CHAPTER 5
Second week of May, Thursday
It was one thing to find Malfoy alone somewhere, but to find him alone and approach him publicly was another ball of wax entirely. Still. She braced herself.
“Malfoy,” she said to his back before she could chicken out.
The boy’s shoulders stiffened and for a moment Ginny felt guilty. Did he really care that much about her opinion of him? Or was it that he didn’t want to have anything to do with her any more? Because Draco didn’t strike her as someone who’d care what others thought of him, let alone a Weasley.
Slowly, the boy turned around. He had a book in his hand and a backpack over the shoulder – standard apparel for a short visit to the library. Carefully, he gave her a once over (no book) but said nothing. In a moment, he pointed to the library exit.
“What?”
“Not here,” he pressed through his teeth almost voicelessly, grabber her elbow and tried to steer her toward the library doors.
“Hey! I don’t appreciate being manhandled, thank you very much,” she exclaimed in a hushed - for some reason - voice.
“Sh,” he started to say just as Madam Pince’s high-pitched voice stopped them.
“Just where are you going with that book, Mr Malfoy? You haven’t checked it out!”
Draco groaned.
“Meet you at the Byzantium mural,” he whispered to her and stepped quickly away from her. “I’m sorry, Madam Pince, I’m not going anywhere, here’s the book I’m taking.”
Ginny was just going to demand to know what mural he was talking about when she spotted Parkinson’s and someone else’s heads peeking out from behind a shelf. It was just for a moment, Ginny doubted Malfoy or the librarian had even noticed them.
Busying herself at another shelf, she saw Malfoy checking the book out and purposefully striding out of the room. Ginny tried to look engrossed in a book, but thankfully, Malfoy passed without acknowledging her, looking somewhat angry.
As she’d anticipated (and half-hoped) Parkinson and Pucey (as she now saw the other was) slid quietly out from behind the shelf and followed Draco. Ginny let them pass and calmly put the book back on the shelf, smiled at Madam Pince and steadily walked out of the library.
Just outside the doors, she took an educated guess and ran left. She spotted the two Slytherins round the corner, walking quickly past various groups of students waiting for their class or just going about their business. Ginny could only hope that the pair was still following Draco, because she couldn’t see him anywhere.
She followed them only for one length of a corridor before she saw Draco’s blond head straight ahead disappearing behind another corner. The next moment Pucey and Parkinson were running and Ginny cursed silently as she increased her speed. She had no idea if Malfoy was an idiot trying to lure his enemies into a rarely used area of the castle, or if he was just an idiot with no idea he was being followed. She cast a Muffliato on her feet and hoped they couldn’t hear her clothes rustling, because she didn’t dare spend too much of her magical ability in too narrow a time frame. Who knew; she might need to defend herself soon.
This part of the castle was a maze. The corridors were narrow and curvy; they took two turns left and three right and then left again and Ginny had only a very vague idea of her whereabouts now. She was pretty sure now that Draco was leading the other Slytherins into a trap, because she couldn’t imagine him wandering in this part of the castle for some recreational sightseeing.
At one point, Ginny had started to get a feeling that she was the twat getting herself lost, but then just before turning the next corner, she suddenly heard indistinct voices. Abruptly she stopped, cast (very quietly) a disillusioning charm on herself and reapplied the Muffliato on her feet.
“Your plan’s crap, Parkinson!” she heard Draco’s voice after creeping closer to the corner.
“Yeah? You got a better one?”
“As a matter of fact I do. You go to your dorm and forget about the whole scheme.”
Ginny heard a huff and Pucey drawled, “Yes, exactly, that’s what I’ll tell Bell the next time I see him in Hogsmeade.”
Bell?
“Bell?” Draco sounded shocked. “Bell’s here?”
“What, you think we’re risking our necks for fun here?”
There was a brief silence.
“Alright then,” Draco said after a minute. “I’m in.”
The third week of May, Wednesday
“They are executing their plan – look. Montague, Pucey and Parkinson running somewhere,” Harry’s voice said.
Once more Ginny’s musings were interrupted by secretive whispering, but to be fair – this time it wasn’t an annoyance to her. Ginny had been purposefully sitting under the Transparency Charm evening after evening to be there when Ron and Harry would finally act (whatever it meant this time). She knew them; it was only a matter of time.
Once again the two were hovering over Harry’s precious map, but this time Hermione wasn’t there. She was most probably fed up with all the conspiracy theories.
“Where’s Malfoy?”
“Let me see…” Harry said and Ginny heard the map rustling. “There! What’s he doing at the library again? I really doubt he’s not in with them.”
“Yeah... Come to think of it, he’s spending surprisingly little time with them on the whole.”
“Maybe he’s the brains of the operation.”
“Yeah, like Montague needs a second brain to think up trouble.”
“Yeah, but if it’s an assignment from Voldemort-”
“Shh! Yell his name for everyone to hear, why don’t you? Hey!” Ron suddenly interrupted himself. “Where the hell are they going? If they want to use the Room of Requirement then why head that way?”
“Maybe it’s taken?”
“How would they know that?”
“Maybe they are meeting up with someone?”
“Malfoy?”
“No, they’d have met him in their Common Room, wouldn’t they? Anyway, he’s not even in the vicinity and not moving.”
“Right. They are early?”
“Could be. They are just standing there, looks like.”
“Or sitting.” Ginny could almost hear Ron shrug indifferently.
“Don’t be an- hey!” Harry suddenly whispered urgently. “What if that’s it? What if they are sitting, or squatting or something?”
“You mean like in an ambush?” her brother whispered back equally excited.
“Yeah, but for who?”
