Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. The only thing that I remotely own is Haven. Oh! And I borrowed the Serpent League from Night Spirit, but with permission! I asked first. (I changed it up a bit though, and used it as a more elite group of Death Eaters.)
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Heroes Shed No Tears
Chapter 10
Last time…
Ginny couldn’t help but smile. Draco’s eyes flicked down to her lips. Unconsciously, Ginny’s tongue darted out and licked them. Draco’s eyes darkened and he leaned forward—his lips brushing hers ever so gently, like an angel’s wing fluttering over her lips.
His lips on hers sent a tingling sensation down her spine that caused her to arch upwards so that her lips were pressing harder against his, deepening the kiss—she could feel it all the way down to her toes. Before she knew it, her hands were caught up in his hair and his arms were wrapped around her waist, pulling her onto his lap. His tongue slipped out of his mouth carefully and pushed against her lips. Without so much as a second thought, she opened for him and his tongue slipped into her mouth to tease hers slowly. A low moan erupted from the back of her throat.
Slowly, Draco pulled away and opened his eyes. Ginny still had hers closed, her lips parted slight—her eyes fluttered open slowly as she looked up at Draco, her eyes soft. He blinked and looked back at her with an unreadable expression that caused her to frown.
“What?” she asked nervously. Aware that her hands were still tangled in his hair, she brought them down quickly and put them in her lap; he didn’t take his hands from her waist.
He scowled and shook his head. “Nothing.” He looked out of the window for a second, then back at her. “Do you think that we should go and find out where we’re staying?”
Ginny bit the inside of her cheek and looked down. “Sounds like a good idea,” she said, climbing off of his lap. He got up and followed her down the hallway back to Dumbledore’s office. She said the password and stepped onto the stairs, Draco right behind her.
When she opened the door, the twins both exchanged amused glances before anyone had even said anything. “Well, well,” said Fred, standing up from his seat. “Who looks like they just climbed out of a broom closet?”
George chuckled. “Yes? Who, dear brother?” He also got up from his seat and they both advanced on both Draco and Ginny, who were still standing near the doorway. Ginny’s eyes widened.
“What are you talking about?” Draco snapped.
“You know what we’re talking about,” George said with a devious wink.
“You know exactly what we’re talking about.” Fred grinned madly. “Someone’s been snogging our sister.” Ginny felt her cheeks heat up in a bright red blush. Was it that obvious?
“Alright boys, that’s enough,” Dumbledore cut in—though it was quite obvious he was amused by this as well; his eyes were sparkling and his lips had taken to an upward tilt. “I will take you to your rooms now,” he said, getting up from his chair. Ginny looked around the room quickly, searching for Harry. He wasn’t there. “Ah,” Dumbledore said, noticing. “Mr. Potter has gone down to check on Mr. Weasley.”
“Oh,” said Ginny, and she followed Dumbledore out of the office.
“You’ll be staying in the old Ravenclaw dormitories—most likely in the seventh year girls dormitory seeing as that is the only one that has not been filled yet. The rest of your family has taken residence in the sixth year dormitories.” Dumbledore turned to Draco with a frown. “I’m afraid you’ll have to share with Miss Weasley for now, Mr. Malfoy. We’ve been having a shortage on beds—we’re quite full.”
Draco nodded curtly. “Fine.”
“Toffee cakes,” Dumbledore said to the portrait that guarded the entrance to Ravenclaw—it was a fairy.
“’Evening, Professor Dumbledore,” the fairy greeted.
Dumbledore inclined his head. “Miss Meriwether.” The fairy let out a tinkling giggle.
He led them through the common room, which had about four or five people sitting and just talking, or reading in it—they didn’t even look up when Ginny and Draco came in behind Dumbledore. Despite the fact that there were people talking in the common room, it seemed to be a quiet and hushed talk. The common room seemed barren of true life forms; it seemed the ones that were in it were merely there because they had no other place to go—they were like ghosts that would never pass on to their next life, they had lingered in a world they didn’t belong in for too long.
Ginny looked at the faces of the people in the common room. They looked like young Aurors, but you never could tell—everyone looked older than they were supposed to. There was one small girl sitting in a dark corner, a large book open in her lap. Her eyes were focused on the pages - the words - her mouth forming them as she read. The girl looked to be no older than ten. Ginny felt her heart go out to the girl, who seemed distressed at what she was reading.
“Weasley,” Draco hissed at her, raising an eyebrow. Dumbledore had paused that the staircase, waiting for her to come out of her reverie.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, jumping up and following them up the stairs.
“This is where you’ll be staying while you’re here,” Dumbledore said as soon as they reached the dormitory. “If you need any new robes…or anything, you can go down to Professor Flitwick’s old room to request. We’ll try to provide you with anything you need.” Ginny knew this comment was for her, after all, Draco seemed to be one of the few people at Hogwarts able to provide for himself outside of the castle. Ginny even suspected that he was the one that provided them with many of their supplies.
