Chapter 4 - Dark Water, Bright Stars, and the Dawn
Ginny must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, Kevin was urgently shaking her.
"It's time!" he hissed. Quickly the four moved into their positions as they heard Wormtail threading his way toward them through the columned dungeon.
He's actually humming, that evil bastard! Ginny thought, a shudder of revulsion running up her spine.
"Now!" she whispered to Lizzie who nodded fearfully and ran off toward Wormtail. Her voice carried back to Ginny.
"Sir! Sir! It's Draco Malfoy, sir! We think he's dead! He's not moving and we don't think he's breathing anymore!" Wormtail's humming cut off abruptly and Ginny thought she heard him mutter a few curses. He hurried into view and quickly set down the tray he had been levitating in front of him.
"The Dark Lord will not be pleased, no, not at all! He still has plans for the boy!" Wormtail wrung his hands nervously. "Are you certain he's dead?"
"We don't know for sure," Ginny replied. "We didn't want to get too close - he kinda smells." The part of her that wasn't half-terrified at what they were about to do was keenly satisfied that Draco wouldn't be able to retort to that comment.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" Wormtail muttered as he approached Draco. He leaned close, apparently to prod Draco in the face with his wand, when suddenly Draco's knee came up and connected squarely with Wormtail's nose. It shattered, spraying blood everywhere and sending Wormtail staggering backwards. Immediately, Kevin hit him from behind with the iron ladle. Wormtail, temporarily blinded by the blood covering his face, was thrown off balance and fell against one of the columns, his wand skittering off across the floor. This was the moment Lizzie had been waiting at his side for - quickly she fetched it and tossed it to Ginny.
"Petrificus Totalis!" Ginny shouted, pointing Wormtail's wand at him just as he, coward as ever, morphed in an attempt to escape. The four of them gathered around to look at the fat, bloodied, frozen rat.
"Give me the wand, Ginny," Draco said quietly, his pale face flecked with blood that was not his. "At least there will be one less Death Eater because of me."
Ginny shook her head and clutched the wand tighter. "No, Draco. You're not a murderer, remember? We'll leave him here - hopefully he won't be missed for a while." Draco looked at her for a long moment, and then silently nodded.
"Right," Ginny said. "We need to go, and quickly." The four made their way to the far end of the dungeon and paused before the pool.
"I'll lead," Draco said, "but it's going to be pitch black down there and we'll need to stay together. Hold hands and don't let go." Ginny nodded in agreement.
"Spiramentum!" she chanted, performing the Bubble-Head charm for each of them and herself. Slowly they waded into the pool, and Ginny's chest constricted in panic as the water crept up around her head even though she knew she was perfectly fine. Draco took the wand from her and she saw him mouth the word Lumos as the wand tip erupted in silvery light. He grasped her hand tightly, she held Lizzie's behind her, and Kevin brought up the rear.
The murky water of the pool was nothing to the darkness of the tunnel they entered, feeling the current pull them along. All Ginny could see was the faint circle of light cast by the wand reflecting off of the bubble around Draco's head, his face a mask of grim determination. They walked on in the silent blackness for what seemed an eternity, faltering occasionally over unseen rocks. Once, Ginny thought she felt something brush past her and tensed in alarm, waiting to be attacked by some monster of the deep; once she thought she felt Draco squeeze her hand in reassurance. It was dream-like, and Ginny felt strangely detached as she stumbled along in the cold, watery tunnel, the darkness the color of nightmare, the color of death. Ginny's universe was only Draco, silvery-pale before her, his hand holding hers, pulling her along, steadying her when she slipped. Only vaguely was she aware that her other cold-numbed hand still clung to Lizzie's.
After a time, Ginny realized that they had left the tunnel. The current had ceased to pull at her, and out of the gloom, she could faintly see large beds of seaweed rising from the ocean floor. Draco turned and gave her a tense smile and the four continued on. Now the ground was steadily rising upwards and becoming more rocky. More than once they were forced to navigate around the massive boulders blocking their path. When Ginny's head finally broke the surface of the water, she was surprised at the frantic motion of the waves crashing around her; it was so different from the stillness of the deep.
The last twenty yards to shore were the hardest. The four fought their way through the water as wave after wave sought to throw them against the rocks looming around them in the dark night. Their bubbles proved enormously helpful, keeping the salt spray out of their mouths and eyes.
When they made it those last few feet, the saltwater splashing around their ankles, when Draco quickly mouthed Finite Incantatum toward each of them and then himself, when they stood breathlessly on the shore under that starry sky, then Ginny allowed joy to bubble and surge through her.
We did it! We actually did it! We're free!
In a rush of exuberance, she threw her arms around Draco, hugging him tightly and feeling wonderfully alive again. Her excitement was checked abruptly when she felt his rigidness against her, his arms frozen at his sides.
"Sorry," she muttered, not looking up at his face, not wanting to see the disdainful expression she was sure was plastered all over it.