“What about-“
“Malfoy!” Harry exclaimed. “Look! What’s he-!”
“Shit!”
“Let’s go!”
Ginny heard a desperate paper rustling and imagined the map twice as crumpled as before. She quickly cancelled her charm and jumped up.
“I’m coming too!”
“Ginny?!” Harry exclaimed just as Ron said rather angrily, “You’ve been spying on us?”
“No! Well, not on purpose!” she lied. “And anyway, what difference does it make? Let’s go!”
She rushed past them, grabbing Harry by his robe sleeve. Unsurprisingly, the boys followed quickly.
“You have been spying on purpose!” Ron whispered half-angrily.
“Prove it!” She would have stuck her tongue out, but running on her tip-toes as quietly as possible she was just too preoccupied to bother. “Where are we going?”
“Gin, you can’t come!” Harry took over the argument. “You know the three of us won’t fit under the cloak!”
“You know I cast a mean Transparency Charm,” she whispered back in a matter of fact tone. “Now tell me what’s happening!”
“But it only works when you’re still!”
“It’ll be fine,” Ron, to Ginny’s surprise, assured his mate.
“I don’t like it,” Harry said, but it was an observation, not an objection. They were too close to their objective to argue any more. “We’re intercepting Malfoy,” he explained. “The git was standing next to Hermione outside the library, and when she started moving he followed her.”
“If I’m right,” Ron interjected, “we’ll catch them somewhere between the umbrella landscapes and the three dog picture.”
“Deer,” Harry grunted.
“What?”
“They’re deer, not dogs.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “And if you’re wrong?”
“Sh! Keep quiet now,” Harry whispered.
They only ran for a short while more before slowing down into a quiet walk. Then the boys chucked the cloak over themselves and Ginny let them move ahead. One junction before the umbrella-picture, she cast the Transparency Charm on herself.
Soon she heard a barely audible “Where are they?” from Ron, a “Sh!” from Harry and then the incantation for the map.
“Crap!” Ron swore.
“What?” Ginny whispered trying to find the boys by the noise and waving around with her arms like a blind person.
“They are not here,” she heard Harry’s frantic voice.
“No shit,” Ginny muttered, finally felt the fabric under her fingers and got under the cloak.
“There! He’s alone! Where’s…” Harry trailed off as they searched for Hermione.
“Look!” Ron pointed. “She’s returning to the dorms.”
“Thank Merlin!” Harry said. “Gin, go back and check if everything’s all right.”
“Why? She’s obviously fine-“
“Just in case. Besides, there’s no need for us all to spy after the Slytherins.”
“Yes, but-“
“Fine!” Ron cut her off. “Just stay behind us and be quiet, for Circe’s sake!“
Ginny blinked. Then jerkily she almost tore herself out of the cloak and cast a Muffliato on her own feet and theirs.
“Gin!” Ron hissed.
“Sh!” she retaliated half-angrily and cast the spell on their cloak too. Then they ran.
Ginny was very worried. She knew without a doubt that the Slytherins had a nefarious plan of some sort, she just had no idea what it was exactly. The other thing was (and yes, fine, maybe she was feeling a bit guilty about that), she hadn’t told her friends about the overheard conversation nor about the involvement of someone named Bell. She wasn’t sure why exactly, but she was sure it wasn’t about some misguided feeling of loyalty to Draco Malfoy. Their friendship was over. Irrevocably. Right. She almost nodded to herself.
Very soon, Ginny bumped into a transparent wall and heard Ron swearing under his breath. Although Ginny couldn’t see the boys at all, Ron’s hand quickly gestured her to the left wall before disappearing under the cloak, so she knew that they were sneaking along it and scurried over to the right one knowing full well that her brother had meant for her to stay behind them.
As they crept she started hearing indistinct voices and, after only a couple of steps, the words became understandable. At hearing Draco’s voice, her heart clenched.
“What the hell are you trying to do?” He seemed to be angry, but still trying to moderate his voice. “Have you lost all your marbles? We were supposed to do it next week! What’s the rush?”
“Shut up, you moron! Somebody will hear,” one of the Slytherin boys hissed. Probably Montague. “I wouldn’t have told you anything at all if I’d known Lucius Malfoy’s son was a bloody coward! Now go scurry back to bed before you ruin it for us.”
“Ruin it?” Malfoy continued in a normal voice. “Are you a total lackwit? Keep to the plan! Do you..."
“Screw the plan! Bell said to move it along, so we’re moving it along!”
“Well good luck to you then, because Granger’s not coming,” Draco – no, Malfoy – went on lazily, his voice full of contempt. “And you should have told me about the change of plans, because thanks to your poor communication skills or lack of trust, your new and improved plan’s down the toilet.”
Being sure that the boys under the cloak had enough time to move out of her way into the open, Ginny stuck her head out from around the corner and froze there. Pucey, Montague and Parkinson were hovering behind a monstrous sculpture while Draco stood boldly in the middle of the corridor. By the tension in his straight posture, though, it was clear that he too was ready for anything.
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Parkinson asked in a half-whisper as if unsure there was a point in keeping quiet any more.
“What I said. She’s not coming because I told her about the plan to capture her.”
“You what?!” cried Pucey straightening himself.
All three moved out from behind the statue and rounded on the blond.
“Why. The hell. Would you do that,” Pucey said very slowly, his voice full of dark menace. Montague and Parkinson stood quietly, the boy’s face thunderous and the girl gaping in shock.
“I didn’t know about the latest instructions, now did I?” the blond said in a tone one would use with an unreasonable toddler. “It’s your own bloody fault! Had you told me about the change it wouldn’t have happened. How the hell was I supposed to know about it?”
