Chapter 17: - Inevitable Truth
“Tamara Young.” Professor McGonagall’s voice rang out into the Great Hall. She was nearing the end of the list of first years to be sorted.
A young girl stepped up to the stool and the hat was placed on her head. Draco had been paying very little attention to the ceremony. His eyes kept landing on the spot where Ginny usually sat - her place at the Gryffindor table still vacant. He was now deeply worried that something had happened to her for had she been left behind, someone would’ve known by now. Her parents would’ve seen to it that she’d gotten to school or Dumbledore would’ve taken care of the situation.
Draco’s attention was brought back to the podium as Professor Dumbledore tapped his goblet with a spoon. The hall grew quiet as he began to speak.
“Before I give out the start of term notices there is something that needs to be addressed.” Draco’s heart leapt. He assumed that Ron had spoken to Dumbledore. He stared at his slightly shaking hands - this was going to make her disappearance all the more real. “It has been brought to my attention that Ginny Weasley has gone missing.” Several gasps were heard among the long tables as Dumbledore continued. “She was last seen at King’s Cross station just before 11:00 this morning. I am asking that any of you with information on her whereabouts please see me immediately.”
Draco could see the worry in Dumbledore’s eyes. He was trying not to alarm the students too much and possibly provide some hope for finding her unharmed. Draco ran it all through his head again, but he just couldn’t understand it. She walked through the barrier with her trolley shortly before 11:00. This was mental. He saw her cross through it…
Draco’s eyes were wide as his thoughts came to an abrupt stop. Suddenly everything came rushing back to him…the danger they could be in…the dream travel. The Dark Lord! What if…what if she didn’t make it to the other side of the barrier? His mind raced backward to his first trip to Hogwarts. He hated to admit how afraid he had been to cross through the platform. His father had cursed him for a coward, yet his mother had tried to comfort him by explaining it in great detail…”it’s the link between our world and the Muggle world, darling. All you need to do is run through it and the Guardian will make sure that you pass through safely. He controls the Portkey to the other side.”
What if the Guardian hadn’t been there? What if someone didn’t allow Ginny a safe passage to the other side?
Ron must’ve seen Draco’s frightened expression…for when Draco brought his mind back to the present their eyes met. Ron narrowed his eyes questioningly and Draco looked quickly away. For once, in all their years at Hogwarts, he felt horrible about what he might have done. How was he going to find out for certain? He needed to send an owl to his mother, but he couldn’t very well jump up during the feast. It would look too suspicious.
The scent of the feast wafted up from the plates as the food appeared before him. His stomach was telling him how hungry he was, but his heart was telling him how sick he would be if he attempted one bite. He sipped some pumpkin juice and wiped at the beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He needed to get out of the Great Hall. He felt his life sinking down through the very fibers of the bench he sat on. He couldn’t hear the pleasant conversations around him because the hole that Ron bore into Draco’s head from across the room was growing at a steady rate. He had to look him in the eyes….had to tell Ron what could’ve happened to his sister. He owed him that much.
He glanced up. Ron was trying to mouth the words without the others seeing him. Draco could finally make out what they were…”Where is she?”
He was saved by the sound of Dumbledore’s goblet, once again. The Headmaster announced that all first years needed to follow their house prefects to the dormitories. Everyone was rising up off the seats. Now was Draco’s chance.
Draco grabbed Pansy by the shoulder. “Can you handle this? There’s something I need to run and do.” She took a breath and looked rather put out. “Fine. I’ll cover for you.” She paused. “But you’d better fill me in on what all of this is about, Draco. I mean it!”
He walked quickly toward the door to the Great Hall and stood off to the side. He needed to get Ron’s attention. It didn’t take long. Ron wasn’t letting Draco out of his sight. He mouthed “Owlery” to Ron in hopes that he’d understand. Ron nodded and Draco left the hall.
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Draco entered the Owlery moments later. The smell of owl droppings hit his nostrils as he looked around for his eagle owl. He hoped she was here. He’d never confined her to a cage, but always sent her to Hogwarts from the Manor. Draco hadn’t had much use for her all summer and knew that owls became lazy when neglected. Just when he was about to give up he spotted her on the top most perch in the tower. She soared down to his arm after he called her name.