Draco cleared his throat. “Professor,” he said. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue. “It seems that Weasley here had an accident when we were traveling here—her wand snapped.” He paused and looked at Ginny, who had a small smile on her face. “A venture to Hogsmeade to retrieve a new one is imperative,” he finished.
Dumbledore nodded. “So it is. Please just be back before night fall. The Serpent League has settled a small amount of troops near Hogsmeade,” Dumbledore said, the concern for them evident in his voice. The Serpent League was the most elite group of Death Eaters; the only reason to station them so near Hogwarts was the keep the Resistance on their toes.
“Alright,” Draco said. Dumbledore gave them one last smile and left the dormitory, closing the door behind him.
Ginny looked at Draco with wide eyes. “We’re going to Hogsmeade when there are Serpent League troops there?”
Draco looked at her mildly amused. “When do you suggest we go? It’s not as if the amount of troops is going to decrease any. If anything, their numbers will increase.”
Ginny nodded slowly, sitting on a bed heavily. She sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. “I have to have a wand,” she said mostly to herself. She looked at the blue bedspread thoughtfully. “I guess we should leave as soon as possible, right?”
“That would be correct,” Draco said his voice having taken on an impatient edge. “In fact…if we could leave now…”
“Right,” Ginny said quickly, getting off of the bed. “Let’s get this over with.”
Draco studied her for a moment. “I can’t take you looking like that.”
Ginny frowned and looked at her robes; they were ordinary black robes that Narcissa had given her to wear, what could possibly be wrong with them? She fingered the hem apprehensively. “What’s wrong with how I look?” she demanded.
“For one, you don’t look like you belong in Hogsmeade at this time. Have you stepped foot in any of the old wizarding cities since the war?” he asked carefully.
“No,” she snapped. “Why would I? It’s not like I had the money to buy anything then. Prices rose unbelievably when the war began,” she said, half-glaring at him.
Draco rolled his eyes. “Exactly. Only people with money are seen anywhere near shops these days. And you definitely don’t look like you have any money.”
“I’m wearing your mother’s robes,” Ginny argued.
“They certainly aren’t her finest,” said Draco. “I’m sure there’s something decent in here that you can wear…” He had gotten up and was rooting through a large trunk situated near a bed that was in the darkest corner of the room. She could see that there was another dark and ornate looking trunk at the foot of that bed and could only assume that this wasn’t the first time that Draco had taken up residence in this dormitory. “Here,” Draco said, throwing robes at her.
She caught them and turned them over in her hands. The fabric of these dark black robes was much thicker and finer than that of the ones she was currently wearing. She held them out and saw that the cut was also much more fashionable and expensive—not to mention that it was clearly a woman’s robe. She arched an eyebrow at Draco. “Do you often indulge yourself in a collection of women’s robes?” she asked, her lips curling up in a smile.
Draco smirked. “Not too often.” He moved to leave the room, and stopped at the door. “Do hurry up,” he said, then left, closing the door loudly behind him.
Ginny rolled her eyes and began tugging the robes she was wearing off. Slipping the new ones on and admiring the feel of the lush fabric against her skin. She looked in a mirror rooted on the wall, and pulled her hair up, twisting it. She turned and looked at it from the side.
“Very nice, dearie,” the mirror complemented.
Ginny sighed and let it down. She didn’t have anything to keep it up with.
Before causing herself any more grievances, she turned away from the mirror and left the dormitory. She went down the stairs quickly, but paused once she reached the bottom. Draco was sitting on the floor next to the girl that she had take notice to when they first entered the Ravenclaw tower. The book she had been reading was still resting open on he lap, but she was looking up at Draco, nodding and talking to him. The sight of Draco sitting on the floor with the little girl made her eyebrows slam together in confusion. She would have understood if it had been Haven, but this most certainly wasn’t.
Draco reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair affectionately before standing up and brushing off his robes. Ginny heard the girl’s faint, “Bye, Draco,” as he walked towards Ginny, noticing her appearance in the common room.
“Let’s go then,” he said, seeing that she had changed into the robes. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“I know that,” she snapped irritably. Draco was treating her as if she were a child, and it was grating on her nerves. “I’m not stupid,” she added.
Draco raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as they made their way towards the Entrance Hall.
The fresh air outside of Hogwarts made Ginny inhale deeply, thoroughly enjoying the smell—it was much different than that of the dust-permeated air at the refugee camp. Just the smell of it reminded her of when she was at Hogwarts. It made her want to laugh, or do a cartwheel on the lush grass just because she could.