“About what? About how to keep your big gob shut?” Pucey countered, barely moving his lips in his rage.
“Obviously I thought that I had some time before the execution of our plan.”
“What difference does it make?” Pucey demanded. “You still blabbed where you had no place to.”
“What difference?” Malfoy sounded surprised. “What difference does it make, you ask me? Well, obviously, I thought that I had time to charm her.”
The three Slytherins were staring at him their faces in various stages of disbelief mixed with incredulity and for a change, Ginny completely shared their feelings.
Malfoy sighed impatiently. “I was going to make her trust me so I could have lured her outside of the castle. Alone. Don’t you think it would have minimised the risks considerably?”
There was a pause, but then even the unflappable Montague exploded. “You were going to make her trust you? In a week?”
Ginny could hear the smirk in Malfoy’s tone. “I know how to handle girls, Montague. I’ve done it before.”
Ginny felt sick.
“Granger?” Disbelief was still tingling Montague’s voice.
“She’s a girl, isn’t she? Perhaps I couldn’t make her sleep with me that quickly, assuming she’s really in love with her boyfriend, but I could probably sway her self-assured opinion about me enough for her to come with me into the woods if I played it right.”
“But she’s a Mudblood!” Pucey said in a tone which implied that he felt a bit sick too.
“Yes, but a female Mudblood,” the blond calmly stated. There was an uncomfortable silence. “Relax, I didn’t name anyone, just told her there was a rumour I’d heard of her being kidnapped. I’m not even sure she bought it entirely, but I don’t think she will be coming through here tonight in any case.” He shook his head. “What did you think would happen, anyway, you'd curse her, roll her into a carpet and carry her out of the castle?”
“Bell would have helped,” Parkinson started, but Montague grabbed her arm and hissed, “Shut up!”
“What?” The girl tore her arm away from his grasp.
“I don’t think we should tell him anything,” Montague continued calmly ignoring the girl.
For a beat, Malfoy didn’t say anything. “I’m one of you, aren’t I? You really think I would betray you?”
“I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt even after what I heard about you from my folks.”
“Oh? And what did you hear? That I ran away to France to escape taking the Dark Mark? That my mother is still there in hiding?”
“Close enough,” Montague agreed. “Care to explain, Malfoy?”
“Not really, but we can take it to the Common Room, if you insist.”
For a moment the group stood still and Pucey indicated towards the dungeons. “After you.”
Malfoy didn’t move. “What about Bell?”
The other Slytherin boys exchanged a glance.
Finally, Montague nodded to Pucey and Parkinson. “He needs to be notified. I’ll go.”
“I’m coming with you,” the girl said impulsively.
“Don’t be stupid. We can’t all go tramping about the grounds at this hour. We’ll get caught. You'd better escort Malfoy to the Common Room and wait for me there.”
“Excuse me?” Ginny heard the blond’s fake amused drawl, though his shoulders had gone even more rigid.
“You heard me. Do as I said, Malfoy. You have some explaining to do.”
“Right. Because, you know, once you tell me to go to the Common Room like a good boy and wait for Montague, the Judge, I’ll just roll over and do it.” He nodded. “That makes sense.”
“So let me get this straight,” Montague said, still as a statue. “You refuse the honour of the Dark Mark and joining the Dark Lord, opting to come here, to play in a kiddie league instead. Then you help us to develop a plan to capture a Mudblood for Him and then blow it. And now you refuse to even explain yourself? Why the hell should I trust you?”
“Don’t misunderstand me,” Malfoy said in a flat tone. “I’m willing to discuss the situation at the first opportunity. Just not right at this moment. I’ve got things to do and so do you it seems.”
“Don’t patronize me. And you can postpone your date. This is important!”
“So’s my date. I will be in the Common Room no earlier than at one. You can wait up if you deem it necessary.”
“Fine,” Montague said then. “But this isn’t over, Malfoy. And I’m reporting you to Bell.”
“Be my guest,” Draco answered and in a measured pace turned and started walking away.
For several seconds, Ginny thought that his house mates wouldn’t let him just leave, but they did. Montague didn’t even bat an eye at the turned back and set off – presumably – for the castle’s western rear exit. For a moment, the other two looked lost but then Pucey took the girl by her shoulders and led her towards the dungeons.
Sure that Harry and Ron would follow Montague, she stealthily tiptoed after Malfoy.
Although Malfoy had already disappeared, she more or less knew the way he must have gone. Just in case though, she stopped to listen to his fading steps before every fork. It was the third time she had stopped that for several long seconds she heard absolutely nothing. Where could he have disappeared? Her heart rate took up.
Ginny breathed out, in, out, in, out again, trying to calm herself. For almost four agonising seconds, it was the only sound she heard. Then – a distant clank to her left. It could have been anything, but she was so relieved to hear at least something that impulsively she took the next corner at speed and bumped straight into the blond.
She jumped back and froze.
Malfoy whirled around and jumped backwards, brandishing his wand. “Who’s there?”
He was standing only a few feet from her, his gaze jumping wildly in all directions.
“Look, I know you’ve been following me. If you prefer, I can start casting random stunners.” His voice was steady but his body language screamed extreme tension.
Ginny took a deep breath. “Fine,” she said. “Finite Incantatem.”
Malfoy whirled to face her. “Weasley?”
“Yes.” It took her only a second to come to a decision and develop a plan. Then she took his hand and turned left towards the Great Hall. “Let’s go!”
“What? Where?”
Despite being more than little bewildered, he let himself be led.
“No time for explanations. Just move!”
They ran. Between puffs he tried to pry the truth from her once more, but she thought it best not to waste her breath. Fortunately he soon came to the same conclusion.