He carried her over to the window and began to write a letter to his mother on a bit of parchment. It was imperative that he be as subtle as possible in case it fell into the wrong hands. He told her his most prized possession was missing and asked if she knew where it had gone. He said that it had been with him at the train station and he must’ve misplaced it. But he was more concerned that someone had stolen it and needed to know if it had been returned to the Manor. That last part was a bit of a stretch, but his mother would understand what he meant.
He rolled up the parchment and attached it to the leg of his owl. Draco told her to be swift about it and tossed her out the window. He was just in time. He turned as he heard Ron’s footsteps crunching the owl droppings.
“Where’s Ginny?” He looked very angry.
The guilt that Draco was feeling inside forced him to be civil. “I’m not certain where she is, but--“
“Not certain where she is? You mean there are several POSSIBILITIES?” Ron’s voice rang throughout the Owlery. Draco was getting angrier by the second. How were they supposed to be discreet if Weasley kept yelling at the top of his lungs?
Draco started over. “Look, Weasley - I’m worried about her just as much as you are, all right? I can explain what I think happened, but you just need to hear me out and let me explain from the beginning.” Ron just glared at him as Draco began to explain.
“Earlier this summer I wanted to see her. I knew I couldn’t keep contact with her through owl post because we were trying to keep it a secret. Well - to make a long story short, I found this idea for a potion in my father’s library. It was for something called dream travel and it…it let me visit Ginny in her dreams at night.” He swallowed. Giving Ron an explanation was harder than he’d thought it would be. “But what I didn’t realize was that it’s…it’s actually a Dark Art.”
“A Dark Art? So what are you telling me, Malfoy – that my sister’s been arrested and sent to Azkaban or something?” Ron took a step toward Draco with a look that said he was ready to attack. Draco raised his voice slightly and continued to explain.
“No, she hasn’t been sent to Azkaban…let me finish! After several weeks of using it, my mother discovered my secret and made me confess who I was seeing. She was concerned. She told me I had to stop using the dream travel because the Dark Lord could see me using it. And by saying that…I mean that he could see who it was that I was meeting up with at night.” He took a breath. “I needed to let Ginny know, so I Apparated to The Burrow. I had to tell her why. She got scared and said that the Dark Lord was going to punish me and that she didn’t want to be seen with me anymore because of it.”
Ron’s fingers were clenched into a fist. “If you’d just left her alone in the first place, none of this would be happening.”
Draco knew that Ron was right, but he continued with his explanation. “She said that she’d rather me stay alive than for us to risk being seen and have something happen to one of us.” Draco took a deep breath before continuing. “And then I saw her in Diagon Alley. She was so upset. She’d seen me with Pansy and I knew then…I knew what she truly felt for me and that we couldn’t let it die. Things had come too far.” Draco suddenly felt very embarrassed by this conversation. His cheeks flushed red, but he knew that he had to continue. “We just wanted to be together. Nothing had happened so far, so both of us – as well as my mother – assumed that he hadn’t seen us.” Draco’s gaze went directly to his feet. He had never been more ashamed.
There was a long pause. Draco could hear only his rapid breathing and the occasional screech of the owls overhead until Ron spoke.
“So what are you saying? Are you saying that You-Know-Who might have my sister?” Ron’s face was completely white with a look of terror and Draco couldn’t look him in the eyes when he answered.
“Yes. I’m saying it’s the most logical explanation, but I don’t know for sure. I just sent an owl to my mother to see if she can find out anything for me. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but…” He let the air out of his lungs and raised his gaze to meet Ron’s.
Ron took all of one second to process the information and instantly gripped Draco’s throat. “You’ve killed my sister, you bastard!”
Ron’s fingers were tight against Draco’s vocal cords and he couldn’t breathe or speak. Draco didn’t move. He knew that Weasley wasn’t going to kill him…yet he could understand the anger that he felt.
When Ron finally loosened his grasp, Draco leaned over; choking against the stone windowsill where his owl had left moments before. It was some time before either of them spoke.