Funny, he seemed almost, well, human in that dungeon. I guess once a prat, always a prat.
Ginny shrugged off the faint tinge of disappointment she felt and rushed to embrace the Pullman siblings, who were hugging, jumping up and down, and chanting "We did it! We did it!" all at once.
Behind them, Malfoy cleared his throat loudly.
"Not to interrupt your - prancing - but we're hardly out of danger yet. You do recall, I hope, that a little way down the shore sits a castle full of Death Eaters, a castle guarded by Dementors who may even now know of our disappearance and be searching for us? This is hardly the time for celebrating - unless of course you want to draw attention to yourselves and become, once again, snakebait?"
His words had a sobering effect on all of them.
"Malfoy's right," Ginny said. "We need to put as much distance between us and that castle as we can."
"Can't one of you just apparate us all out of here?" asked Kevin.
Ginny and Draco exchanged a look.
"I haven't taken lessons yet," Ginny said.
"I was - distracted - by other things last year, and never properly applied myself during lessons," Draco said haughtily.
"Which is just a snooty way of saying you don't know how to either," Ginny snapped at him. He ignored her.
"It would be unwise of us to use any sort of magic out here," he continued. "Even a small spell would alert the Dementors to our whereabouts."
"You mean, we're going to have to . . . to Muggle our way home?" Lizzie asked, a faint expression of horror on her face. Ginny almost laughed.
"We can do it," she said firmly. "We've already gotten past the hard part." And secretly, she hoped they had.
-----
They made their way inland heading northwest, staying within a thick forest of oaks, pines and massive wych elms. The tall trees stood in sharp relief against the starry night sky. The evening was unseasonably cool for the end of June, and while it quickly dried their wet clothes, it left them shiveringly cold as they stumbled along. None of them had slept in the last twenty hours, and exhaustion was beginning to set in.
"I'm tired. I want to stop," Ginny heard Lizzie murmuring behind her.
"Shhh, Liz, just a bit farther," Kevin said, flashing her a tense but comforting smile.
Ginny halted. "She's right - we're all on the point of collapsing. We need to rest."
"Why are we stopped?" Draco asked, his voice registering surprised annoyance. Apparently, he had walked a few yards ahead before realizing that no one was following him.
"We've been walking for hours. We're tired. We need to sleep before one of us keels over."
The look of annoyance on Draco's face deepened. He glared at Ginny, seemingly searching for the right words for his reply. It dawned on Ginny then that he was going to leave them, that they were just slowing him down.
He doesn't need us anymore, so he's just going to go!
The same thought seemed to have occurred to Draco, because at that moment he turned silently from them and continued walking.
"Malfoy!" Ginny could hear the panic and pleading in her voice, but she didn't care.
He can't leave! He can't! What will I -
Draco's shoulders tensed as if Ginny's voice had hit him squarely in the back and he turned around to look at her once more. His face was an expressionless mask.
"We'll make camp under that elm. That will at least afford us cover from any dementors flying overhead."
Ginny nodded faintly as a wave of relief washed over her.
Draco offered to take the first watch, sinking to the ground with his back against the elm and Ginny, Lizzie and Kevin curled up to sleep around it. Ginny tucked her knees up against her chest and rested her head in the nook of her bent elbow, trying to feel warm and comfortable enough to sleep. From the heavy rhythmic breathing on either side of her, she gathered that the Pullmans were not having the same problem. She felt tense all over, and realized that she was straining her ears to hear any movement Draco, seated behind her, made.
Maybe he's waiting 'til we're all asleep. Doesn't want to make a scene. He'll just disappear into the night. What if he was lying about not being able to apparate? He's got the wand - God, I just know he's going to be gone when I wake up. Panic was beginning to creep in around the edges of her thoughts, and Ginny forced herself to take a long, steadying breath. It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, so he leaves - we'll be fine. It's not like we need him, either. But Ginny felt like she was lying to herself. Since Draco's recovery from the brink of death, he had been taking care of things, shouldering some of the responsibility that felt so frighteningly heavy to Ginny. Because that's what had been so bad about being stuck in that dungeon - knowing that she was on her own, that she couldn't just hide behind Harry, that her life and even the lives of others were in her hands for the very first time, and that she wasn't sure she was strong enough to handle it. And now I want to hide behind Malfoy. Some Gryffindor I am - always looking for the next hero to come rescue me. She hated herself bitterly at that moment, even as every muscle in her body tensed, fervently hoping that Malfoy would just stay there, just stay with her . . . .
"Where would I go?"
Ginny tensed, unsure of whether Malfoy had actually spoken or if she was becoming unhinged. Deciding it was the former, she sat up and turned to face him.
"What?"
"I asked you where you thought I would go." He was looking at her with mild curiosity.
"How did you know what I was thinking?"
"I can tell when someone's only pretending to sleep - especially when they're doing a really poor job of it. And that's what I'd be thinking, if I were you."