They were half way through the main hall, when he grounded to a halt.
“I’m not going to the Headmaster.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Ginny tried to assure him. “Just let me do the talking.”
“Depends on what you’re planning to tell.”
Ginny exhaled. Nothing for it then. “I’m going to tell him about Bell.”
Draco blinked and his voice was flat with tension. “Who’s Bell?”
“You know who. Now, Draco Malfoy, not a completely evil wizard, you have two choices here. Either you come with me and tell Professor Dumbledore what a clever plan you have to save Hermione from being kidnapped and catch Montague consorting with a Death Eater, or you can run away and try and explain your involvement to Aurors later.”
“Or I can hex you unconscious and take you to Bell instead of Granger. I’m sure he won’t mind torturing a blood traitor.”
“No good. Harry and Ron heard everything too. They are tailing Montague as we speak.”
Draco narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying.”
“Sorry, but no. You know up until this moment I was almost sure that you had no real intention to help Montague, but you make it really hard to believe in you. So are you coming to see the Headmaster or not?”
He stared Ginny in the eyes for a moment more and nodded, his expression thunderous. ”Fine. Lead the way.”
The half a minute they spent coming up to the gargoyles, Ginny actually started to doubt her certainty. She had been so sure Draco was going to be happy to have the relatively easy way out of the situation, but judging by his sour, almost angry, expression, he actually might have wanted to join the Death Eaters after all.
“Well, I’m going to save you from yourself kicking and screaming then. Or just looking grumpy,” she mumbled casting a glance at him.
Malfoy took no notice.
They were only at the Headmaster’s for twenty minutes or so, and all the while the Slytherin had acted as if Ginny was somehow forcing him to give his pals up. (Which in a way, she was, but he was supposed to be grateful, not angry.)
“Fine,” Ginny muttered after they stepped out of the gargoyle stairwell. “Fine,” she repeated and turned towards her dorms not even looking at Malfoy.
“Ginny!”
She stopped.
“Look. I just wanted to have a little more time here, okay? I understand why it turned out impossible with Potty and the Weasel on the prowl, but-”
“Time for what?” She turned to him. “Charm the Mudblood? Play both sides?” She shook her head. “I just don’t understand you, Malfoy!”
“Yes, I can see that,” he said with obvious frustration. “The thing is, I have to be clever about it. There is no taking sides for a Malfoy really. I take one side, my mother and I are blood-traitors, I take the other and I get us killed because I simply can’t fill my father’s bloody shoes.” He shook his head, his lips set in a bitter line. “We are dead one way or the other; I just wanted to have a bit more time, okay?” he stopped quietly.
“But we can protect you. Let your mother come to Hogwarts too-“
“There’re too many spies here, even a first-year could ruin us. No, I’d have liked to take my chances in the muddy waters of the middle ground for as long as possible. And for that I need your help. And...” He sighed. “Your friends too, I reckon. Do you think they would? If we can isolate Montague, the Slytherins won’t know we were over-heard.”
Ginny thought only a minute. “Yes, okay. I think we can do that if we talk to the Order. As long as you really are with us, we can play make-believe for a little longer.”
Draco exhaled. “Thank you.”
The last week of May, Friday afternoon
“Are you following me?”
Draco was standing a few feet from her near the castle’s southern wall. He was tense, unmoving, probably anxious. It made Ginny feel really good. He’d been giving her these looks that up until recently she had no idea how to interpret. But now it was time to stop guessing.
Ginny shrugged and smiled. “Busted.”
“Why?”
His tone was cautious and for a second, Ginny had no idea what to tell him. It was more than a week since the confession in the Headmaster’s office and the capture of Bell and Montague.
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to try and kidnap anyone tonight,” she said cheekily.
Draco’s posture relaxed. “Or worse still, I might try and charm somebody.”
He raised his eyebrow challengingly and Ginny couldn’t help the goofy grin on her face. The best part was that neither could Draco.
“Right. That’s your real area of expertise if I remember correctly, isn’t it?”
“Quite.” A cautious smirk.
“And how’s it going for you?” A small smile back.
“Well, I can definitely see signs of progress right here.”
“Uhuh. So what’s your next big step?”
A head shake. “No more steps for now, sorry.”
His half-apologetic shrug was a silent 'your turn' if she ever saw one.
Ginny put on her best mask of utter incredulity. “What? Wasn’t it you that proclaimed himself an expert on charming girls?”
Draco sighed. “You’re never going to let me live it down?”
“Nope.”
“Okay,” Draco almost sing-songed grinning, “you asked for it. But that’s my last effort, after that I fully expect you to swoon at my feet.”
Ginny laughed as he stepped closer. She bolted and ran.
Next Monday
Ginny turned around, trying to look angry. It had taken her almost half an hour to find an abandoned corridor mid-week. “Are you following me, you git?”
“Oh, come on, Weasley, you prat!” Draco exclaimed with mock annoyance. “You were supposed to be a big wet pile of swoon at my feet by now! What’s the problem? Flowers not to your liking?”
“They were made of paper! Come on, Malfoy, is that the best you can do? And please, do explain, how the hell could you think that putting anything under my pillow would be appropriate?”
Draco smirked. “I had an inkling you’d like it.”
“I didn’t say I liked it!”
“What are you smiling about like an awe-struck bint then?”
“I’m laughing at your puppy-eyed mug, you nitwit.”
Draco laughed. “All right, you prat. Enough. Are you going to go out with me or not?”
Ginny grinned, Draco grinned back and they ran. It wasn't the last time.