Draco opened his mouth to speak, but Ron managed to get there first. “Malfoy - let’s just say that you’re right. That he does have Ginny….” Draco could tell that Ron was struggling and took over from here.
“She isn’t dead. I know that he won’t kill her…at least, not until he uses her to get what he wants. If he has her…he’s taken her to punish me – or my family. I’m a traitor in his eyes. There’s still time to do something…” his voice trailed off. If he only knew whether or not The Dark Lord did have Ginny.
Ron shot Draco one last look of contempt and abruptly turned to leave. Draco grabbed the back of Ron’s robe - utterly confused. “Where in bloody hell are you going, Weasley?”
“I’m going to tell Harry and Hermione. And then I’m going to Dumbledore’s office. The longer we wait, the worse it’s going to be for Ginny.”
Draco knew he couldn’t argue, but he stopped him just the same. “You can’t tell Potter or Granger, yet. They won’t understand.”
“Won’t understand?” Ron spat the words out as though there was a bad taste in his mouth. “What they won’t understand is if I keep the reason behind her disappearance a secret. They’re her friends, Malfoy; something that you will obviously never grasp.”
Draco stopped Ron again. “Who’s going to believe that Ginny and I were together? They’ll never believe that a Slytherin and a Gryffindor were seeing each other. Weasley, no one will take us seriously.”
Just at that precise moment a tawny owl flew in through the window and landed on Draco’s shoulder. He recognized his mother’s owl right away and grabbed the letter from its leg. She must’ve sent her owl long before he sent his. He feared the contents, but hurriedly ripped it open. Ron stood near his shoulder waiting for Draco to speak as his mother’s handwriting pleaded with him from the parchment.
“You MUST return to the Manor at once. He’s taken the thing that you love most. Go to Professor Snape’s office and you’ll be allowed to use his floo. Do this quickly…there is no time to waste.”
Ron snatched the letter out of Draco’s hand and ran his eyes across the page. “So it’s true, then? He has her? What in…how are we going to…?” Draco saw the same wave of terror flash in Ron’s eyes again - much as it was doing to him. Denial was no longer an option. And the truth was…he had no idea how they were going to rescue her.
“Tamara Young.” Professor McGonagall’s voice rang out into the Great Hall. She was nearing the end of the list of first years to be sorted.
A young girl stepped up to the stool and the hat was placed on her head. Draco had been paying very little attention to the ceremony. His eyes kept landing on the spot where Ginny usually sat - her place at the Gryffindor table still vacant. He was now deeply worried that something had happened to her for had she been left behind, someone would’ve known by now. Her parents would’ve seen to it that she’d gotten to school or Dumbledore would’ve taken care of the situation.
Draco’s attention was brought back to the podium as Professor Dumbledore tapped his goblet with a spoon. The hall grew quiet as he began to speak.
“Before I give out the start of term notices there is something that needs to be addressed.” Draco’s heart leapt. He assumed that Ron had spoken to Dumbledore. He stared at his slightly shaking hands - this was going to make her disappearance all the more real. “It has been brought to my attention that Ginny Weasley has gone missing.” Several gasps were heard among the long tables as Dumbledore continued. “She was last seen at King’s Cross station just before 11:00 this morning. I am asking that any of you with information on her whereabouts please see me immediately.”
Draco could see the worry in Dumbledore’s eyes. He was trying not to alarm the students too much and possibly provide some hope for finding her unharmed. Draco ran it all through his head again, but he just couldn’t understand it. She walked through the barrier with her trolley shortly before 11:00. This was mental. He saw her cross through it…
Draco’s eyes were wide as his thoughts came to an abrupt stop. Suddenly everything came rushing back to him…the danger they could be in…the dream travel. The Dark Lord! What if…what if she didn’t make it to the other side of the barrier? His mind raced backward to his first trip to Hogwarts. He hated to admit how afraid he had been to cross through the platform. His father had cursed him for a coward, yet his mother had tried to comfort him by explaining it in great detail…”it’s the link between our world and the Muggle world, darling. All you need to do is run through it and the Guardian will make sure that you pass through safely. He controls the Portkey to the other side.”
What if the Guardian hadn’t been there? What if someone didn’t allow Ginny a safe passage to the other side?