"Well, are you going to leave?" Us . . . me?
"To be frank, the thought occurred to me. These brats are exceedingly slow. But the painful fact remains to me, that I have nowhere to go."
"What do you mean?"
He laughed softly.
"No, of course - you wouldn't have considered it. Here it is, then. My father would very much like to see me dead, as would his - friends - and Voldemort will certainly not be pleased that I have escaped him. Embarrassment alone will probably cause him to search for me extensively. My doting mother, who I am sure would want to help me, would never disobey her husband. So much for 'my side.' On the other side is the Ministry and that little rag-tag group you and all your friends belong to. Wouldn't they love to get their hands on me? After all, I may not have said the words, but I'm responsible for Dumbledore's death, I let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. I'm sure they'd like nothing more than to give me a speedy trial and then lock me up in Azkaban for the rest of my miserable life. No,- he sighed heavily, - I have nowhere to go."
"Malfoy, that's not true! Nobody blames you for what happened" - well, that was a lie, Ginny thought - plenty of people, including Harry, blamed him - "I mean, Voldemort would have killed you if you hadn't gone through with it! Look what he did even when you tried to go through with it! And besides, you're under-age. You can't be sent to Azkaban when you're under-age."
"I'll be of age in a few weeks. And you're wrong. The Ministry would love to have someone to pin all of this on publicly. They've been floundering around hopelessly all year."
Ginny silently agreed with him. The Ministry was spectacularly botching the war so far.
"The Order will protect you, Malfoy. You have my word. I'll tell them that you saved me, that you saved Lizzie and Kevin. That's got to be worth something. I know my mum doesn't blame you I heard her talking about it."
Draco shook his head. "I didn't save you. It was your plan, and you would have gotten out of there with or without my help."
"I don't know," Ginny said with a slight smile. "You were awfully handy at breaking Wormtail's nose."
"I've had practice," Draco said darkly, a half-smile creeping onto his face in return.
Ginny became earnest again. "Please trust me," she said. "All we have to do is get to the Burrow, and everything will be alright - for you and for me."
Draco didn't respond to this, perhaps out of disbelief. Instead he said, "I thought we were on a first-name basis. What happened?"
The smile vanished from Ginny's face. She decided to be honest with him. "Well, I tried to hug you, but you just acted like such an enormous prat. As if you might catch something from coming in contact with me."
"Ah. Well. I'm not exactly - comfortable - with, ah, affectionate displays." That was certainly true, Ginny thought, she had seen him wincing under his mother's embraces often enough before they all boarded the Hogwarts Express.
"And," Draco smiled now, "with a Weasley hugging a Malfoy, I thought the sky might fall next."
He looks so nice when he smiles, Ginny thought, and flashed him a smile in return.
"I admit - I surprise myself sometimes."
"I'll bet you do," he replied with an arch look. Ginny felt unaccountably like blushing again.
Suddenly Kevin's voice interrupted. "Look, could you two just kiss and make up already? Some of us are trying to sleep."
Ginny winced at his word choice. "Er, sorry Kev," she murmured. "Gļ'night, Draco."
"Sleep well, Ginny."
Ginny nestled down beside Lizzie and this time had no trouble falling asleep. When she awoke, it was to the first fragments of birdsong in the air. The sun was not yet up, but the sky had perceptibly lightened, an indication that dawn was approaching. Despite the tree root digging into her ribs, she felt almost comfortable. For Ginny, early morning had always been the best time of the day. When she was very young, she used to sneak out to the broomshed in the morning before anyone else was up and "borrow" her older brothers' brooms. She taught herself to fly in those early morning hours, when the sun was just beginning to flash from behind the trees and the air was laden with dew. Flying for her was exhilarating - it was one of the only times Ginny actually felt in control, totally independent, with no one older than her telling her what to do or babying her. It's what made her feel like she deserved to be in Gryffindor in the first place (besides the fact that it was a bit of a family tradition); she felt she had proven her mettle by soaring over the trees all alone each morning. Sometimes Ginny wondered where that little girl had gone. After her first year at Hogwarts, when she had nearly caused so many deaths through her foolishness with Tom's diary, she felt unsure of herself, distrustful of her own strength. Fear of making another big mistake had perhaps made her more reliant on Harry. It was part of what made her so glad to have Draco through all of this.
Ginny sat up and yawned leisurely. She noticed that beside her, Lizzie was now snuggling comfortably beneath Draco's robe. He must have covered her with it in the night, an action that both surprised and pleased Ginny.
Who knew he could be so thoughtful? she wondered to herself, glancing over at him. He was still propped up against the trunk of the wych elm, but his head sagging on one shoulder indicated that he had fallen asleep.