Second week of May, Thursday
It was one thing to find Malfoy alone somewhere, but to find him alone and approach him publicly was another ball of wax entirely. Still. She braced herself.
“Malfoy,” she said to his back before she could chicken out.
The boy’s shoulders stiffened and for a moment Ginny felt guilty. Did he really care that much about her opinion of him? Or was it that he didn’t want to have anything to do with her any more? Because Draco didn’t strike her as someone who’d care what others thought of him, let alone a Weasley.
Slowly, the boy turned around. He had a book in his hand and a backpack over the shoulder – standard apparel for a short visit to the library. Carefully, he gave her a once over (no book) but said nothing. In a moment, he pointed to the library exit.
“What?”
“Not here,” he pressed through his teeth almost voicelessly, grabber her elbow and tried to steer her toward the library doors.
“Hey! I don’t appreciate being manhandled, thank you very much,” she exclaimed in a hushed - for some reason - voice.
“Sh,” he started to say just as Madam Pince’s high-pitched voice stopped them.
“Just where are you going with that book, Mr Malfoy? You haven’t checked it out!”
Draco groaned.
“Meet you at the Byzantium mural,” he whispered to her and stepped quickly away from her. “I’m sorry, Madam Pince, I’m not going anywhere, here’s the book I’m taking.”
Ginny was just going to demand to know what mural he was talking about when she spotted Parkinson’s and someone else’s heads peeking out from behind a shelf. It was just for a moment, Ginny doubted Malfoy or the librarian had even noticed them.
Busying herself at another shelf, she saw Malfoy checking the book out and purposefully striding out of the room. Ginny tried to look engrossed in a book, but thankfully, Malfoy passed without acknowledging her, looking somewhat angry.
As she’d anticipated (and half-hoped) Parkinson and Pucey (as she now saw the other was) slid quietly out from behind the shelf and followed Draco. Ginny let them pass and calmly put the book back on the shelf, smiled at Madam Pince and steadily walked out of the library.
Just outside the doors, she took an educated guess and ran left. She spotted the two Slytherins round the corner, walking quickly past various groups of students waiting for their class or just going about their business. Ginny could only hope that the pair was still following Draco, because she couldn’t see him anywhere.
She followed them only for one length of a corridor before she saw Draco’s blond head straight ahead disappearing behind another corner. The next moment Pucey and Parkinson were running and Ginny cursed silently as she increased her speed. She had no idea if Malfoy was an idiot trying to lure his enemies into a rarely used area of the castle, or if he was just an idiot with no idea he was being followed. She cast a Muffliato on her feet and hoped they couldn’t hear her clothes rustling, because she didn’t dare spend too much of her magical ability in too narrow a time frame. Who knew; she might need to defend herself soon.
This part of the castle was a maze. The corridors were narrow and curvy; they took two turns left and three right and then left again and Ginny had only a very vague idea of her whereabouts now. She was pretty sure now that Draco was leading the other Slytherins into a trap, because she couldn’t imagine him wandering in this part of the castle for some recreational sightseeing.
At one point, Ginny had started to get a feeling that she was the twat getting herself lost, but then just before turning the next corner, she suddenly heard indistinct voices. Abruptly she stopped, cast (very quietly) a disillusioning charm on herself and reapplied the Muffliato on her feet.
“Your plan’s crap, Parkinson!” she heard Draco’s voice after creeping closer to the corner.
“Yeah? You got a better one?”
“As a matter of fact I do. You go to your dorm and forget about the whole scheme.”
Ginny heard a huff and Pucey drawled, “Yes, exactly, that’s what I’ll tell Bell the next time I see him in Hogsmeade.”
Bell?
“Bell?” Draco sounded shocked. “Bell’s here?”
“What, you think we’re risking our necks for fun here?”
There was a brief silence.
“Alright then,” Draco said after a minute. “I’m in.”
The third week of May, Wednesday
“They are executing their plan – look. Montague, Pucey and Parkinson running somewhere,” Harry’s voice said.
Once more Ginny’s musings were interrupted by secretive whispering, but to be fair – this time it wasn’t an annoyance to her. Ginny had been purposefully sitting under the Transparency Charm evening after evening to be there when Ron and Harry would finally act (whatever it meant this time). She knew them; it was only a matter of time.
Once again the two were hovering over Harry’s precious map, but this time Hermione wasn’t there. She was most probably fed up with all the conspiracy theories.
“Where’s Malfoy?”
“Let me see…” Harry said and Ginny heard the map rustling. “There! What’s he doing at the library again? I really doubt he’s not in with them.”
“Yeah... Come to think of it, he’s spending surprisingly little time with them on the whole.”
“Maybe he’s the brains of the operation.”
“Yeah, like Montague needs a second brain to think up trouble.”
“Yeah, but if it’s an assignment from Voldemort-”
“Shh! Yell his name for everyone to hear, why don’t you? Hey!” Ron suddenly interrupted himself. “Where the hell are they going? If they want to use the Room of Requirement then why head that way?”
“Maybe it’s taken?”
“How would they know that?”
“Maybe they are meeting up with someone?”
“Malfoy?”
“No, they’d have met him in their Common Room, wouldn’t they? Anyway, he’s not even in the vicinity and not moving.”
“Right. They are early?”
“Could be. They are just standing there, looks like.”
“Or sitting.” Ginny could almost hear Ron shrug indifferently.
“Don’t be an- hey!” Harry suddenly whispered urgently. “What if that’s it? What if they are sitting, or squatting or something?”
“You mean like in an ambush?” her brother whispered back equally excited.
“Yeah, but for who?”
“What about-“
“Malfoy!” Harry exclaimed. “Look! What’s he-!”
“Shit!”
“Let’s go!”