Draco and Ginny were silent as they walked down to Hogsmeade, but Ginny was happy for it; she had so many thoughts buzzing through her head that she needed time to think about, and if the way things were going kept up, then she would have much time to think.
The Forbidden Forest seemed to leer at them as they walked by, more frightening than it had been when she had attended Hogwarts. She could smell the stench of wild magic wafting from the trees and who knew what else was in there. Ginny suppressed a shudder when she thought she thought she saw a pair of bright yellow eyes staring out of the foliage; she blinked and they were gone.
They were well into the outskirts of Hogsmeade when Draco said: “Stay close.” She didn’t have to be told twice. Everything had grown darker since the last time she had been there. Once they entered the streets of Hogsmeade, she saw that there was no Zonko’s or Honeyduke’s. Shops like that had been replaced by ones selling dark objects or potion ingredients.
Draco quickly pulled his hood up, and shot Ginny a look telling her she should do the same. She reached for the hood of her cloak and pulled it up over her head, tucking her hair back into it. They continued walking down the street, Ginny was almost afraid that someone would stop and recognize her; but they merely went on with their business, not even taking second glances at the black clad Ginny and Draco. They stopped in front of Ollivander’s – the shop’s sign was peeling much like the one in Diagon Alley – only this one proclaimed itself the Hogsmeade branch.
Not waiting for Ginny, who had paused to study the sign, Draco went forward quickly and pushed open the door, causing a small bell to tinkle throughout the shop. Suddenly afraid of being left alone with whatever dark persons there were in Hogsmeade, Ginny scrambled up the small steps that led to the entrance and went inside behind Draco. He was already at the counter; a man was appearing from the backroom slowly, making his way towards the counter.
“Mr. Malfoy,” the man greeted in a silky voice, one that made the hairs on the back of Ginny’s neck stand up.
“Ollivander,” was Draco’s reply. “We’ve come for a wand.”
“We?” Ollivander raised an eyebrow, and Ginny peered at him timidly from behind Draco. Draco let out a frustrated growl and forced her in front of him. “Oh, Miss Weasley, you have not been here for your first wand yet have you?” he asked, almost gently.
“No,” Ginny said.
Ollivander nodded. “What kind of magic do you excel in?” he asked.
“Healing,” she said, casting a wary glance at him.
“Ah,” Ollivander said, picking up a wand box. He slipped the wand out and handed it to Ginny. She looked at it slightly confused. “Give it a wave,” he prompted.
“Oh, right,” Ginny said, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks. She felt stupid, but she waved the wand anyways. Nothing happened.
He picked up another box, took the wand out and handed it to Ginny. “Try this one.” She waved it again—nothing happened. Ollivander frowned, “Well, third time’s a charm.” He got out one last wand and handed it to her. She waved it and green and blue sparks flew out of the end in a sparkling shower. Ginny grinned. “Twelve inch rosewood with a phoenix feather core. Spectacular wand for healing,” Ollivander said, a pleased smile on his face.
“So this is it?” Ginny asked. Ollivander nodded.
Draco stepped up and Ollivander led him to the counter. They talked briefly and Draco dropped a few galleons in his hand. He walked away from the counter, and just then the bell tinkled in the doorway. Draco’s eyes snapped open wide, he looked at Ollivander who nodded towards a closet; Ginny missed it, being far to absorbed in her new wand. Draco grabbed her arm, flung the closet door open and pushed her in. Ginny stifled a gasp as her back hit shelves, and the door was shut within seconds. Her back was arched at an unusual angle that forced some of the shelves upwards, the boxes of wands resting on them, slanting awkwardly, threatening to fall if she made one move. She glared at the door.
There were slats in the door all facing in a downward angle, but she could see little rows of light in-between them and could make out Draco’s figure near the closet, and that of two others near the entrance of the shop. She held her breath fearfully.
“Malfoy,” she heard someone say, outside of the closet, in a rough, masculine voice.
“Flint,” came Draco’s voice. His accent was more clear and precise now than it normally was, and it had taken on a more assuming and arrogant tone.
“Hello, Draco,” purred a feminine voice. It instantly put her on guard—it was not the voice of someone you could trust. “What might you be doing in a wand shop?” she asked suspiciously.
“Mathilde,” Draco’s voice slashed coldly throughout the shop. “I could ask you the same question,” he replied. His voice was more harsh than she had ever heard it before, it chilled her, even scared her. It reminded her of the ruthless family he had grown up in, reminding her of who she used to think he was.
Ginny’s neck was beginning to ache, as was her back from being in such an awkward position. She wanted to move, but that would risk making the boxes fall and causing a ruckus that would surely call attention to herself.
“We have business to discuss with Mr. Ollivander,” Mathilde said irritably. Ginny could almost see the woman sneering at Draco, but she was sure that he was doing the same to her.