Ron must’ve seen Draco’s frightened expression…for when Draco brought his mind back to the present their eyes met. Ron narrowed his eyes questioningly and Draco looked quickly away. For once, in all their years at Hogwarts, he felt horrible about what he might have done. How was he going to find out for certain? He needed to send an owl to his mother, but he couldn’t very well jump up during the feast. It would look too suspicious.
The scent of the feast wafted up from the plates as the food appeared before him. His stomach was telling him how hungry he was, but his heart was telling him how sick he would be if he attempted one bite. He sipped some pumpkin juice and wiped at the beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He needed to get out of the Great Hall. He felt his life sinking down through the very fibers of the bench he sat on. He couldn’t hear the pleasant conversations around him because the hole that Ron bore into Draco’s head from across the room was growing at a steady rate. He had to look him in the eyes….had to tell Ron what could’ve happened to his sister. He owed him that much.
He glanced up. Ron was trying to mouth the words without the others seeing him. Draco could finally make out what they were…”Where is she?”
He was saved by the sound of Dumbledore’s goblet, once again. The Headmaster announced that all first years needed to follow their house prefects to the dormitories. Everyone was rising up off the seats. Now was Draco’s chance.
Draco grabbed Pansy by the shoulder. “Can you handle this? There’s something I need to run and do.” She took a breath and looked rather put out. “Fine. I’ll cover for you.” She paused. “But you’d better fill me in on what all of this is about, Draco. I mean it!”
He walked quickly toward the door to the Great Hall and stood off to the side. He needed to get Ron’s attention. It didn’t take long. Ron wasn’t letting Draco out of his sight. He mouthed “Owlery” to Ron in hopes that he’d understand. Ron nodded and Draco left the hall.
Draco entered the Owlery moments later. The smell of owl droppings hit his nostrils as he looked around for his eagle owl. He hoped she was here. He’d never confined her to a cage, but always sent her to Hogwarts from the Manor. Draco hadn’t had much use for her all summer and knew that owls became lazy when neglected. Just when he was about to give up he spotted her on the top most perch in the tower. She soared down to his arm after he called her name.
He carried her over to the window and began to write a letter to his mother on a bit of parchment. It was imperative that he be as subtle as possible in case it fell into the wrong hands. He told her his most prized possession was missing and asked if she knew where it had gone. He said that it had been with him at the train station and he must’ve misplaced it. But he was more concerned that someone had stolen it and needed to know if it had been returned to the Manor. That last part was a bit of a stretch, but his mother would understand what he meant.
He rolled up the parchment and attached it to the leg of his owl. Draco told her to be swift about it and tossed her out the window. He was just in time. He turned as he heard Ron’s footsteps crunching the owl droppings.
“Where’s Ginny?” He looked very angry.
The guilt that Draco was feeling inside forced him to be civil. “I’m not certain where she is, but--“
“Not certain where she is? You mean there are several POSSIBILITIES?” Ron’s voice rang throughout the Owlery. Draco was getting angrier by the second. How were they supposed to be discreet if Weasley kept yelling at the top of his lungs?
Draco started over. “Look, Weasley - I’m worried about her just as much as you are, all right? I can explain what I think happened, but you just need to hear me out and let me explain from the beginning.” Ron just glared at him as Draco began to explain.
“Earlier this summer I wanted to see her. I knew I couldn’t keep contact with her through owl post because we were trying to keep it a secret. Well - to make a long story short, I found this idea for a potion in my father’s library. It was for something called dream travel and it…it let me visit Ginny in her dreams at night.” He swallowed. Giving Ron an explanation was harder than he’d thought it would be. “But what I didn’t realize was that it’s…it’s actually a Dark Art.”
“A Dark Art? So what are you telling me, Malfoy – that my sister’s been arrested and sent to Azkaban or something?” Ron took a step toward Draco with a look that said he was ready to attack. Draco raised his voice slightly and continued to explain.