Ginny heard a desperate paper rustling and imagined the map twice as crumpled as before. She quickly cancelled her charm and jumped up.
“I’m coming too!”
“Ginny?!” Harry exclaimed just as Ron said rather angrily, “You’ve been spying on us?”
“No! Well, not on purpose!” she lied. “And anyway, what difference does it make? Let’s go!”
She rushed past them, grabbing Harry by his robe sleeve. Unsurprisingly, the boys followed quickly.
“You have been spying on purpose!” Ron whispered half-angrily.
“Prove it!” She would have stuck her tongue out, but running on her tip-toes as quietly as possible she was just too preoccupied to bother. “Where are we going?”
“Gin, you can’t come!” Harry took over the argument. “You know the three of us won’t fit under the cloak!”
“You know I cast a mean Transparency Charm,” she whispered back in a matter of fact tone. “Now tell me what’s happening!”
“But it only works when you’re still!”
“It’ll be fine,” Ron, to Ginny’s surprise, assured his mate.
“I don’t like it,” Harry said, but it was an observation, not an objection. They were too close to their objective to argue any more. “We’re intercepting Malfoy,” he explained. “The git was standing next to Hermione outside the library, and when she started moving he followed her.”
“If I’m right,” Ron interjected, “we’ll catch them somewhere between the umbrella landscapes and the three dog picture.”
“Deer,” Harry grunted.
“What?”
“They’re deer, not dogs.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “And if you’re wrong?”
“Sh! Keep quiet now,” Harry whispered.
They only ran for a short while more before slowing down into a quiet walk. Then the boys chucked the cloak over themselves and Ginny let them move ahead. One junction before the umbrella-picture, she cast the Transparency Charm on herself.
Soon she heard a barely audible “Where are they?” from Ron, a “Sh!” from Harry and then the incantation for the map.
“Crap!” Ron swore.
“What?” Ginny whispered trying to find the boys by the noise and waving around with her arms like a blind person.
“They are not here,” she heard Harry’s frantic voice.
“No shit,” Ginny muttered, finally felt the fabric under her fingers and got under the cloak.
“There! He’s alone! Where’s…” Harry trailed off as they searched for Hermione.
“Look!” Ron pointed. “She’s returning to the dorms.”
“Thank Merlin!” Harry said. “Gin, go back and check if everything’s all right.”
“Why? She’s obviously fine-“
“Just in case. Besides, there’s no need for us all to spy after the Slytherins.”
“Yes, but-“
“Fine!” Ron cut her off. “Just stay behind us and be quiet, for Circe’s sake!“
Ginny blinked. Then jerkily she almost tore herself out of the cloak and cast a Muffliato on her own feet and theirs.
“Gin!” Ron hissed.
“Sh!” she retaliated half-angrily and cast the spell on their cloak too. Then they ran.
Ginny was very worried. She knew without a doubt that the Slytherins had a nefarious plan of some sort, she just had no idea what it was exactly. The other thing was (and yes, fine, maybe she was feeling a bit guilty about that), she hadn’t told her friends about the overheard conversation nor about the involvement of someone named Bell. She wasn’t sure why exactly, but she was sure it wasn’t about some misguided feeling of loyalty to Draco Malfoy. Their friendship was over. Irrevocably. Right. She almost nodded to herself.
Very soon, Ginny bumped into a transparent wall and heard Ron swearing under his breath. Although Ginny couldn’t see the boys at all, Ron’s hand quickly gestured her to the left wall before disappearing under the cloak, so she knew that they were sneaking along it and scurried over to the right one knowing full well that her brother had meant for her to stay behind them.
As they crept she started hearing indistinct voices and, after only a couple of steps, the words became understandable. At hearing Draco’s voice, her heart clenched.
“What the hell are you trying to do?” He seemed to be angry, but still trying to moderate his voice. “Have you lost all your marbles? We were supposed to do it next week! What’s the rush?”
“Shut up, you moron! Somebody will hear,” one of the Slytherin boys hissed. Probably Montague. “I wouldn’t have told you anything at all if I’d known Lucius Malfoy’s son was a bloody coward! Now go scurry back to bed before you ruin it for us.”
“Ruin it?” Malfoy continued in a normal voice. “Are you a total lackwit? Keep to the plan! Do you..."
“Screw the plan! Bell said to move it along, so we’re moving it along!”
“Well good luck to you then, because Granger’s not coming,” Draco – no, Malfoy – went on lazily, his voice full of contempt. “And you should have told me about the change of plans, because thanks to your poor communication skills or lack of trust, your new and improved plan’s down the toilet.”
Being sure that the boys under the cloak had enough time to move out of her way into the open, Ginny stuck her head out from around the corner and froze there. Pucey, Montague and Parkinson were hovering behind a monstrous sculpture while Draco stood boldly in the middle of the corridor. By the tension in his straight posture, though, it was clear that he too was ready for anything.
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Parkinson asked in a half-whisper as if unsure there was a point in keeping quiet any more.
“What I said. She’s not coming because I told her about the plan to capture her.”
“You what?!” cried Pucey straightening himself.
All three moved out from behind the statue and rounded on the blond.
“Why. The hell. Would you do that,” Pucey said very slowly, his voice full of dark menace. Montague and Parkinson stood quietly, the boy’s face thunderous and the girl gaping in shock.
“I didn’t know about the latest instructions, now did I?” the blond said in a tone one would use with an unreasonable toddler. “It’s your own bloody fault! Had you told me about the change it wouldn’t have happened. How the hell was I supposed to know about it?”
“About what? About how to keep your big gob shut?” Pucey countered, barely moving his lips in his rage.
