Walking back to the dormitories, she avoided the usual group of girls along the way, lost in her thoughts until Harry caught up with her. She motioned to the girls. “They are just a bit annoying.”
“They'll go away, once the winter sets in, or so I've been told.”
She nodded, hoping it was true. Single women, desperate to find a successful husband in such a manner seemed quite sad in her view. Yet, she was hardly any better than any of them. She was just more creative about it.
“Speaking of avoiding people, you might want to avoid Seamus for a while, by the way. He lost a few galleons on you and he's a bit miffed right now.”
“Great,” she said tiredly.
“You put on quite a show, though. We thought you had a chance. Nobody's lasted that long against Malfoy yet.”
While the others went off to while away the afternoon in the village pub, Ginny returned to the common area of the dormitory, where she promptly slumped on the nearest couch and fell asleep, not even bothering to change into clean clothes. She had no interest in joining the others. Her workload was too much. She was already far behind the others in studies and she knew that if she didn't get enough rest, she would be asked to leave the training. Only about half of the trainees made it through the first year, even with a proper background, making her situation all the more pressing. Her main goal had been accomplished, in some odd way. Draco now knew she was a girl. He now knew who she was, although he didn't know that he had been her primary reason for attending.
Part of her desperately wanted to break the tradition that only men were considered worthy of such a difficult career. What truly intrigued her was that Draco did not seem to mind that she was attempting such a socially unacceptable goal. He was willing to keep her secret. It made her all the more determined to succeed. She dozed off, too tired to think of all the ramifications.
It was dark before she was shaken awake by none other than Malfoy.
“The others will be back soon, you might want to change,” he said, motioning toward her ripped shirt and the amount of freshly healed skin that was now rather exposed due to her tossing about in her sleep.
Sucking in a breath, she ran to get to her things and the showers, noticing Malfoy emit a laugh as she stumbled about.
“By the way, Finnegan is still miffed, and now he's drunk,” he called after her as she moved to the room she had been temporarily sharing with both Harry and Seamus.
She looked at him helplessly.
“Good God, Wilson, how did you intend to get by here? Didn't you think anything through?”
Well, no, actually she hadn't thought past gaining entrance to the school and being near him. She thought that everything else would simply work it's way out along the way. “Actually...” she started to stammer.
“Get your things,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I've got two empty bunks in my room. I suppose your company might be tolerable.”
She smiled gratefully and quickly levitated her trunk to his room, hoping to be out of sight before the others returned.
As she moved past him to put her things on the bunk on the other side of the room, he spoke again, “Don't think that this is a free favor. I'm going to want to know why you went to so much trouble to get yourself in here.”
Gulp. She hoped that he might be convinced by the story of her simply wanting to be an Auror. She was absolutely terrified of him knowing that she was there simply to meet him. Fortunately, he didn't press her for the information at the moment.
She showered and crawled into her bed, pulling out one of the books on curse breaking that she needed to study. She eyed him curiously as he returned to the room dressed in pajama pants and sat on his own bunk, staring at her.
“Would you please remove the charms when we're in here? It's rather disturbing to see you like that, knowing that you're female.”
She jumped, having forgotten that she was in disguise and raised her wand to remove the charms, giving him a small smile.
“I like you much better this way,” he said, flopping down on his own bed, no longer looking at her. “So, I presume that your name isn't Jon Wilson.”
“It's Ginny,” she said in response.
She curled up under the blankets, putting her book aside and staring over at him, not quite believing that she was here, with him, sharing a room together, and he actually knew her true identity.
Figuring that it was safe to initiate some form of conversation, she finally asked about one of the things that had been bothering her since he rescued her. “How did you know that dragon was a female, and her name was Mathilde?”
He turned his head to look at her. “I've been here for a month. Once you know a bit about dragons, it's not that hard. As for her name, I named her.”
“Oh,” she said, turning to him with admiration.
“You seem to know her quite well,” she said.
His expression turned suspicious, as he replied, “You're asking a lot of questions, Ginny.”
She knew she was pressing her luck with this rather reclusive young wizard, but she so wanted to know more about him. “I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but notice while we were in the cave, that you didn't seem all that afraid of her and you seemed to know exactly where she kept her treasure.”
“So?”
“Why didn't you just take her treasure? It was enough for a lifetime.”
He laughed harshly. “Maybe your lifetime. I've got much bigger plans.”
“Tell me about them,” she said, looking at him imploringly.
He stared at the pretty girl hiding in his room and seemed to consider answering her. Leaning back again, he gave a heavy sigh. “That wasn't her entire cache. She's got much more hidden somewhere else and I need to find it. If I take what she has, I'll forfeit what little trust I've established with her and I'll never find it.”
“There's something special in her collection, isn't there,” she said.
