“What are you waiting for?”

Anticipation gleamed in Alecto Carrow’s small, piggish eyes. Flecks of spittle dotted her chin and her teeth were bared in a hungry grin that strongly reminded Ginny of a dog eying a particularly juicy steak.

Panic coiled along her insides but Ginny continued to look straight ahead, grimly ignoring the sly smiles and mocking whispers that flowed around her like crackling leaves being blown about by an autumn wind. Her attention was centered on a figure just to the side. Beneath Draco’s familiar, haughty sneer, his face was stark white. His eyes reflected his fear and Ginny wondered why no one else noticed it.

He finally stepped forward, moving to her side to stand behind her. Ginny felt him lift her thick hair off her neck as he leaned in close to her ear. Despite herself, Ginny shrank back, her reaction earning snickers from the mob surrounding her.

“Embrace the pain. It’s the only way to survive,” he whispered, his breath warm on her skin, before drawing away.

Ginny barely had time to decipher his words when pain lanced through her and her world burst in a flash of white light.

+++++

Ginny had made a tactical error, an utterly stupid one at that. And now she was paying for it. Even with the obstacles she’d set up behind her, Amycus Carrow continued to trail her and it was only a matter of time before he finally caught up to her.

As Ginny careened around the corner, a door ahead of her opened into the hallway, and a figure stepped directly into her path. She tried to swerve to the side to avoid a collision but unfortunately the person had the same idea. She shut her eyes and braced for impact.

“Fu—”

The rest of Draco’s words escaped in a whoosh as Ginny crashed into him and knocked him to the ground.

Confusion flashed in his eyes, followed swiftly by a knowing smirk that twisted his lips. Before he could say anything, a faint bellow down the hall revealed that Carrow was getting closer.

The smirk quickly disappeared, replaced by a frown. His fingers dug into her arm as he hauled her to her feet and began pulling her down the hallway.

“Let me go!” she cried as she dug her heels into the stone floor in an attempt to break free.

“Do you want to get caught?” he hissed back at her. Pausing in front of a tapestry, he pointed his wand at it, revealing a broom closet behind the faded cloth. With a hard shove, he quickly pushed her inside. “Be quiet,” he snapped before closing the door and plunging her in darkness.

Ginny resisted the urge to light her wand and instead, inched closer until she could feel the rough wood under her fingers. Carefully, she pressed her ear against the door. The faint sound of conversation managed to seep through it although Ginny couldn’t make out much.

“…doing here…”
“…none of your business…”
“…failure like your father…”

After a few minutes of silence (which almost led her to believe that Draco had simply left her), the door creaked open and she stumbled out into the hall. In one swift move, she had her wand out and pointed directly at him.

“Make a move and I’ll burn holes through your fancy robes.”
Scowling, he stepped back from her. “Fine, don’t thank me for saving your pathetic arse.”

Frustration, coupled with embarrassment at owing her escape to a Malfoy bubbled up inside her. “I wasn’t going to,” she declared heatedly. An image of her mother’s face, frowning in displeasure at her manners, flashed through her mind. She mentally pushed it away and tightened her grip on her wand.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Oh, ungracious as well as stupid. A winning combination. No wonder your side is doing so well.”

They stared at each other, neither moving until Ginny finally sighed and tucked her wand back into her sleeve. “Thanks,” she mumbled rather unenthusiastically, her gaze fixed to a point somewhere above his left shoulder.

“Being poor must make one stingy with gratitude,” Draco said derisively as he brushed by her and headed for the moving staircase.

Ginny resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. She began to turn away when she remembered the question she’d been turning over in her mind while she waited in the darkness of the closet.

“Why did you help me?” she called out to his retreating back.

Draco paused in mid-stride but did not turn around. His shoulders rose and fell in a careless shrug. “I’ve discovered that Carrows are more irritating than red-headed Weasleys,” he said before he stepped on the landing and was whisked away from her sight.

+++++

Trailing Draco wasn’t Ginny’s idea of a fun time. However, the chance of learning something, anything, that could be useful was enough to keep her going.

Crouched behind a pillar, Ginny watched as her efforts finally paid off.