“Well then,” said Draco. “I guess I’ll just be on my way.” Ginny stopped, her eyes widening, did he just say what she thought he said? He was going to leave her in that godforsaken closet in an awkward position that was killing her neck and back? How dare he!
Sure enough his footsteps were heard making their way towards the door; the bell tinkled to signal his departure. Ginny could have sworn she heard Mr. Ollivander let out a quiet chuckle.
“Mr. Ollivander,” said Flint. “We have business…”
“Right,” Ollivander said. “Right this way.” Then he said a bit louder, as if he wanted Ginny to hear, “Right in the back of the shop, so it’ll be private…” Ginny let out a sigh of relief, at least now she could get out of the closet. She would just have to find a way of doing so without disrupting all of the boxes.
Their footsteps disappeared into the back of the shop. Ginny moved her arm carefully, pushing one of the shelves down carefully, watching the boxes closely—she had it secured in its rightful place. Good, now she only had three more left and she would be home free. She worked through two more of them before there was a loud outburst, causing Ginny to stop in her tracks. Damn, she had almost been finished.
“Really, Mr. Ollivander! We have been patient enough!” Mathilde exclaimed. “At this point, we really don’t care if the wand fits the wizard! All we need is our bloody goddamned wands!” she shouted. Ginny raised her eyebrows, scolding a quiet, temper, temper, in her head. “There had better be five hundred wands packed and ready by tomorrow morning, Ollivander, or you’ll have Zabini to answer to, and I promise you he won’t be nearly as nice about this as me.” Mathilde stomped out of the back of the shop and slammed the front door behind her, making the bell slam against the door and fly back and forth, ringing more than necessary.
Flint’s heavier footsteps came out of the back of the shop. “Really am sorry about her, Ollivander. I do believe that Malfoy set her off.”
“Perfectly understandable,” Ollivander murmured. “Good day, the wands will certainly be ready tomorrow morning.” The door shut again; Flint had left. Ginny let out an audible sigh.
She fixed the last shelf and opened the closet door slowly. Ollivander was leaning against the front counter, watching her with amused eyes. “Nice guy you’ve got there,” he said, grinning at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. Thank you,” she added before making her way out of the shop.
Once outside, she searched for Draco, making sure that her hood was pulled up fully and covering her distinctive hair. She saw him leaning on a vendor cart near the front of a potions shop and glared at him. He was smirking in her direction. The bastard.
She rolled her neck and arched her back. She could feel her back throbbing from the pain of being in that odd position for so long, and her neck had all but gone numb. She went down the stairs, taking her time, and crossed the street just a languidly.
When she reached him, he was still looking down at her with that slow, lazy, smirk. Oh how she wanted to just smack it off of his face. She whipped her wand out of her robes and pushed the tip to his neck, but found his also pressed to her temple. She didn’t care. “If. You. Ever. Do. That. Again.” she said in long drawn out breaths. “I will maim you.”
That made Draco snort. “Maim me? Oh, you wound me, Weasley. The threat. The horror,” he clutched chest above his heart with his free hand. “The pain.”
“Shut up,” Ginny snapped. “I can’t believe you left me in that closet! You just up and left me! Didn’t even think about Ginny, eh? While you just walked out of the shop, I was stuck in that stupid closet with my back pressed up against some shelves! Had I moved they would have collapsed and wands would have fallen and caused such a commotion I would surely have been killed by your stupid Death Eater friends,” she ranted.
Draco’s eyes narrowed. “They aren’t my friends.” He glanced around cautiously. “Mind keeping it down? Anyone could have heard you.”
Ginny’s eyes flashed. “Oh the nerve…” she hissed. Draco rolled his eyes and took off in the direction of Hogwarts. Ginny squared her shoulders and followed after him.
They were halfway back to Hogwarts, when Ginny burst out: “I can’t believe you just left me there in that closet!!”
“Get over it, Weasley. There was nothing else I could do,” said Draco. “Did you want me to stand around and wait for them to leave? That wouldn’t have happened. They would have waited for me to leave first.”
“Why wouldn’t they have just done their business and left?” Ginny asked, curious. “They were Death Eaters, aren’t you, too?”
Draco nodded slowly. “Yes…but, Mathilde has this thing…”
“What? Wand up her ass?” Ginny asked sourly. Mathilde had done all but left a good impression on her. She had acted like a whiny prat in Ollivander’s and Ginny didn’t see how she could possibly be any sort of good person.
Draco grinned. Ginny’s eyes widened—Draco had grinned. “Yeah,” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “That. And she hates me.”
“Why does she hate you?” asked Ginny.
Draco shrugged. “Because…. I have better judgment than her, and I took something away from her because it was too dangerous to be left with her.” Draco cleared his throat. “She’s just…irresponsible.”