He seemed to appraise her before continuing. “You're bright, a bit brighter than most of the other morons here. You have more nerve than they do as well,” he said, but didn't address her question. Nevertheless, she continued to look at him, her eyes wide and awaiting his next words.
“I'll tell you what, Ginny,” he said, drawing out her name. “If you help me, I'll help you keep your little secret. We'll call it a partnership, of sorts.”
She looked surprised, but hopeful. “Really?”
He chuckled at her enthusiasm. She was cute, naïve, but cute. “Really.”
They both lay back in their respective beds, each staring at the ceiling for a several silent minutes.
“Draco?”
“Yes, that is my name. I did say you were bright, didn't I?” he said rather teasingly.
She ignored his comment and continued, “What is it that you are looking for?”
“Nothing big, just something that's been in my family for generations.”
“Oh,”' was all she said leaving a long pause between them.
He couldn't help but think that he was feeling pressured, even though she said nothing. Finally, he simply said, “It's called a dragon ball.”
“A what?”
“It's a device that can be used to summon a dragon,” he responded.
She turned back to him, lying on her side to see him better, now very interested. “Not just any dragon, I suppose,” she said.
“No, not just any dragon. His name is Shenron.”
“But, if it's been in your family, why are you searching for it here?”
“My mother hid it up here to keep it from Voldemort. If he knew its potential power, he would have used it, and it wasn't his to use.”
She looked over at his handsome profile, wondering how she could have thought of him as arrogant and pompous. She was, without question, completely smitten. “She gave it to Mathilde?”
He nodded, looking over at her, his eyes shining like silver in the dim light of the room. “I didn't expect that Mathilde would be so clever about hiding it. I think she somehow senses it's more valuable than her usual treasure.”
She felt honored that he was sharing this information with her. Somehow, it was creating a bond between the two of them, and the thought made her stomach flutter as if a thousand butterflies had suddenly taken residence there. He was being so open, that she couldn't help but press him for more information. “And how does Goku fit into this?” she asked.
“Goku is a Muggle, first of all. He can't get to this particular object because it's hidden in the magical world. He approached me to help him find it.”
“He's a Muggle? But, how did he get into the cave? The valley of the dragons is in the magical world.”
He gave a deep sigh and she thought he might be losing patience with her.
“I'm sorry if I'm being too nosy about all of this. You don't need to answer.”
He shook his head, closing his eyes as if thinking about his answer. “No. I suppose you know enough that if I'm in for a sickle, I might as well be in this with you for the whole galleon, or pile of galleons, since we're talking about a dragon's entire keep.”
She smiled at the small attempt at levity.
“The cave has two entrances. If you work your way through the maze of tunnels, the other end opens into the Muggle world. Goku has been trying to help me by watching Mathilde's habits, and trying to track her when she leaves the cave. We think she might go out into the Muggle countryside once in a while.”
“Why is it so important?”
He looked at her once again, seeming to study her intently, as he considered answering her question. Finally he said, “There are things happening that are much more powerful than you realize, Ginny. Evil beings that are almost beyond imagination and they are trying to take over the world.”
“Are you talking about He-Who-Mustn't-Be-Named?” she asked, her eyes wide in shock. The world had been quiet since the dark wizard, known as Lord Voldemort, had disappeared so many years ago, leaving an infant Harry Potter alive, but with a scar from the killing curse that had been cast at him. Draco's father had been a strong supporter of the wizard, which was why the Malfoy name remained heavily tarnished. If this evil wizard was now trying to return, it would be terrible for everyone. Ginny shuddered.
“I think so. There are indications that he wasn't destroyed when he gave Potter that scar.” he said. “If I can help Goku, I can stop him and I can help clear my name. I need to do this. What I need to know is if you are willing to help me, or do I spill your secret and send you home?”
“You wouldn't!” she said, slightly outraged at his threat. Now that she was here in the academy, she wanted to stay and prove herself, and, more importantly, she wanted to help solve the mystery around this boy and his quest.
“Maybe, maybe not, but if you won't help, then I'm not sure I can trust you not to interfere with my plans. So, do we have a deal, Ginny Wilson?”
She didn't have the heart to tell him that Wilson wasn't her real last name. Not that it would matter right now. He'd asked her to help him and, ultimately, she couldn't deny him anything. “We have a deal,” she replied, reaching out to offer her hand.
He took her hand, shaking it in agreement to solidify their deal. He seemed to hold onto it for just a bit longer than necessary, making her grateful that they'd lowered the lights enough to hide her blush.
She smiled, as she lay back down in her bunk, finally willing to drift off to sleep, ready and more than willing to follow him into what was sure to be a grand adventure filled with dragons and treasure.
“They'll go away, once the winter sets in, or so I've been told.”