He had cornered a pair of fourth-year Hufflepuffs. The taunts she’d expected; she would’ve thought the Slytherin wasn’t feeling well if he didn’t get in a dig about their house or parentage. What took her by surprise was that he simply let them return to their dorm, with a parting remark about how he didn’t expect them to get there safely if they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

Draco waited until the students had disappeared around the corner before addressing her. “A Gryffindor skulking around in the shadows? I thought you and your friends preferred the open combat mode of attack.”

Ginny silently kicked the wall, annoyed with being discovered, before slipping out of her hiding place. “I think it’s always valuable to borrow your enemy’s tactics once in a while,” she replied as she brushed the dust of her thighs.

“Is that so?” Draco casually leaned back against the wall. His eyes swept over her, disdain clear and sharp in them, but Ginny refused to rise to the bait. “I suppose it’s useful for those times when you’re sneaking out to meet your boyfriend in some empty closet.”

Some of her anger must’ve shown on her face, judging by the smug grin that settled on his lips.

“Fuck off Malfoy,” she said in a tone dripping with fake syrupy sweetness. “And I mean that in the nicest possible way.”

He thumped a fist against his chest. “I’m wounded, Weasley. However will I recover?” With a mocking salute, Draco pushed off the wall. “You should go back to your room but I don’t think you Gryffindors care much for self-preservation.” Straightening his robes with a quick tug, he turned his back on her and began walking away.

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. “So why didn’t you fill your quota tonight?”
“Do you ever make sense?” he threw over his shoulder as he continued down the hall.

“You know, turn in ten students and get an extra fifteen minutes of torture time?”

Draco abruptly stopped, then whirled around. A frown on his face, his hands curling into fists by his side, he stalked back toward her. “Do you think this is funny?”

Ginny smiled bitterly. “Oh yeah, very funny, Malfoy. We absolutely enjoy being hauled in front of the Carrows. Or your friends for that matter.” She marched over to him until she was just a foot away. Tilting her head back (Merlin but he was tall), she locked gazes with Draco, silently daring him to look away.

To her surprise, he sighed deeply and glanced away to stare out the window. The clear, star-filled night hinted at another cold morning. “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Draco said slowly, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

Ginny’s eyes narrowed. The Ministry in shambles, teachers and students either dead or missing, and he was sorry? “You should’ve thought of that before you joined the Death Eaters,” she snapped.

He didn’t have a ready retort for her. Instead, he flinched and looked down at his arm, absently running his thumb over the inside of his wrist. “I was only trying to protect my family,” he finally said. The touch of regret in his voice only served to fuel her anger.

“How lovely for you. At least you get to see yours. I haven’t seen mine since term started and I don’t even know if—”

Ginny held her hand to her mouth. She couldn’t go there, not if she wanted to stay sane. Swallowing back the sob stuck in her throat, she spun around and rushed away.
In doing so, she missed the stricken look on Draco’s face.

+++++

Almost being caught didn’t stop Ginny from continuing to defy the curfew rules. This night was no different. She’d been sitting on a window ledge, watching a spider track his prey across a vast web when a quiet rustle interrupted her.

“Go away, Malfoy.”

When Draco didn’t move, she followed that up with a menacing glare thrown in his direction. Seemingly unimpressed, he simply walked over to the neighboring alcove and sat down. He leaned forward, his elbows balanced on top of his thighs, and stared off into the darkened hallway.

Ginny huffed in irritation. If he wanted to sulk, he could’ve picked another spot, preferably one far from her. She turned her attention back to the spider. Just as it was about to pounce on an unwary fly, she caught a bit of movement at the corner of her eye.

“Here.”

Turning to the side, Ginny saw that he had thrust a plainly-wrapped package in her direction.

“Go on, take it,” Draco said as he shoved it into her hands. Puzzled, Ginny turned over the package and examined it closely.

“It’s not anything dangerous,” he added. When she made no move to rip the wrappings off, Draco sighed. “Just open it, okay?”

After glancing suspiciously at him, Ginny began to unwrap it. She breathed in sharply at the sight of the familiar Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes logo. She’d uncovered a box of one of the earlier versions of Lose Your Marbles, before Fred figured out how to make the marbles return to their container after a few days.

“They’re classified as contraband, which made it difficult to track them down,” she heard him say over the rushed beating of her heart. “It took some time but I finally managed to.”