Ginny stopped, and blinked. Did that mean what she thought it meant?
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Heroes Shed No Tears
Chapter 10
Last time…
Ginny couldn’t help but smile. Draco’s eyes flicked down to her lips. Unconsciously, Ginny’s tongue darted out and licked them. Draco’s eyes darkened and he leaned forward—his lips brushing hers ever so gently, like an angel’s wing fluttering over her lips.
His lips on hers sent a tingling sensation down her spine that caused her to arch upwards so that her lips were pressing harder against his, deepening the kiss—she could feel it all the way down to her toes. Before she knew it, her hands were caught up in his hair and his arms were wrapped around her waist, pulling her onto his lap. His tongue slipped out of his mouth carefully and pushed against her lips. Without so much as a second thought, she opened for him and his tongue slipped into her mouth to tease hers slowly. A low moan erupted from the back of her throat.
Slowly, Draco pulled away and opened his eyes. Ginny still had hers closed, her lips parted slight—her eyes fluttered open slowly as she looked up at Draco, her eyes soft. He blinked and looked back at her with an unreadable expression that caused her to frown.
“What?” she asked nervously. Aware that her hands were still tangled in his hair, she brought them down quickly and put them in her lap; he didn’t take his hands from her waist.
He scowled and shook his head. “Nothing.” He looked out of the window for a second, then back at her. “Do you think that we should go and find out where we’re staying?”
Ginny bit the inside of her cheek and looked down. “Sounds like a good idea,” she said, climbing off of his lap. He got up and followed her down the hallway back to Dumbledore’s office. She said the password and stepped onto the stairs, Draco right behind her.
When she opened the door, the twins both exchanged amused glances before anyone had even said anything. “Well, well,” said Fred, standing up from his seat. “Who looks like they just climbed out of a broom closet?”
George chuckled. “Yes? Who, dear brother?” He also got up from his seat and they both advanced on both Draco and Ginny, who were still standing near the doorway. Ginny’s eyes widened.
“What are you talking about?” Draco snapped.
“You know what we’re talking about,” George said with a devious wink.
“You know exactly what we’re talking about.” Fred grinned madly. “Someone’s been snogging our sister.” Ginny felt her cheeks heat up in a bright red blush. Was it that obvious?
“Alright boys, that’s enough,” Dumbledore cut in—though it was quite obvious he was amused by this as well; his eyes were sparkling and his lips had taken to an upward tilt. “I will take you to your rooms now,” he said, getting up from his chair. Ginny looked around the room quickly, searching for Harry. He wasn’t there. “Ah,” Dumbledore said, noticing. “Mr. Potter has gone down to check on Mr. Weasley.”
“Oh,” said Ginny, and she followed Dumbledore out of the office.
“You’ll be staying in the old Ravenclaw dormitories—most likely in the seventh year girls dormitory seeing as that is the only one that has not been filled yet. The rest of your family has taken residence in the sixth year dormitories.” Dumbledore turned to Draco with a frown. “I’m afraid you’ll have to share with Miss Weasley for now, Mr. Malfoy. We’ve been having a shortage on beds—we’re quite full.”
Draco nodded curtly. “Fine.”
“Toffee cakes,” Dumbledore said to the portrait that guarded the entrance to Ravenclaw—it was a fairy.
“’Evening, Professor Dumbledore,” the fairy greeted.
Dumbledore inclined his head. “Miss Meriwether.” The fairy let out a tinkling giggle.
He led them through the common room, which had about four or five people sitting and just talking, or reading in it—they didn’t even look up when Ginny and Draco came in behind Dumbledore. Despite the fact that there were people talking in the common room, it seemed to be a quiet and hushed talk. The common room seemed barren of true life forms; it seemed the ones that were in it were merely there because they had no other place to go—they were like ghosts that would never pass on to their next life, they had lingered in a world they didn’t belong in for too long.
Ginny looked at the faces of the people in the common room. They looked like young Aurors, but you never could tell—everyone looked older than they were supposed to. There was one small girl sitting in a dark corner, a large book open in her lap. Her eyes were focused on the pages - the words - her mouth forming them as she read. The girl looked to be no older than ten. Ginny felt her heart go out to the girl, who seemed distressed at what she was reading.
“Weasley,” Draco hissed at her, raising an eyebrow. Dumbledore had paused that the staircase, waiting for her to come out of her reverie.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, jumping up and following them up the stairs.
“This is where you’ll be staying while you’re here,” Dumbledore said as soon as they reached the dormitory. “If you need any new robes…or anything, you can go down to Professor Flitwick’s old room to request. We’ll try to provide you with anything you need.” Ginny knew this comment was for her, after all, Draco seemed to be one of the few people at Hogwarts able to provide for himself outside of the castle. Ginny even suspected that he was the one that provided them with many of their supplies.
