercury to ice and she found herself locked to him.
The iced windows carried over to the walls of the room and onto the floor. The whole room was becoming covered in ice. Harry ran over to Ginny and grabbed her arm to pull her back. The lights all popped and the windows burst into a million shards into the room. Harry covered Ginny in his arms and Ron and Hermione got down behind one of the couches. The howling winds and gusts of snow roared throughout the room. Things were flying around the room from the force of the wind. Harry turned to Draco whose mind was giving into the pain and effects of the curse.
"DRACO! YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THIS WHOLE PLACE DOWN IF YOU DON'T CONTROL YOUR MIND" Harry yelled to him.
Draco looked at Harry and Harry was thrown backwards against the wall. Hermione and Ron ran to his side to see if he was ok. Ginny stood up from where she was crouched down behind the couch. She took a few steps closer to Draco. He quickly scrambled backwards to stay clear of her.
"N.....NO.....D...DON'T" he yelled to her trying with everything in him to control what was happening.
"GINNY NO GET AWAY!" Ron yelled running over to grab her.
Ginny quickly closed the distance between her and Draco and kneeled down in front of him and grabbed his face in her hands. Her eyes stared into his.
"Draco focus on me, listen to my voice" she said softly.
Draco searched her face. God she was beautiful he thought. The feel of her hands on his face was enough to make him melt right then and there.
Ron stopped and watched as the rattling and rumbling of the Manor started to settle and the temperature change was returning to normal.
Draco soon felt his body suddenly relax and then he passed out.
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Draco was starting to wake up. He heard a noise every few moments that woke him. He wasn't sure what it was but just that it was making him curious to find out what it was. He opened his eyes and his vision was blurred for a moment. He went to reach up to rub his eyes and realized his body was on fire. He blinked a few more time for his eyes to adjust and take in his surroundings. He saw movement to his right and turned to see Hermione with her wand out. It looked like she was transfiguring some clothes. He slowly sat up in what he realized was a bed but not his own. He winced at the pain in his body; every part of him ached. He saw he was in the guest room across the hall and soon he remembered what had happened.
"You're awake finally" Hermione said cheerfully walking over to him.
"Finally?" he asked confused.
"Yeah, you've been out since last night. It's almost dinner time" she said packing a bag.
"Damn" he saw the bag Hermione was packing. "What's that for?"
"Oh, the ward should lift by this time tomorrow so I was just stealing some of the Manor's books. Surely you don't mind" she teased.
He gave a small smirk, "Of course not" He then heard that noise again that woke him up. Took him a moment to realize it was Ginny coughing. "How's Ginny?" he asked looking worried.
Hermione looked at him with a sad face. She shook her head, "Not good, she's been vomiting and she's had some blood come up. She is having trouble breathing. I am making her some more clothes as she keeps having nose bleeds all over her other ones." She stopped and held a piece of the clothing she was transfiguring and leaned against the bed. She let out a sad sigh. "I hope she makes it until tomorrow evening. We are so close to getting out of here."
Draco threw the blankets off of him and stood up. He wobbled for a moment before finding his balance. "I want to see her" he stated firmly. Hermione nodded and lead him into the guest room next to theirs.
Draco walked into the room and searched the room for that red hair he was so familiar with. His eyes fell on her lying in bed. He walked over to her and he was a bit taken aback at how worse she got since he last saw her. His expression softened when he saw her turn her head a bit his way. She was shivering and she was sweating and clammy. Her eyes were barely opened.
"Hey.....y...you" she said in a small frail voice that Draco had to strain to hear.
He smiled at her. He was amazed at the strength of the woman before him. "Hey yourself" he said back.
She gave a small smile and then fell into another fit of coughs. Hermione came walking over to her and got a towel to place over her mouth as she coughed. Draco took a few steps back to give Hermione some space. He saw the towel had blood on it and watched Hermione wipe Ginny's mouth free of any that was on it. Ginny then closed her eyes and fell asleep. Her breathing was shallow and Draco thought she might have stopped breathing for a moment but was relieved when he seen her slightly stir in her sleep.