Shaking her head, Ginny stared at the small bit of home she held in her hands. Finally she lifted her face to stare at him, utterly dumbfounded. “Why?”

He swallowed thickly and glanced away; the uncertainty of his movements was not something she would have ever associated with the Slytherin. “I told you, it wasn’t my intention to make life miserable for everyone at Hogwarts.” He stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. “If something as small as this makes you happy…” His lips twisted in a wry smile as his voice trailed off.

Turning back to the gift, Ginny slowly traced her fingers over the Weasley name. Finally, she took a deep breath and stood up.

The words of gratitude died on her tongue when she realized that Draco had already disappeared.

+++++

The pain stopped as suddenly as it had started. It took a moment before she registered the sound of wailing over the screams that echoed inside her head. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Ginny scanned the room and saw the Carrows, along with their minions, bent over in pain and clutching their left arms. Draco was in a similar state, fear replacing the earlier panic in his eyes.

“The Dark Lord comes!” Alecto Carrow screeched triumphantly. “We must prepare to greet him. Malfoy!” She pointed at Draco. “Stay here and guard this one. I am sure our Lord will be most pleased to see her.”

With a mocking laugh, Carrow exited the room, followed by the rest of the Death Eaters.

Holding his finger to his lips, Draco moved quietly to the open door and listened closely. Then he motioned for Ginny to come closer.

“This is our chance,” he whispered urgently. “They’ll be too busy preparing for the Dark Lord’s attack. We can sneak out through the kitchens.” He barreled on, oblivious to Ginny’s widening eyes. “I know how to open the barriers and we can Disapparate as soon as we’re off the grounds. There’s so much going on, it’ll take them a while to track us—”

“Draco, I can’t go with you.”

Confusion flickered across his face. “I thought you wanted to escape.” Draco snatched up her hands and Ginny nearly winced at the strength of his grip. “Forget them, Ginny. Forget them all and come away with me.”

She shook her head, her lips pressed tightly. “I can’t go with you,” she repeated evenly despite the quick flash of pain somewhere within her chest.

“Why not?” he demanded in a voice that held faint echoes of the arrogance he’d shown in the past. When she didn’t answer, Draco’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Potter’s coming, isn’t he?”

Denial swiftly rose to her lips but Ginny found that she couldn’t lie to him. She settled for ambiguity.

“I have to be here. I can’t just walk away from my family and my friends.”

Draco continued to gaze into her eyes for the answer. Finally he sighed and nodded in acceptance. He squeezed her hands and then let her go. “Take care of yourself, Ginny.”

Smiling gently, she nodded. “In case I never see you again…”

Reaching out and wrapping her fingers around his shirt, Ginny dragged him closer and pressed her mouth against his. Underneath her fingertips, his body was coiled and tight, as if he were ready to break free of her. Just as she began to pull away, Draco suddenly crushed her to him. His mouth slanted hungrily across hers, coaxing her lips open. With a small moan, Ginny melted into his embrace and for a few precious moments, all thoughts of Harry, Voldemort, or her family faded away.

+++++

After the battle (which was over much more quickly than she’d imagined), Ginny was swept up into her mother’s arms.

“You’re alright, you’re alright,” Mrs. Weasley repeated in between sobs. Behind her, Mr. Weasley smiled through the tears in his eyes as he watched his family reunited.
A throat cleared behind them. Gently freeing herself from her mother’s tight embrace, Ginny turned around and saw Kingsley Shacklebolt, a grim expression on his tired face, speaking with her father. “All the Death Eaters have been accounted for, except the Malfoys.”

“They’re gone?” Mr. Weasley looked concerned. “Did anyone see them leave?”

“No one seems to know where they are.”

“Hmm….let’s focus on getting things sorted out here before we organize a search for them. Shame they got away though,” Mr. Weasley said as everyone around Ginny murmured their agreement. She dropped her head, letting the fall of her hair hide her face, and remained silent.

Later, after the celebrations had died down, Ginny slipped upstairs to her room and pulled out a small box from underneath her pillow. As she held it in her hands, she recalled Draco’s last words to her before they broke apart and headed off in different directions.

Never is an awfully long time.