She nodded, hoping it was true. Single women, desperate to find a successful husband in such a manner seemed quite sad in her view. Yet, she was hardly any better than any of them. She was just more creative about it.
“Speaking of avoiding people, you might want to avoid Seamus for a while, by the way. He lost a few galleons on you and he's a bit miffed right now.”
“Great,” she said tiredly.
“You put on quite a show, though. We thought you had a chance. Nobody's lasted that long against Malfoy yet.”
While the others went off to while away the afternoon in the village pub, Ginny returned to the common area of the dormitory, where she promptly slumped on the nearest couch and fell asleep, not even bothering to change into clean clothes. She had no interest in joining the others. Her workload was too much. She was already far behind the others in studies and she knew that if she didn't get enough rest, she would be asked to leave the training. Only about half of the trainees made it through the first year, even with a proper background, making her situation all the more pressing. Her main goal had been accomplished, in some odd way. Draco now knew she was a girl. He now knew who she was, although he didn't know that he had been her primary reason for attending.
Part of her desperately wanted to break the tradition that only men were considered worthy of such a difficult career. What truly intrigued her was that Draco did not seem to mind that she was attempting such a socially unacceptable goal. He was willing to keep her secret. It made her all the more determined to succeed. She dozed off, too tired to think of all the ramifications.
It was dark before she was shaken awake by none other than Malfoy.
“The others will be back soon, you might want to change,” he said, motioning toward her ripped shirt and the amount of freshly healed skin that was now rather exposed due to her tossing about in her sleep.
Sucking in a breath, she ran to get to her things and the showers, noticing Malfoy emit a laugh as she stumbled about.
“By the way, Finnegan is still miffed, and now he's drunk,” he called after her as she moved to the room she had been temporarily sharing with both Harry and Seamus.
She looked at him helplessly.
“Good God, Wilson, how did you intend to get by here? Didn't you think anything through?”
Well, no, actually she hadn't thought past gaining entrance to the school and being near him. She thought that everything else would simply work it's way out along the way. “Actually...” she started to stammer.
“Get your things,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I've got two empty bunks in my room. I suppose your company might be tolerable.”
She smiled gratefully and quickly levitated her trunk to his room, hoping to be out of sight before the others returned.
As she moved past him to put her things on the bunk on the other side of the room, he spoke again, “Don't think that this is a free favor. I'm going to want to know why you went to so much trouble to get yourself in here.”
Gulp. She hoped that he might be convinced by the story of her simply wanting to be an Auror. She was absolutely terrified of him knowing that she was there simply to meet him. Fortunately, he didn't press her for the information at the moment.
She showered and crawled into her bed, pulling out one of the books on curse breaking that she needed to study. She eyed him curiously as he returned to the room dressed in pajama pants and sat on his own bunk, staring at her.
“Would you please remove the charms when we're in here? It's rather disturbing to see you like that, knowing that you're female.”
She jumped, having forgotten that she was in disguise and raised her wand to remove the charms, giving him a small smile.
“I like you much better this way,” he said, flopping down on his own bed, no longer looking at her. “So, I presume that your name isn't Jon Wilson.”
“It's Ginny,” she said in response.
She curled up under the blankets, putting her book aside and staring over at him, not quite believing that she was here, with him, sharing a room together, and he actually knew her true identity.
Figuring that it was safe to initiate some form of conversation, she finally asked about one of the things that had been bothering her since he rescued her. “How did you know that dragon was a female, and her name was Mathilde?”
He turned his head to look at her. “I've been here for a month. Once you know a bit about dragons, it's not that hard. As for her name, I named her.”
“Oh,” she said, turning to him with admiration.
“You seem to know her quite well,” she said.
His expression turned suspicious, as he replied, “You're asking a lot of questions, Ginny.”
She knew she was pressing her luck with this rather reclusive young wizard, but she so wanted to know more about him. “I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but notice while we were in the cave, that you didn't seem all that afraid of her and you seemed to know exactly where she kept her treasure.”
“So?”
“Why didn't you just take her treasure? It was enough for a lifetime.”
He laughed harshly. “Maybe your lifetime. I've got much bigger plans.”
“Tell me about them,” she said, looking at him imploringly.
He stared at the pretty girl hiding in his room and seemed to consider answering her. Leaning back again, he gave a heavy sigh. “That wasn't her entire cache. She's got much more hidden somewhere else and I need to find it. If I take what she has, I'll forfeit what little trust I've established with her and I'll never find it.”
“There's something special in her collection, isn't there,” she said.
He seemed to appraise her before continuing. “You're bright, a bit brighter than most of the other morons here. You have more nerve than they do as well,” he said, but didn't address her question. Nevertheless, she continued to look at him, her eyes wide and awaiting his next words.