“Obviously I thought that I had some time before the execution of our plan.”
“What difference does it make?” Pucey demanded. “You still blabbed where you had no place to.”
“What difference?” Malfoy sounded surprised. “What difference does it make, you ask me? Well, obviously, I thought that I had time to charm her.”
The three Slytherins were staring at him their faces in various stages of disbelief mixed with incredulity and for a change, Ginny completely shared their feelings.
Malfoy sighed impatiently. “I was going to make her trust me so I could have lured her outside of the castle. Alone. Don’t you think it would have minimised the risks considerably?”
There was a pause, but then even the unflappable Montague exploded. “You were going to make her trust you? In a week?”
Ginny could hear the smirk in Malfoy’s tone. “I know how to handle girls, Montague. I’ve done it before.”
Ginny felt sick.
“Granger?” Disbelief was still tingling Montague’s voice.
“She’s a girl, isn’t she? Perhaps I couldn’t make her sleep with me that quickly, assuming she’s really in love with her boyfriend, but I could probably sway her self-assured opinion about me enough for her to come with me into the woods if I played it right.”
“But she’s a Mudblood!” Pucey said in a tone which implied that he felt a bit sick too.
“Yes, but a female Mudblood,” the blond calmly stated. There was an uncomfortable silence. “Relax, I didn’t name anyone, just told her there was a rumour I’d heard of her being kidnapped. I’m not even sure she bought it entirely, but I don’t think she will be coming through here tonight in any case.” He shook his head. “What did you think would happen, anyway, you'd curse her, roll her into a carpet and carry her out of the castle?”
“Bell would have helped,” Parkinson started, but Montague grabbed her arm and hissed, “Shut up!”
“What?” The girl tore her arm away from his grasp.
“I don’t think we should tell him anything,” Montague continued calmly ignoring the girl.
For a beat, Malfoy didn’t say anything. “I’m one of you, aren’t I? You really think I would betray you?”
“I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt even after what I heard about you from my folks.”
“Oh? And what did you hear? That I ran away to France to escape taking the Dark Mark? That my mother is still there in hiding?”
“Close enough,” Montague agreed. “Care to explain, Malfoy?”
“Not really, but we can take it to the Common Room, if you insist.”
For a moment the group stood still and Pucey indicated towards the dungeons. “After you.”
Malfoy didn’t move. “What about Bell?”
The other Slytherin boys exchanged a glance.
Finally, Montague nodded to Pucey and Parkinson. “He needs to be notified. I’ll go.”
“I’m coming with you,” the girl said impulsively.
“Don’t be stupid. We can’t all go tramping about the grounds at this hour. We’ll get caught. You'd better escort Malfoy to the Common Room and wait for me there.”
“Excuse me?” Ginny heard the blond’s fake amused drawl, though his shoulders had gone even more rigid.
“You heard me. Do as I said, Malfoy. You have some explaining to do.”
“Right. Because, you know, once you tell me to go to the Common Room like a good boy and wait for Montague, the Judge, I’ll just roll over and do it.” He nodded. “That makes sense.”
“So let me get this straight,” Montague said, still as a statue. “You refuse the honour of the Dark Mark and joining the Dark Lord, opting to come here, to play in a kiddie league instead. Then you help us to develop a plan to capture a Mudblood for Him and then blow it. And now you refuse to even explain yourself? Why the hell should I trust you?”
“Don’t misunderstand me,” Malfoy said in a flat tone. “I’m willing to discuss the situation at the first opportunity. Just not right at this moment. I’ve got things to do and so do you it seems.”
“Don’t patronize me. And you can postpone your date. This is important!”
“So’s my date. I will be in the Common Room no earlier than at one. You can wait up if you deem it necessary.”
“Fine,” Montague said then. “But this isn’t over, Malfoy. And I’m reporting you to Bell.”
“Be my guest,” Draco answered and in a measured pace turned and started walking away.
For several seconds, Ginny thought that his house mates wouldn’t let him just leave, but they did. Montague didn’t even bat an eye at the turned back and set off – presumably – for the castle’s western rear exit. For a moment, the other two looked lost but then Pucey took the girl by her shoulders and led her towards the dungeons.
Sure that Harry and Ron would follow Montague, she stealthily tiptoed after Malfoy.
Although Malfoy had already disappeared, she more or less knew the way he must have gone. Just in case though, she stopped to listen to his fading steps before every fork. It was the third time she had stopped that for several long seconds she heard absolutely nothing. Where could he have disappeared? Her heart rate took up.
Ginny breathed out, in, out, in, out again, trying to calm herself. For almost four agonising seconds, it was the only sound she heard. Then – a distant clank to her left. It could have been anything, but she was so relieved to hear at least something that impulsively she took the next corner at speed and bumped straight into the blond.
She jumped back and froze.
Malfoy whirled around and jumped backwards, brandishing his wand. “Who’s there?”
He was standing only a few feet from her, his gaze jumping wildly in all directions.
“Look, I know you’ve been following me. If you prefer, I can start casting random stunners.” His voice was steady but his body language screamed extreme tension.
Ginny took a deep breath. “Fine,” she said. “Finite Incantatem.”
Malfoy whirled to face her. “Weasley?”
“Yes.” It took her only a second to come to a decision and develop a plan. Then she took his hand and turned left towards the Great Hall. “Let’s go!”
“What? Where?”
Despite being more than little bewildered, he let himself be led.
“No time for explanations. Just move!”
They ran. Between puffs he tried to pry the truth from her once more, but she thought it best not to waste her breath. Fortunately he soon came to the same conclusion.
They were half way through the main hall, when he grounded to a halt.