No wonder - he was supposed to wake me up hours ago for my turn at watch. Well, no sense waking him up now just to tell him to lay down and go to sleep, Ginny thought, stretching her arms out above her head and trying to roll the cricks out of her neck. Her stomach rumbled mutinously and visions of sausages, blueberry muffins, and syrupy pancakes danced through her head. Idly, she glanced around, wondering if there were any twigs or leaves nearby that would give her the same satisfaction as one of her mother's Saturday breakfasts. They had set up camp (if it can be called setting up camp when you are just throwing yourself onto the ground to sleep) close to the edge of the forest, and Ginny could see the opening to a large field beyond. Quietly, so as not to wake the others, she rose to get a closer look at it.
The field bordering this part of the woods was large, swelling uphill and out of Ginny's sight. It was a wild tangle of long grasses, nettle, pink-blossomed sweet briar, and purple-headed thistle. The sun rising just beyond it spread a rosy haze over everything. If Ginny had been out for a stroll, she might have considered it one of the loveliest places she had ever seen. Instead, she looked at the idyllic scene in dismay, thinking that unless she were ready to stoop to eating insects so soon, she would find little by way of food here. But as she was turning to head back to her sleeping friends, a wonderful sight met her eyes. To her right, running down the length of the field as far as Ginny could see, was a row of bushes covered in small, dark berries.
"Blackberries!" Ginny exclaimed, plucking a ripe berry and popping it into her mouth. It was juicy and sweet and tart all at the same time, and Ginny couldn't remember anything ever tasting so good. Best of all, there were enough blackberry bushes to feed a small army, let alone the four of them. Eagerly, Ginny began gathering a handful, eating as she went, thinking to bring some back to show the others. She was surprised when Draco burst from the woods on her left and franticly rushed over to her.
"Where were you?" he demanded breathlessly, grabbing her wrist roughly. "What are you doing?"
Ginny faltered, seeing the enraged expression on his face. "I've been right here. Why? Has something happened?" She was worried now.
"Something happened? You disappeared, that's what happened! I must have nodded off, and next thing I know, you're gone. What were you thinking? I thought something happened to you - that they got you somehow, when I was supposed to be watching, and . . and -" Draco cut off abruptly, drawing a deep breath and smoothing his face into its usual composure.
"It was a stupid thing to do," he muttered.
"I'm sorry," Ginny replied. "I just thought I'd have a look around - you were all sleeping so peacefully. And look - " she held up her berry-filled hand - "I found breakfast."
"I've been going out of my mind thinking you were dead, and you've been here enjoying a light snack?"
"I'm really sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to worry you."
Draco didn't respond right away. He looked at her, his expression inscrutable, and then finally said, "You are a Weasley."
Ginny eyed him inquisitively. "And you are a Malfoy," she replied in a tone which faintly suggested that her listener was a few knuts short of a sickle.
"You and your family are poor and always have been."
"You and your family are a bunch of snobs and always have been. Where are we going with this?"
"You regularly consort with muggle-borns, half-breeds, and other such undesirable company."
"The closest things to friends you have are the Death Eaters. And, oh yeah, they want you dead! Seriously, are we playing a game of state the obvious here? Because not to state the obvious, but this talk - not so fun."
"I'm simply trying to set the parameters by which to judge how wrong, how insane, and how utterly foolish this is."
"What are you talking about?"
Instead of replying, Draco leaned in and kissed her, lightly brushing her lips with his own.
"Oh. That," Ginny murmured weakly before Draco kissed her once again, more firmly now, his hands cupping her face.
Ginny felt like there were dragons doing somersaults in her stomach as she began to kiss him back. She parted her lips slightly and Draco slid his tongue lightly over her bottom lip. It was tantalizing, and Ginny's mouth opened wider as she made a small sound of pleasure in the back of her throat. Draco deepened the kiss, his tongue meeting hers, softly, hesitantly at first and then urgently as they explored each other's mouths in wild abandon. Draco pulled away only to trail light kisses up the bridge of her nose and across her forehead. He tilted her head back and looked into her eyes.
"I feel like I've wanted to do that forever," he said. Ginny's brain was still whirling and she couldn't think of a reply. The full meaning of his statement finally sunk in.
"You've wanted to kiss me for forever?" she asked skeptically.
"Well, at least since you stared at me so wantonly by the pool."
"That must have been almost two days ago, now. I admire your restraint," Ginny said with a wry smile, feeling like she could finally think straight again.
"I don't know what it is about you, Ginny Weasley, that affects me so. Is it this impossibly red hair?" - he curled a lock around his finger - "or all these freckles?" - he next traced his finger along her cheekbone - "or is it these . . . purple lips? Merlin, woman, your tongue is black!"
"I ate a lot of berries," Ginny replied, a sheepish expression on her face. "And besides, Draco, at this point, your tongue's looking a little black, too."
Thus it was that though she had kissed him in her dreams, and in a charm-induced fantasy, the first real kiss between Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy took place at the edge of a flower-filled field, at dawn. Ginny thought with a smile that reality could sometimes surprise you.
---
A/N: "Spiramentum" is Latin for a figurative space to breathe. I thought it would be fun to use it literally for the Bubble-Head Charm.