Draco cleared his throat. “Professor,” he said. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue. “It seems that Weasley here had an accident when we were traveling here—her wand snapped.” He paused and looked at Ginny, who had a small smile on her face. “A venture to Hogsmeade to retrieve a new one is imperative,” he finished.
Dumbledore nodded. “So it is. Please just be back before night fall. The Serpent League has settled a small amount of troops near Hogsmeade,” Dumbledore said, the concern for them evident in his voice. The Serpent League was the most elite group of Death Eaters; the only reason to station them so near Hogwarts was the keep the Resistance on their toes.
“Alright,” Draco said. Dumbledore gave them one last smile and left the dormitory, closing the door behind him.
Ginny looked at Draco with wide eyes. “We’re going to Hogsmeade when there are Serpent League troops there?”
Draco looked at her mildly amused. “When do you suggest we go? It’s not as if the amount of troops is going to decrease any. If anything, their numbers will increase.”
Ginny nodded slowly, sitting on a bed heavily. She sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. “I have to have a wand,” she said mostly to herself. She looked at the blue bedspread thoughtfully. “I guess we should leave as soon as possible, right?”
“That would be correct,” Draco said his voice having taken on an impatient edge. “In fact…if we could leave now…”
“Right,” Ginny said quickly, getting off of the bed. “Let’s get this over with.”
Draco studied her for a moment. “I can’t take you looking like that.”
Ginny frowned and looked at her robes; they were ordinary black robes that Narcissa had given her to wear, what could possibly be wrong with them? She fingered the hem apprehensively. “What’s wrong with how I look?” she demanded.
“For one, you don’t look like you belong in Hogsmeade at this time. Have you stepped foot in any of the old wizarding cities since the war?” he asked carefully.
“No,” she snapped. “Why would I? It’s not like I had the money to buy anything then. Prices rose unbelievably when the war began,” she said, half-glaring at him.
Draco rolled his eyes. “Exactly. Only people with money are seen anywhere near shops these days. And you definitely don’t look like you have any money.”
“I’m wearing your mother’s robes,” Ginny argued.
“They certainly aren’t her finest,” said Draco. “I’m sure there’s something decent in here that you can wear…” He had gotten up and was rooting through a large trunk situated near a bed that was in the darkest corner of the room. She could see that there was another dark and ornate looking trunk at the foot of that bed and could only assume that this wasn’t the first time that Draco had taken up residence in this dormitory. “Here,” Draco said, throwing robes at her.
She caught them and turned them over in her hands. The fabric of these dark black robes was much thicker and finer than that of the ones she was currently wearing. She held them out and saw that the cut was also much more fashionable and expensive—not to mention that it was clearly a woman’s robe. She arched an eyebrow at Draco. “Do you often indulge yourself in a collection of women’s robes?” she asked, her lips curling up in a smile.
Draco smirked. “Not too often.” He moved to leave the room, and stopped at the door. “Do hurry up,” he said, then left, closing the door loudly behind him.
Ginny rolled her eyes and began tugging the robes she was wearing off. Slipping the new ones on and admiring the feel of the lush fabric against her skin. She looked in a mirror rooted on the wall, and pulled her hair up, twisting it. She turned and looked at it from the side.
“Very nice, dearie,” the mirror complemented.
Ginny sighed and let it down. She didn’t have anything to keep it up with.
Before causing herself any more grievances, she turned away from the mirror and left the dormitory. She went down the stairs quickly, but paused once she reached the bottom. Draco was sitting on the floor next to the girl that she had take notice to when they first entered the Ravenclaw tower. The book she had been reading was still resting open on he lap, but she was looking up at Draco, nodding and talking to him. The sight of Draco sitting on the floor with the little girl made her eyebrows slam together in confusion. She would have understood if it had been Haven, but this most certainly wasn’t.
Draco reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair affectionately before standing up and brushing off his robes. Ginny heard the girl’s faint, “Bye, Draco,” as he walked towards Ginny, noticing her appearance in the common room.
“Let’s go then,” he said, seeing that she had changed into the robes. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“I know that,” she snapped irritably. Draco was treating her as if she were a child, and it was grating on her nerves. “I’m not stupid,” she added.
Draco raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as they made their way towards the Entrance Hall.
The fresh air outside of Hogwarts made Ginny inhale deeply, thoroughly enjoying the smell—it was much different than that of the dust-permeated air at the refugee camp. Just the smell of it reminded her of when she was at Hogwarts. It made her want to laugh, or do a cartwheel on the lush grass just because she could.
Draco and Ginny were silent as they walked down to Hogsmeade, but Ginny was happy for it; she had so many thoughts buzzing through her head that she needed time to think about, and if the way things were going kept up, then she would have much time to think.