“I’m not going to the Headmaster.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Ginny tried to assure him. “Just let me do the talking.”
“Depends on what you’re planning to tell.”
Ginny exhaled. Nothing for it then. “I’m going to tell him about Bell.”
Draco blinked and his voice was flat with tension. “Who’s Bell?”
“You know who. Now, Draco Malfoy, not a completely evil wizard, you have two choices here. Either you come with me and tell Professor Dumbledore what a clever plan you have to save Hermione from being kidnapped and catch Montague consorting with a Death Eater, or you can run away and try and explain your involvement to Aurors later.”
“Or I can hex you unconscious and take you to Bell instead of Granger. I’m sure he won’t mind torturing a blood traitor.”
“No good. Harry and Ron heard everything too. They are tailing Montague as we speak.”
Draco narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying.”
“Sorry, but no. You know up until this moment I was almost sure that you had no real intention to help Montague, but you make it really hard to believe in you. So are you coming to see the Headmaster or not?”
He stared Ginny in the eyes for a moment more and nodded, his expression thunderous. ”Fine. Lead the way.”
The half a minute they spent coming up to the gargoyles, Ginny actually started to doubt her certainty. She had been so sure Draco was going to be happy to have the relatively easy way out of the situation, but judging by his sour, almost angry, expression, he actually might have wanted to join the Death Eaters after all.
“Well, I’m going to save you from yourself kicking and screaming then. Or just looking grumpy,” she mumbled casting a glance at him.
Malfoy took no notice.
They were only at the Headmaster’s for twenty minutes or so, and all the while the Slytherin had acted as if Ginny was somehow forcing him to give his pals up. (Which in a way, she was, but he was supposed to be grateful, not angry.)
“Fine,” Ginny muttered after they stepped out of the gargoyle stairwell. “Fine,” she repeated and turned towards her dorms not even looking at Malfoy.
“Ginny!”
She stopped.
“Look. I just wanted to have a little more time here, okay? I understand why it turned out impossible with Potty and the Weasel on the prowl, but-”
“Time for what?” She turned to him. “Charm the Mudblood? Play both sides?” She shook her head. “I just don’t understand you, Malfoy!”
“Yes, I can see that,” he said with obvious frustration. “The thing is, I have to be clever about it. There is no taking sides for a Malfoy really. I take one side, my mother and I are blood-traitors, I take the other and I get us killed because I simply can’t fill my father’s bloody shoes.” He shook his head, his lips set in a bitter line. “We are dead one way or the other; I just wanted to have a bit more time, okay?” he stopped quietly.
“But we can protect you. Let your mother come to Hogwarts too-“
“There’re too many spies here, even a first-year could ruin us. No, I’d have liked to take my chances in the muddy waters of the middle ground for as long as possible. And for that I need your help. And...” He sighed. “Your friends too, I reckon. Do you think they would? If we can isolate Montague, the Slytherins won’t know we were over-heard.”
Ginny thought only a minute. “Yes, okay. I think we can do that if we talk to the Order. As long as you really are with us, we can play make-believe for a little longer.”
Draco exhaled. “Thank you.”
The last week of May, Friday afternoon
“Are you following me?”
Draco was standing a few feet from her near the castle’s southern wall. He was tense, unmoving, probably anxious. It made Ginny feel really good. He’d been giving her these looks that up until recently she had no idea how to interpret. But now it was time to stop guessing.
Ginny shrugged and smiled. “Busted.”
“Why?”
His tone was cautious and for a second, Ginny had no idea what to tell him. It was more than a week since the confession in the Headmaster’s office and the capture of Bell and Montague.
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to try and kidnap anyone tonight,” she said cheekily.
Draco’s posture relaxed. “Or worse still, I might try and charm somebody.”
He raised his eyebrow challengingly and Ginny couldn’t help the goofy grin on her face. The best part was that neither could Draco.
“Right. That’s your real area of expertise if I remember correctly, isn’t it?”
“Quite.” A cautious smirk.
“And how’s it going for you?” A small smile back.
“Well, I can definitely see signs of progress right here.”
“Uhuh. So what’s your next big step?”
A head shake. “No more steps for now, sorry.”
His half-apologetic shrug was a silent 'your turn' if she ever saw one.
Ginny put on her best mask of utter incredulity. “What? Wasn’t it you that proclaimed himself an expert on charming girls?”
Draco sighed. “You’re never going to let me live it down?”
“Nope.”
“Okay,” Draco almost sing-songed grinning, “you asked for it. But that’s my last effort, after that I fully expect you to swoon at my feet.”
Ginny laughed as he stepped closer. She bolted and ran.
Next Monday
Ginny turned around, trying to look angry. It had taken her almost half an hour to find an abandoned corridor mid-week. “Are you following me, you git?”
“Oh, come on, Weasley, you prat!” Draco exclaimed with mock annoyance. “You were supposed to be a big wet pile of swoon at my feet by now! What’s the problem? Flowers not to your liking?”
“They were made of paper! Come on, Malfoy, is that the best you can do? And please, do explain, how the hell could you think that putting anything under my pillow would be appropriate?”
Draco smirked. “I had an inkling you’d like it.”
“I didn’t say I liked it!”
“What are you smiling about like an awe-struck bint then?”
“I’m laughing at your puppy-eyed mug, you nitwit.”
Draco laughed. “All right, you prat. Enough. Are you going to go out with me or not?”
Ginny grinned, Draco grinned back and they ran. It wasn't the last time.
Author notes: If you read, thank you. If you are one of those who started reading a year ago, thank you very much! And if you review, I'll hug you! :D
The End.
serinah is the author of 4 other stories.
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