"Come on Draco let's go downstairs and get you something to eat" Hermione said walking with him down to the kitchen.
Draco didn't say much he was quiet for a while until they reached the kitchen. He took his usual seat at the small island where Harry and Ron were sitting.
"Hey look its sleeping beauty" Ron joked, "Doesn't look like the beauty kicked in yet, best get back to it then" he chuckled.
Draco gave a sarcastic laugh, "Funny Weasley, have you been working on that one since I've been out"
Harry had an amused look on his face, "Thanks for that show last night" he laughed
"Anytime" he smirked."And sorry about .......yeah..." he trailed off.
"That's alright; it was just my body slamming again a solid wood wall." Harry joked pretending to hold his back in pain.
"That was some crazy shit last night" Ron said suddenly.
Draco just stared down at the counter. He didn't know what happened last night, he couldn't control himself. His mind went into another place during the attack.
"Well as scary as it was Draco, it was pretty extraordinary. It shows how powerful you can be but it seems that you can only tap into that part of your mind when you're emotions and adrenaline is at a high point. If you learned to control that, you would have an amazing gift." Hermione explained handing him a plate of food.
"A gift? He could've killed us" Ron said sounding shocked.
They all gave a small laugh and then it got quiet again. Draco didn't eat anything, he couldn't. His body was going through hell from last night. He thought about what Hermione said and he was concerned about the next time something like this happened. What if he would've killed someone by accident last night? What if he hurt Ginny? He couldn't stomach the thought of causing her physical harm. He sighed and pushed his food away.
"We have less than 24 hours here but Ginny doesn't look like she's going to make it until then" he quickly said.
They all looked at him and didn't say anything.
"McGonagall wrote back this afternoon" Hermione said pulling a letter out of her pocket to show it to Draco. "She said she has a good idea of who is working with Lucius at the Ministry but she fears calling him out might cause more harm to us and even her. She literally has no control over the situation it seems. She did say as soon as the ward comes down to apparate to Hogsmeade and she will meet us there. Then Pomfrey will have the antidote waiting for us."
Draco gave a small nod handing the letter back to her.
"Ginny is going to make it. She has been fighting for almost two weeks now" Harry said.
"I hope your right Potter, plus I promised her she would be." he said with a sad face. They all gave him an empathetic look. "I would hate to look like a liar" he added with a smirk.
Hermione gave him a small smack on the arm and gave a small giggle followed by Harry and Ron.
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The next day was going by so slow it seemed and everyone was on edge the whole day. Ginny just kept getting worse by each passing hour. She hadn't eaten and barely drank anything. Draco laid awake most of the night hearing her fits of coughing. He and the others stayed all night in her room so they could be there if anything. It was about an hour before the wards were set to come down and they were all sitting around the room just waiting. Ron had become very quiet all day and at one point had to excuse himself from the room. They all knew he was trying to keep a straight face and not break down over how close to death his little sister was. Hermione went and comforted him during that time and talked him and Harry into playing a game of chess while they waited. They all found it hard to do anything really, all they could think of was if Ginny was going to make it. There were a few times Hermione was afraid she had stopped breathing because her breathing was so shallow.
"Come on guys play another round of chess, we only have a half hour left" Hermione called from the couch trying to get lost in her book.
"I can't anymore, my mind is only on Ginny" Ron walked over to Hermione and put his head in his hands. She rubbed his back to reassure him she would make it but she knew that they were empty words and so did he.
"It will make the time go faster, come on, Draco play a game with Harry. I know Ginny likes to hear noise around her rather than the silence." Hermione gave them a small smile.
Draco walked over and joined Harry for a game of chess. He didn't feel like doing anything either but did it for Ginny. He glanced over at her to see her still form lying there; her chest barely rising and falling. He looked down at the chess board and closed his eyes for a second. He opened them and looked at Harry for a second, his hair was a tousled mess and he was rubbing his eyes under his glasses. There was a look of sadness and worry on his face. Draco let out a slight sigh and Harry and him just sat there rather than playing. Ginny started coughing again and she tried sitting up. They all stood at once and Hermione ran to her side followed by the others.