The Forbidden Forest seemed to leer at them as they walked by, more frightening than it had been when she had attended Hogwarts. She could smell the stench of wild magic wafting from the trees and who knew what else was in there. Ginny suppressed a shudder when she thought she thought she saw a pair of bright yellow eyes staring out of the foliage; she blinked and they were gone.
They were well into the outskirts of Hogsmeade when Draco said: “Stay close.” She didn’t have to be told twice. Everything had grown darker since the last time she had been there. Once they entered the streets of Hogsmeade, she saw that there was no Zonko’s or Honeyduke’s. Shops like that had been replaced by ones selling dark objects or potion ingredients.
Draco quickly pulled his hood up, and shot Ginny a look telling her she should do the same. She reached for the hood of her cloak and pulled it up over her head, tucking her hair back into it. They continued walking down the street, Ginny was almost afraid that someone would stop and recognize her; but they merely went on with their business, not even taking second glances at the black clad Ginny and Draco. They stopped in front of Ollivander’s – the shop’s sign was peeling much like the one in Diagon Alley – only this one proclaimed itself the Hogsmeade branch.
Not waiting for Ginny, who had paused to study the sign, Draco went forward quickly and pushed open the door, causing a small bell to tinkle throughout the shop. Suddenly afraid of being left alone with whatever dark persons there were in Hogsmeade, Ginny scrambled up the small steps that led to the entrance and went inside behind Draco. He was already at the counter; a man was appearing from the backroom slowly, making his way towards the counter.
“Mr. Malfoy,” the man greeted in a silky voice, one that made the hairs on the back of Ginny’s neck stand up.
“Ollivander,” was Draco’s reply. “We’ve come for a wand.”
“We?” Ollivander raised an eyebrow, and Ginny peered at him timidly from behind Draco. Draco let out a frustrated growl and forced her in front of him. “Oh, Miss Weasley, you have not been here for your first wand yet have you?” he asked, almost gently.
“No,” Ginny said.
Ollivander nodded. “What kind of magic do you excel in?” he asked.
“Healing,” she said, casting a wary glance at him.
“Ah,” Ollivander said, picking up a wand box. He slipped the wand out and handed it to Ginny. She looked at it slightly confused. “Give it a wave,” he prompted.
“Oh, right,” Ginny said, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks. She felt stupid, but she waved the wand anyways. Nothing happened.
He picked up another box, took the wand out and handed it to Ginny. “Try this one.” She waved it again—nothing happened. Ollivander frowned, “Well, third time’s a charm.” He got out one last wand and handed it to her. She waved it and green and blue sparks flew out of the end in a sparkling shower. Ginny grinned. “Twelve inch rosewood with a phoenix feather core. Spectacular wand for healing,” Ollivander said, a pleased smile on his face.
“So this is it?” Ginny asked. Ollivander nodded.
Draco stepped up and Ollivander led him to the counter. They talked briefly and Draco dropped a few galleons in his hand. He walked away from the counter, and just then the bell tinkled in the doorway. Draco’s eyes snapped open wide, he looked at Ollivander who nodded towards a closet; Ginny missed it, being far to absorbed in her new wand. Draco grabbed her arm, flung the closet door open and pushed her in. Ginny stifled a gasp as her back hit shelves, and the door was shut within seconds. Her back was arched at an unusual angle that forced some of the shelves upwards, the boxes of wands resting on them, slanting awkwardly, threatening to fall if she made one move. She glared at the door.
There were slats in the door all facing in a downward angle, but she could see little rows of light in-between them and could make out Draco’s figure near the closet, and that of two others near the entrance of the shop. She held her breath fearfully.
“Malfoy,” she heard someone say, outside of the closet, in a rough, masculine voice.
“Flint,” came Draco’s voice. His accent was more clear and precise now than it normally was, and it had taken on a more assuming and arrogant tone.
“Hello, Draco,” purred a feminine voice. It instantly put her on guard—it was not the voice of someone you could trust. “What might you be doing in a wand shop?” she asked suspiciously.
“Mathilde,” Draco’s voice slashed coldly throughout the shop. “I could ask you the same question,” he replied. His voice was more harsh than she had ever heard it before, it chilled her, even scared her. It reminded her of the ruthless family he had grown up in, reminding her of who she used to think he was.
Ginny’s neck was beginning to ache, as was her back from being in such an awkward position. She wanted to move, but that would risk making the boxes fall and causing a ruckus that would surely call attention to herself.
“We have business to discuss with Mr. Ollivander,” Mathilde said irritably. Ginny could almost see the woman sneering at Draco, but she was sure that he was doing the same to her.