Ginny must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, Kevin was urgently shaking her.
"It's time!" he hissed. Quickly the four moved into their positions as they heard Wormtail threading his way toward them through the columned dungeon.
He's actually humming, that evil bastard! Ginny thought, a shudder of revulsion running up her spine.
"Now!" she whispered to Lizzie who nodded fearfully and ran off toward Wormtail. Her voice carried back to Ginny.
"Sir! Sir! It's Draco Malfoy, sir! We think he's dead! He's not moving and we don't think he's breathing anymore!" Wormtail's humming cut off abruptly and Ginny thought she heard him mutter a few curses. He hurried into view and quickly set down the tray he had been levitating in front of him.
"The Dark Lord will not be pleased, no, not at all! He still has plans for the boy!" Wormtail wrung his hands nervously. "Are you certain he's dead?"
"We don't know for sure," Ginny replied. "We didn't want to get too close - he kinda smells." The part of her that wasn't half-terrified at what they were about to do was keenly satisfied that Draco wouldn't be able to retort to that comment.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" Wormtail muttered as he approached Draco. He leaned close, apparently to prod Draco in the face with his wand, when suddenly Draco's knee came up and connected squarely with Wormtail's nose. It shattered, spraying blood everywhere and sending Wormtail staggering backwards. Immediately, Kevin hit him from behind with the iron ladle. Wormtail, temporarily blinded by the blood covering his face, was thrown off balance and fell against one of the columns, his wand skittering off across the floor. This was the moment Lizzie had been waiting at his side for - quickly she fetched it and tossed it to Ginny.
"Petrificus Totalis!" Ginny shouted, pointing Wormtail's wand at him just as he, coward as ever, morphed in an attempt to escape. The four of them gathered around to look at the fat, bloodied, frozen rat.
"Give me the wand, Ginny," Draco said quietly, his pale face flecked with blood that was not his. "At least there will be one less Death Eater because of me."
Ginny shook her head and clutched the wand tighter. "No, Draco. You're not a murderer, remember? We'll leave him here - hopefully he won't be missed for a while." Draco looked at her for a long moment, and then silently nodded.
"Right," Ginny said. "We need to go, and quickly." The four made their way to the far end of the dungeon and paused before the pool.
"I'll lead," Draco said, "but it's going to be pitch black down there and we'll need to stay together. Hold hands and don't let go." Ginny nodded in agreement.
"Spiramentum!" she chanted, performing the Bubble-Head charm for each of them and herself. Slowly they waded into the pool, and Ginny's chest constricted in panic as the water crept up around her head even though she knew she was perfectly fine. Draco took the wand from her and she saw him mouth the word Lumos as the wand tip erupted in silvery light. He grasped her hand tightly, she held Lizzie's behind her, and Kevin brought up the rear.
The murky water of the pool was nothing to the darkness of the tunnel they entered, feeling the current pull them along. All Ginny could see was the faint circle of light cast by the wand reflecting off of the bubble around Draco's head, his face a mask of grim determination. They walked on in the silent blackness for what seemed an eternity, faltering occasionally over unseen rocks. Once, Ginny thought she felt something brush past her and tensed in alarm, waiting to be attacked by some monster of the deep; once she thought she felt Draco squeeze her hand in reassurance. It was dream-like, and Ginny felt strangely detached as she stumbled along in the cold, watery tunnel, the darkness the color of nightmare, the color of death. Ginny's universe was only Draco, silvery-pale before her, his hand holding hers, pulling her along, steadying her when she slipped. Only vaguely was she aware that her other cold-numbed hand still clung to Lizzie's.
After a time, Ginny realized that they had left the tunnel. The current had ceased to pull at her, and out of the gloom, she could faintly see large beds of seaweed rising from the ocean floor. Draco turned and gave her a tense smile and the four continued on. Now the ground was steadily rising upwards and becoming more rocky. More than once they were forced to navigate around the massive boulders blocking their path. When Ginny's head finally broke the surface of the water, she was surprised at the frantic motion of the waves crashing around her; it was so different from the stillness of the deep.
The last twenty yards to shore were the hardest. The four fought their way through the water as wave after wave sought to throw them against the rocks looming around them in the dark night. Their bubbles proved enormously helpful, keeping the salt spray out of their mouths and eyes.
When they made it those last few feet, the saltwater splashing around their ankles, when Draco quickly mouthed Finite Incantatum toward each of them and then himself, when they stood breathlessly on the shore under that starry sky, then Ginny allowed joy to bubble and surge through her.
We did it! We actually did it! We're free!
In a rush of exuberance, she threw her arms around Draco, hugging him tightly and feeling wonderfully alive again. Her excitement was checked abruptly when she felt his rigidness against her, his arms frozen at his sides.
"Sorry," she muttered, not looking up at his face, not wanting to see the disdainful expression she was sure was plastered all over it.