“I'll tell you what, Ginny,” he said, drawing out her name. “If you help me, I'll help you keep your little secret. We'll call it a partnership, of sorts.”
She looked surprised, but hopeful. “Really?”
He chuckled at her enthusiasm. She was cute, naïve, but cute. “Really.”
They both lay back in their respective beds, each staring at the ceiling for a several silent minutes.
“Draco?”
“Yes, that is my name. I did say you were bright, didn't I?” he said rather teasingly.
She ignored his comment and continued, “What is it that you are looking for?”
“Nothing big, just something that's been in my family for generations.”
“Oh,”' was all she said leaving a long pause between them.
He couldn't help but think that he was feeling pressured, even though she said nothing. Finally, he simply said, “It's called a dragon ball.”
“A what?”
“It's a device that can be used to summon a dragon,” he responded.
She turned back to him, lying on her side to see him better, now very interested. “Not just any dragon, I suppose,” she said.
“No, not just any dragon. His name is Shenron.”
“But, if it's been in your family, why are you searching for it here?”
“My mother hid it up here to keep it from Voldemort. If he knew its potential power, he would have used it, and it wasn't his to use.”
She looked over at his handsome profile, wondering how she could have thought of him as arrogant and pompous. She was, without question, completely smitten. “She gave it to Mathilde?”
He nodded, looking over at her, his eyes shining like silver in the dim light of the room. “I didn't expect that Mathilde would be so clever about hiding it. I think she somehow senses it's more valuable than her usual treasure.”
She felt honored that he was sharing this information with her. Somehow, it was creating a bond between the two of them, and the thought made her stomach flutter as if a thousand butterflies had suddenly taken residence there. He was being so open, that she couldn't help but press him for more information. “And how does Goku fit into this?” she asked.
“Goku is a Muggle, first of all. He can't get to this particular object because it's hidden in the magical world. He approached me to help him find it.”
“He's a Muggle? But, how did he get into the cave? The valley of the dragons is in the magical world.”
He gave a deep sigh and she thought he might be losing patience with her.
“I'm sorry if I'm being too nosy about all of this. You don't need to answer.”
He shook his head, closing his eyes as if thinking about his answer. “No. I suppose you know enough that if I'm in for a sickle, I might as well be in this with you for the whole galleon, or pile of galleons, since we're talking about a dragon's entire keep.”
She smiled at the small attempt at levity.
“The cave has two entrances. If you work your way through the maze of tunnels, the other end opens into the Muggle world. Goku has been trying to help me by watching Mathilde's habits, and trying to track her when she leaves the cave. We think she might go out into the Muggle countryside once in a while.”
“Why is it so important?”
He looked at her once again, seeming to study her intently, as he considered answering her question. Finally he said, “There are things happening that are much more powerful than you realize, Ginny. Evil beings that are almost beyond imagination and they are trying to take over the world.”
“Are you talking about He-Who-Mustn't-Be-Named?” she asked, her eyes wide in shock. The world had been quiet since the dark wizard, known as Lord Voldemort, had disappeared so many years ago, leaving an infant Harry Potter alive, but with a scar from the killing curse that had been cast at him. Draco's father had been a strong supporter of the wizard, which was why the Malfoy name remained heavily tarnished. If this evil wizard was now trying to return, it would be terrible for everyone. Ginny shuddered.
“I think so. There are indications that he wasn't destroyed when he gave Potter that scar.” he said. “If I can help Goku, I can stop him and I can help clear my name. I need to do this. What I need to know is if you are willing to help me, or do I spill your secret and send you home?”
“You wouldn't!” she said, slightly outraged at his threat. Now that she was here in the academy, she wanted to stay and prove herself, and, more importantly, she wanted to help solve the mystery around this boy and his quest.
“Maybe, maybe not, but if you won't help, then I'm not sure I can trust you not to interfere with my plans. So, do we have a deal, Ginny Wilson?”
She didn't have the heart to tell him that Wilson wasn't her real last name. Not that it would matter right now. He'd asked her to help him and, ultimately, she couldn't deny him anything. “We have a deal,” she replied, reaching out to offer her hand.
He took her hand, shaking it in agreement to solidify their deal. He seemed to hold onto it for just a bit longer than necessary, making her grateful that they'd lowered the lights enough to hide her blush.
She smiled, as she lay back down in her bunk, finally willing to drift off to sleep, ready and more than willing to follow him into what was sure to be a grand adventure filled with dragons and treasure.
Author notes: I would love to turn this into a long story, but, alas, this is all there is for now. It was a difficult and unique prompt and I hope you enjoyed.
The End.
gidge_8 is the author of 10 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 8 members. Members who liked Valley of the Dragons also liked 1134 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 8 members. Members who liked Valley of the Dragons also liked 1134 other stories.
Leave a Review