“Well then,” said Draco. “I guess I’ll just be on my way.” Ginny stopped, her eyes widening, did he just say what she thought he said? He was going to leave her in that godforsaken closet in an awkward position that was killing her neck and back? How dare he!
Sure enough his footsteps were heard making their way towards the door; the bell tinkled to signal his departure. Ginny could have sworn she heard Mr. Ollivander let out a quiet chuckle.
“Mr. Ollivander,” said Flint. “We have business…”
“Right,” Ollivander said. “Right this way.” Then he said a bit louder, as if he wanted Ginny to hear, “Right in the back of the shop, so it’ll be private…” Ginny let out a sigh of relief, at least now she could get out of the closet. She would just have to find a way of doing so without disrupting all of the boxes.
Their footsteps disappeared into the back of the shop. Ginny moved her arm carefully, pushing one of the shelves down carefully, watching the boxes closely—she had it secured in its rightful place. Good, now she only had three more left and she would be home free. She worked through two more of them before there was a loud outburst, causing Ginny to stop in her tracks. Damn, she had almost been finished.
“Really, Mr. Ollivander! We have been patient enough!” Mathilde exclaimed. “At this point, we really don’t care if the wand fits the wizard! All we need is our bloody goddamned wands!” she shouted. Ginny raised her eyebrows, scolding a quiet, temper, temper, in her head. “There had better be five hundred wands packed and ready by tomorrow morning, Ollivander, or you’ll have Zabini to answer to, and I promise you he won’t be nearly as nice about this as me.” Mathilde stomped out of the back of the shop and slammed the front door behind her, making the bell slam against the door and fly back and forth, ringing more than necessary.
Flint’s heavier footsteps came out of the back of the shop. “Really am sorry about her, Ollivander. I do believe that Malfoy set her off.”
“Perfectly understandable,” Ollivander murmured. “Good day, the wands will certainly be ready tomorrow morning.” The door shut again; Flint had left. Ginny let out an audible sigh.
She fixed the last shelf and opened the closet door slowly. Ollivander was leaning against the front counter, watching her with amused eyes. “Nice guy you’ve got there,” he said, grinning at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. Thank you,” she added before making her way out of the shop.
Once outside, she searched for Draco, making sure that her hood was pulled up fully and covering her distinctive hair. She saw him leaning on a vendor cart near the front of a potions shop and glared at him. He was smirking in her direction. The bastard.
She rolled her neck and arched her back. She could feel her back throbbing from the pain of being in that odd position for so long, and her neck had all but gone numb. She went down the stairs, taking her time, and crossed the street just a languidly.
When she reached him, he was still looking down at her with that slow, lazy, smirk. Oh how she wanted to just smack it off of his face. She whipped her wand out of her robes and pushed the tip to his neck, but found his also pressed to her temple. She didn’t care. “If. You. Ever. Do. That. Again.” she said in long drawn out breaths. “I will maim you.”
That made Draco snort. “Maim me? Oh, you wound me, Weasley. The threat. The horror,” he clutched chest above his heart with his free hand. “The pain.”
“Shut up,” Ginny snapped. “I can’t believe you left me in that closet! You just up and left me! Didn’t even think about Ginny, eh? While you just walked out of the shop, I was stuck in that stupid closet with my back pressed up against some shelves! Had I moved they would have collapsed and wands would have fallen and caused such a commotion I would surely have been killed by your stupid Death Eater friends,” she ranted.
Draco’s eyes narrowed. “They aren’t my friends.” He glanced around cautiously. “Mind keeping it down? Anyone could have heard you.”
Ginny’s eyes flashed. “Oh the nerve…” she hissed. Draco rolled his eyes and took off in the direction of Hogwarts. Ginny squared her shoulders and followed after him.
They were halfway back to Hogwarts, when Ginny burst out: “I can’t believe you just left me there in that closet!!”
“Get over it, Weasley. There was nothing else I could do,” said Draco. “Did you want me to stand around and wait for them to leave? That wouldn’t have happened. They would have waited for me to leave first.”
“Why wouldn’t they have just done their business and left?” Ginny asked, curious. “They were Death Eaters, aren’t you, too?”
Draco nodded slowly. “Yes…but, Mathilde has this thing…”
“What? Wand up her ass?” Ginny asked sourly. Mathilde had done all but left a good impression on her. She had acted like a whiny prat in Ollivander’s and Ginny didn’t see how she could possibly be any sort of good person.
Draco grinned. Ginny’s eyes widened—Draco had grinned. “Yeah,” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “That. And she hates me.”
“Why does she hate you?” asked Ginny.
Draco shrugged. “Because…. I have better judgment than her, and I took something away from her because it was too dangerous to be left with her.” Draco cleared his throat. “She’s just…irresponsible.”
Ginny stopped, and blinked. Did that mean what she thought it meant?
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