Funny, he seemed almost, well, human in that dungeon. I guess once a prat, always a prat.
Ginny shrugged off the faint tinge of disappointment she felt and rushed to embrace the Pullman siblings, who were hugging, jumping up and down, and chanting "We did it! We did it!" all at once.
Behind them, Malfoy cleared his throat loudly.
"Not to interrupt your - prancing - but we're hardly out of danger yet. You do recall, I hope, that a little way down the shore sits a castle full of Death Eaters, a castle guarded by Dementors who may even now know of our disappearance and be searching for us? This is hardly the time for celebrating - unless of course you want to draw attention to yourselves and become, once again, snakebait?"
His words had a sobering effect on all of them.
"Malfoy's right," Ginny said. "We need to put as much distance between us and that castle as we can."
"Can't one of you just apparate us all out of here?" asked Kevin.
Ginny and Draco exchanged a look.
"I haven't taken lessons yet," Ginny said.
"I was - distracted - by other things last year, and never properly applied myself during lessons," Draco said haughtily.
"Which is just a snooty way of saying you don't know how to either," Ginny snapped at him. He ignored her.
"It would be unwise of us to use any sort of magic out here," he continued. "Even a small spell would alert the Dementors to our whereabouts."
"You mean, we're going to have to . . . to Muggle our way home?" Lizzie asked, a faint expression of horror on her face. Ginny almost laughed.
"We can do it," she said firmly. "We've already gotten past the hard part." And secretly, she hoped they had.
They made their way inland heading northwest, staying within a thick forest of oaks, pines and massive wych elms. The tall trees stood in sharp relief against the starry night sky. The evening was unseasonably cool for the end of June, and while it quickly dried their wet clothes, it left them shiveringly cold as they stumbled along. None of them had slept in the last twenty hours, and exhaustion was beginning to set in.
"I'm tired. I want to stop," Ginny heard Lizzie murmuring behind her.
"Shhh, Liz, just a bit farther," Kevin said, flashing her a tense but comforting smile.
Ginny halted. "She's right - we're all on the point of collapsing. We need to rest."
"Why are we stopped?" Draco asked, his voice registering surprised annoyance. Apparently, he had walked a few yards ahead before realizing that no one was following him.
"We've been walking for hours. We're tired. We need to sleep before one of us keels over."
The look of annoyance on Draco's face deepened. He glared at Ginny, seemingly searching for the right words for his reply. It dawned on Ginny then that he was going to leave them, that they were just slowing him down.
He doesn't need us anymore, so he's just going to go!
The same thought seemed to have occurred to Draco, because at that moment he turned silently from them and continued walking.
"Malfoy!" Ginny could hear the panic and pleading in her voice, but she didn't care.
He can't leave! He can't! What will I -
Draco's shoulders tensed as if Ginny's voice had hit him squarely in the back and he turned around to look at her once more. His face was an expressionless mask.
"We'll make camp under that elm. That will at least afford us cover from any dementors flying overhead."
Ginny nodded faintly as a wave of relief washed over her.
Draco offered to take the first watch, sinking to the ground with his back against the elm and Ginny, Lizzie and Kevin curled up to sleep around it. Ginny tucked her knees up against her chest and rested her head in the nook of her bent elbow, trying to feel warm and comfortable enough to sleep. From the heavy rhythmic breathing on either side of her, she gathered that the Pullmans were not having the same problem. She felt tense all over, and realized that she was straining her ears to hear any movement Draco, seated behind her, made.
Maybe he's waiting 'til we're all asleep. Doesn't want to make a scene. He'll just disappear into the night. What if he was lying about not being able to apparate? He's got the wand - God, I just know he's going to be gone when I wake up. Panic was beginning to creep in around the edges of her thoughts, and Ginny forced herself to take a long, steadying breath. It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, so he leaves - we'll be fine. It's not like we need him, either. But Ginny felt like she was lying to herself. Since Draco's recovery from the brink of death, he had been taking care of things, shouldering some of the responsibility that felt so frighteningly heavy to Ginny. Because that's what had been so bad about being stuck in that dungeon - knowing that she was on her own, that she couldn't just hide behind Harry, that her life and even the lives of others were in her hands for the very first time, and that she wasn't sure she was strong enough to handle it. And now I want to hide behind Malfoy. Some Gryffindor I am - always looking for the next hero to come rescue me. She hated herself bitterly at that moment, even as every muscle in her body tensed, fervently hoping that Malfoy would just stay there, just stay with her . . . .
"Where would I go?"
Ginny tensed, unsure of whether Malfoy had actually spoken or if she was becoming unhinged. Deciding it was the former, she sat up and turned to face him.
"What?"
"I asked you where you thought I would go." He was looking at her with mild curiosity.
"How did you know what I was thinking?"
"I can tell when someone's only pretending to sleep - especially when they're doing a really poor job of it. And that's what I'd be thinking, if I were you."
"Well, are you going to leave?" Us . . . me?