“No, she hasn’t been sent to Azkaban…let me finish! After several weeks of using it, my mother discovered my secret and made me confess who I was seeing. She was concerned. She told me I had to stop using the dream travel because the Dark Lord could see me using it. And by saying that…I mean that he could see who it was that I was meeting up with at night.” He took a breath. “I needed to let Ginny know, so I Apparated to The Burrow. I had to tell her why. She got scared and said that the Dark Lord was going to punish me and that she didn’t want to be seen with me anymore because of it.”
Ron’s fingers were clenched into a fist. “If you’d just left her alone in the first place, none of this would be happening.”
Draco knew that Ron was right, but he continued with his explanation. “She said that she’d rather me stay alive than for us to risk being seen and have something happen to one of us.” Draco took a deep breath before continuing. “And then I saw her in Diagon Alley. She was so upset. She’d seen me with Pansy and I knew then…I knew what she truly felt for me and that we couldn’t let it die. Things had come too far.” Draco suddenly felt very embarrassed by this conversation. His cheeks flushed red, but he knew that he had to continue. “We just wanted to be together. Nothing had happened so far, so both of us – as well as my mother – assumed that he hadn’t seen us.” Draco’s gaze went directly to his feet. He had never been more ashamed.
There was a long pause. Draco could hear only his rapid breathing and the occasional screech of the owls overhead until Ron spoke.
“So what are you saying? Are you saying that You-Know-Who might have my sister?” Ron’s face was completely white with a look of terror and Draco couldn’t look him in the eyes when he answered.
“Yes. I’m saying it’s the most logical explanation, but I don’t know for sure. I just sent an owl to my mother to see if she can find out anything for me. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but…” He let the air out of his lungs and raised his gaze to meet Ron’s.
Ron took all of one second to process the information and instantly gripped Draco’s throat. “You’ve killed my sister, you bastard!”
Ron’s fingers were tight against Draco’s vocal cords and he couldn’t breathe or speak. Draco didn’t move. He knew that Weasley wasn’t going to kill him…yet he could understand the anger that he felt.
When Ron finally loosened his grasp, Draco leaned over; choking against the stone windowsill where his owl had left moments before. It was some time before either of them spoke.
Draco opened his mouth to speak, but Ron managed to get there first. “Malfoy - let’s just say that you’re right. That he does have Ginny….” Draco could tell that Ron was struggling and took over from here.
“She isn’t dead. I know that he won’t kill her…at least, not until he uses her to get what he wants. If he has her…he’s taken her to punish me – or my family. I’m a traitor in his eyes. There’s still time to do something…” his voice trailed off. If he only knew whether or not The Dark Lord did have Ginny.
Ron shot Draco one last look of contempt and abruptly turned to leave. Draco grabbed the back of Ron’s robe - utterly confused. “Where in bloody hell are you going, Weasley?”
“I’m going to tell Harry and Hermione. And then I’m going to Dumbledore’s office. The longer we wait, the worse it’s going to be for Ginny.”
Draco knew he couldn’t argue, but he stopped him just the same. “You can’t tell Potter or Granger, yet. They won’t understand.”
“Won’t understand?” Ron spat the words out as though there was a bad taste in his mouth. “What they won’t understand is if I keep the reason behind her disappearance a secret. They’re her friends, Malfoy; something that you will obviously never grasp.”
Draco stopped Ron again. “Who’s going to believe that Ginny and I were together? They’ll never believe that a Slytherin and a Gryffindor were seeing each other. Weasley, no one will take us seriously.”
Just at that precise moment a tawny owl flew in through the window and landed on Draco’s shoulder. He recognized his mother’s owl right away and grabbed the letter from its leg. She must’ve sent her owl long before he sent his. He feared the contents, but hurriedly ripped it open. Ron stood near his shoulder waiting for Draco to speak as his mother’s handwriting pleaded with him from the parchment.
“You MUST return to the Manor at once. He’s taken the thing that you love most. Go to Professor Snape’s office and you’ll be allowed to use his floo. Do this quickly…there is no time to waste.”
Ron snatched the letter out of Draco’s hand and ran his eyes across the page. “So it’s true, then? He has her? What in…how are we going to…?” Draco saw the same wave of terror flash in Ron’s eyes again - much as it was doing to him. Denial was no longer an option. And the truth was…he had no idea how they were going to rescue her.
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