"Hey Ginny, are you ok?" Hermione said leaning over to get a better look at her friends face.
Ginny just kept coughing, and coughing. She made to get out of the bed. "I'm going to be sick" she choked out.
Hermione grabbed her around the waist as Ginny slipped out of bed. Ginny was dead weight and fell to her knees on the floor. She fell into another fit of coughs and she started to cough up blood. There was a lot more than normal and Hermione's hands immediately started to shake with fear that this was the end.
"Come on Ginny, hang in there, we are so close to getting you that antidote" she said grabbing a towel off the nightstand and coming over to wipe Ginny's mouth.
"Thank you" Ginny breathed out through coughing.
"You're welcome, we don't want you looking like death now when we get back" she gave her a small smile.
Ginny's breathing became strained and very short. She gasped after every word left her mouth. "No, I mean for taking care of me through this whole thing" She coughed again spitting out more blood. "For being my friend"
Hermione was taken aback for a moment and tears filled her eyes. "No Ginny, don't do this, please, don't start saying goodbye" Hermione cried.
Ginny turned away from her for a moment. Ron leaned down next to her."Gin, we are so close, you need to hang in there, just a bit more ok?" He pleaded with her; tears of his own swelling in his eyes.
Ginny gave a small nod. She went into another fit of coughing and this time she was barely catching her breath. She was gasping for air; her eyes went wide in fear and then her body went into a seizure like state and she was bleeding from her nose and mouth.
"GINNY! GINNY! STAY WITH ME, LOOK AT ME GINNY" Hermione screamed to her trying to hold her body from shaking.
"HERMIONE WHAT'S GOING ON?" Harry yelled
Hermione just shook her head and cried, "I-I don't know" she said.
"WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!"Harry yelled in a state of panic.
Draco was in a state of shock. This couldn't be happening right now. Not when they were so close to getting out of here. He felt his love for the redhead grow ten times in this moment.
Ginny let out this loud gasp for air. Her mouth was wide open trying to get any air in her. Her body stopped convulsing and fell completely limp on the floor. The veins on her arm were turning black and it continued all over her body; a sign that the final stages of the poison were taking effect. Hermione stood up and ran over to Ron sobbing. Ron couldn't hold his emotions in anymore and he fell to his knees helplessly as he watched his sister start to slip away. Harry had his hands on his head in disbelief. He slid down the wall into his own fit of sobs. As for Draco he couldn't believe that this was the end after everything and after coming so close. His own tears stung his eyes. He racked his brain thinking of anything he could do to save Ginny's life but nothing came to him. He would do anything to trade places with her right now. That should've been him instead of her. His eyes grew wide suddenly and an idea came to him. The Hauriendum spell, he could use it to absorb some of the poison from Ginny and maybe it will be enough to save her life and get her to Madame Pomfrey. He didn't care if it was just a shot in the dark; he was willing to risk his life for her. He pulled out his wand and kneeled down next to Ginny.
"What are you doing Draco?" Hermione asked through her fit of sobs. Harry and Ron looked up see what his intentions were.
He turned to her with a look of sadness on his face. "If I don't make it I just want to say, you guys were the closest thing I had to friends" he was breathing rapidly and he turned back to Ginny. He picked up her hand and held it in his and then pointed his wand at her.
Hermione's face finally registered what he was attempting, "DRACO NO!"
"HAURIENDUM!" he yelled out before she could stop him.
A bright light slowly emerged from Draco's wand and wrapped itself around his and Ginny's hands. The light entwined around Ginny's body and then back up her hand that Draco was holding. He then felt it. He felt all the pain, all the suffering that Ginny had to endure. His nose was dripping blood, his skin was clammy and he felt his body drifting away. His vision blurred, his hearing was fuzzy. He fell to the floor and could see Hermione, Harry and Ron running to his side. He was then met by complete darkness.