"To be frank, the thought occurred to me. These brats are exceedingly slow. But the painful fact remains to me, that I have nowhere to go."
"What do you mean?"
He laughed softly.
"No, of course - you wouldn't have considered it. Here it is, then. My father would very much like to see me dead, as would his - friends - and Voldemort will certainly not be pleased that I have escaped him. Embarrassment alone will probably cause him to search for me extensively. My doting mother, who I am sure would want to help me, would never disobey her husband. So much for 'my side.' On the other side is the Ministry and that little rag-tag group you and all your friends belong to. Wouldn't they love to get their hands on me? After all, I may not have said the words, but I'm responsible for Dumbledore's death, I let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. I'm sure they'd like nothing more than to give me a speedy trial and then lock me up in Azkaban for the rest of my miserable life. No,- he sighed heavily, - I have nowhere to go."
"Malfoy, that's not true! Nobody blames you for what happened" - well, that was a lie, Ginny thought - plenty of people, including Harry, blamed him - "I mean, Voldemort would have killed you if you hadn't gone through with it! Look what he did even when you tried to go through with it! And besides, you're under-age. You can't be sent to Azkaban when you're under-age."
"I'll be of age in a few weeks. And you're wrong. The Ministry would love to have someone to pin all of this on publicly. They've been floundering around hopelessly all year."
Ginny silently agreed with him. The Ministry was spectacularly botching the war so far.
"The Order will protect you, Malfoy. You have my word. I'll tell them that you saved me, that you saved Lizzie and Kevin. That's got to be worth something. I know my mum doesn't blame you I heard her talking about it."
Draco shook his head. "I didn't save you. It was your plan, and you would have gotten out of there with or without my help."
"I don't know," Ginny said with a slight smile. "You were awfully handy at breaking Wormtail's nose."
"I've had practice," Draco said darkly, a half-smile creeping onto his face in return.
Ginny became earnest again. "Please trust me," she said. "All we have to do is get to the Burrow, and everything will be alright - for you and for me."
Draco didn't respond to this, perhaps out of disbelief. Instead he said, "I thought we were on a first-name basis. What happened?"
The smile vanished from Ginny's face. She decided to be honest with him. "Well, I tried to hug you, but you just acted like such an enormous prat. As if you might catch something from coming in contact with me."
"Ah. Well. I'm not exactly - comfortable - with, ah, affectionate displays." That was certainly true, Ginny thought, she had seen him wincing under his mother's embraces often enough before they all boarded the Hogwarts Express.
"And," Draco smiled now, "with a Weasley hugging a Malfoy, I thought the sky might fall next."
He looks so nice when he smiles, Ginny thought, and flashed him a smile in return.
"I admit - I surprise myself sometimes."
"I'll bet you do," he replied with an arch look. Ginny felt unaccountably like blushing again.
Suddenly Kevin's voice interrupted. "Look, could you two just kiss and make up already? Some of us are trying to sleep."
Ginny winced at his word choice. "Er, sorry Kev," she murmured. "Gļ'night, Draco."
"Sleep well, Ginny."
Ginny nestled down beside Lizzie and this time had no trouble falling asleep. When she awoke, it was to the first fragments of birdsong in the air. The sun was not yet up, but the sky had perceptibly lightened, an indication that dawn was approaching. Despite the tree root digging into her ribs, she felt almost comfortable. For Ginny, early morning had always been the best time of the day. When she was very young, she used to sneak out to the broomshed in the morning before anyone else was up and "borrow" her older brothers' brooms. She taught herself to fly in those early morning hours, when the sun was just beginning to flash from behind the trees and the air was laden with dew. Flying for her was exhilarating - it was one of the only times Ginny actually felt in control, totally independent, with no one older than her telling her what to do or babying her. It's what made her feel like she deserved to be in Gryffindor in the first place (besides the fact that it was a bit of a family tradition); she felt she had proven her mettle by soaring over the trees all alone each morning. Sometimes Ginny wondered where that little girl had gone. After her first year at Hogwarts, when she had nearly caused so many deaths through her foolishness with Tom's diary, she felt unsure of herself, distrustful of her own strength. Fear of making another big mistake had perhaps made her more reliant on Harry. It was part of what made her so glad to have Draco through all of this.
Ginny sat up and yawned leisurely. She noticed that beside her, Lizzie was now snuggling comfortably beneath Draco's robe. He must have covered her with it in the night, an action that both surprised and pleased Ginny.
Who knew he could be so thoughtful? she wondered to herself, glancing over at him. He was still propped up against the trunk of the wych elm, but his head sagging on one shoulder indicated that he had fallen asleep.
No wonder - he was supposed to wake me up hours ago for my turn at watch. Well, no sense waking him up now just to tell him to lay down and go to sleep, Ginny thought, stretching her arms out above her head and trying to roll the cricks out of her neck. Her stomach rumbled mutinously and visions of sausages, blueberry muffins, and syrupy pancakes danced through her head. Idly, she glanced around, wondering if there were any twigs or leaves nearby that would give her the same satisfaction as one of her mother's Saturday breakfasts. They had set up camp (if it can be called setting up camp when you are just throwing yourself onto the ground to sleep) close to the edge of the forest, and Ginny could see the opening to a large field beyond. Quietly, so as not to wake the others, she rose to get a closer look at it.
The field bordering this part of the woods was large, swelling uphill and out of Ginny's sight. It was a wild tangle of long grasses, nettle, pink-blossomed sweet briar, and purple-headed thistle. The sun rising just beyond it spread a rosy haze over everything. If Ginny had been out for a stroll, she might have considered it one of the loveliest places she had ever seen. Instead, she looked at the idyllic scene in dismay, thinking that unless she were ready to stoop to eating insects so soon, she would find little by way of food here. But as she was turning to head back to her sleeping friends, a wonderful sight met her eyes. To her right, running down the length of the field as far as Ginny could see, was a row of bushes covered in small, dark berries.
"Blackberries!" Ginny exclaimed, plucking a ripe berry and popping it into her mouth. It was juicy and sweet and tart all at the same time, and Ginny couldn't remember anything ever tasting so good. Best of all, there were enough blackberry bushes to feed a small army, let alone the four of them. Eagerly, Ginny began gathering a handful, eating as she went, thinking to bring some back to show the others. She was surprised when Draco burst from the woods on her left and franticly rushed over to her.
"Where were you?" he demanded breathlessly, grabbing her wrist roughly. "What are you doing?"
Ginny faltered, seeing the enraged expression on his face. "I've been right here. Why? Has something happened?" She was worried now.
"Something happened? You disappeared, that's what happened! I must have nodded off, and next thing I know, you're gone. What were you thinking? I thought something happened to you - that they got you somehow, when I was supposed to be watching, and . . and -" Draco cut off abruptly, drawing a deep breath and smoothing his face into its usual composure.
"It was a stupid thing to do," he muttered.
"I'm sorry," Ginny replied. "I just thought I'd have a look around - you were all sleeping so peacefully. And look - " she held up her berry-filled hand - "I found breakfast."
"I've been going out of my mind thinking you were dead, and you've been here enjoying a light snack?"
"I'm really sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to worry you."
Draco didn't respond right away. He looked at her, his expression inscrutable, and then finally said, "You are a Weasley."
Ginny eyed him inquisitively. "And you are a Malfoy," she replied in a tone which faintly suggested that her listener was a few knuts short of a sickle.
"You and your family are poor and always have been."
"You and your family are a bunch of snobs and always have been. Where are we going with this?"
"You regularly consort with muggle-borns, half-breeds, and other such undesirable company."
"The closest things to friends you have are the Death Eaters. And, oh yeah, they want you dead! Seriously, are we playing a game of state the obvious here? Because not to state the obvious, but this talk - not so fun."
"I'm simply trying to set the parameters by which to judge how wrong, how insane, and how utterly foolish this is."
"What are you talking about?"
Instead of replying, Draco leaned in and kissed her, lightly brushing her lips with his own.
"Oh. That," Ginny murmured weakly before Draco kissed her once again, more firmly now, his hands cupping her face.
Ginny felt like there were dragons doing somersaults in her stomach as she began to kiss him back. She parted her lips slightly and Draco slid his tongue lightly over her bottom lip. It was tantalizing, and Ginny's mouth opened wider as she made a small sound of pleasure in the back of her throat. Draco deepened the kiss, his tongue meeting hers, softly, hesitantly at first and then urgently as they explored each other's mouths in wild abandon. Draco pulled away only to trail light kisses up the bridge of her nose and across her forehead. He tilted her head back and looked into her eyes.
"I feel like I've wanted to do that forever," he said. Ginny's brain was still whirling and she couldn't think of a reply. The full meaning of his statement finally sunk in.
"You've wanted to kiss me for forever?" she asked skeptically.
"Well, at least since you stared at me so wantonly by the pool."
"That must have been almost two days ago, now. I admire your restraint," Ginny said with a wry smile, feeling like she could finally think straight again.
"I don't know what it is about you, Ginny Weasley, that affects me so. Is it this impossibly red hair?" - he curled a lock around his finger - "or all these freckles?" - he next traced his finger along her cheekbone - "or is it these . . . purple lips? Merlin, woman, your tongue is black!"
"I ate a lot of berries," Ginny replied, a sheepish expression on her face. "And besides, Draco, at this point, your tongue's looking a little black, too."
Thus it was that though she had kissed him in her dreams, and in a charm-induced fantasy, the first real kiss between Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy took place at the edge of a flower-filled field, at dawn. Ginny thought with a smile that reality could sometimes surprise you.
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A/N: "Spiramentum" is Latin for a figurative space to breathe. I thought it would be fun to use it literally for the Bubble-Head Charm.
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