Title: To Live Forever
Author: Wyld Rose
Rating: Overall, R (Graphic content, some bad language, adult situations.)
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters, places, spells, names, etc. belong to JK Rowling. I only claim the plot and some miscellaneous made up characters. In this first chapter, I give credit to Jake for writing some of the descriptions of Draco.
Chapter 1- Poetry and Dreams
As the rest of the school flocked to the Great Hall for dinner, Ginny wandered to her private nook. This would be the easiest time for her to make it there without risking getting caught by Filch if she went later at night. Her ‘nook’ was an unused study in an abandoned hallway just off of the winding stairwell that led to the Slytherin common room. The only fear Ginny had about hiding out in this place was that Slytherin students had to use the stairwell to get from their common room to the main hall above. Often she would ‘borrow’ Harry’s invisibility cloak or wear her hooded casual robes so that she would not be recognized as a Gryffindor. As she walked down the hallway, the soft echo of her footsteps was presumably loud in the eerie silence. Pressing carefully against a dark wooden door with ancient runes and other symbols carved gracefully over its surface, she entered the study. Carpet laden with dust and walls devoid of pictures gave the room a bland sense of peace away from the racket in the Great Hall. After lighting two sage-scented candles with her wand, she sat and unrolled a sheaf of parchment.
Draco ascended the stairs in an unhurried fashion, tucking a few rogue strands of silvery blond hair behind his ear. He had forgotten his comb, but was not quite vain enough to fetch it. Just as he reached the second floor and rounded the winding banister to ascend to the third floor he paused. Is that...sage? He could have sworn he smelled it. Glancing over his shoulder at the dark hallway behind him, he listened intently. Just barely audible, a quill scratching on parchment was heard coming from the darkness. He was sure that the hallway had been barred before, with as many times as he passed through this stairwell. Perhaps Filch had unbarred the hallway to search for students skipping class. Something told him that it wasn’t, however, and curiosity got the better of him. He decided to venture down this otherwise ignored hallway.
Draco was extremely good at appearing aloof, even when he was deeply intrigued. With his typical casual gait, he meandered down the hall, peering into each room with detached interest. The scratching grew louder, and he was able to follow it, without appearing too fascinated, to a room with a glow seeping from beneath the door. He was sure his uniform dress shoes made a racket as he approached the suspected door, and it was then that he realized the scratching had stopped. Unmoving and silent as a serpent, he waited patiently for the scratching to begin once more. Ahh...there it is. He pushed open the door, which knocked something over in its wake. The glow grew dimmer and he heard a gasp from within.
Ginny, startled out of her wits, snatched up the parchment on which she was pouring out her heart in ink. The sudden clamor made the second candle expire, and there she was in darkness, an unknown intruder creeping through the door. The tall shadow glided in diffidently and pushed the door closed.
Draco was amused beyond comprehension, however he was sure not to express it. A Gryffindor hiding out in a forbidden hallway, and not just any Gryffindor—a Weasley! He decided that this was well worth the diversion from his journey to the Great Hall. The moonlight crept through high windows on the back wall, illuminating the room in a fae light.
As Ginny’s eyes adjusted to the sudden absence of light, she held the parchment tightly at her chest and chewed on her lower lip nervously. Not...him. Fiery waves poured over her shoulders and down her back, and few strands were disturbed from her sudden motion, falling in her face to tickle her chin. Faded hand-me-down robes were bunched around her legs, threatening to trip her if she were to stand up.
"Go along now. I’ll not have you making fun of me. Just...please don’t tell anyone I’m here," Ginny stammered.
Amusing. Draco chided her request coolly, a mere tch tch.
"What are you doing here?" Ginny responded to his scolding ‘tch’ with a question.
With another tch, as though full of disdain, he swept into the room, pale skin eerily illuminated by the moonglow. He ignored her question, eyeing instead the clutch of papers she pinioned so tightly to her chest. An index finger rose, pointing slightly at her precious papers.
"What are those?" Draco’s devious British drawl made Ginny shiver. He stretched sinuously in a rather feline fashion, long limbs unfurling and then turning back in as he inched his way closer to her. Ginny, still on the floor, glared up at him as she moved the parchment behind her back.
"Nothing...Just my feelings. Nothing you have ever seemed to care about." Ginny tried very hard to sound assertive, yet failed miserably as her typical soft, timid voice spoke the words.
Despite the misfortune of being a Weasley, Ginny was definitely not hard on the eyes, Draco thought. There was much more to her than the lot of spurious Slytherin femmes. Sardonic facade slid into place like a shield, seemingly surrounding his persona with an aura of cool detachment. Do not care.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ron Weasley did not observe the absence of his younger sister at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. He was, after all, too wrapped up in watching Hermione talk. Yes, watching. She was blabbering on about the injustice of Snape’s habit of hacking away points from Gryffindor for no apparent reason. Harry had asked Hermione for a smidgen of her ink, for he had run out in the middle of Potions class. Snape expressed his unwarranted anger by putting Harry on the spot and taking twenty-five points from the Gryffindor house.
"You know, when you’re angry, your face twists up so. It kind of turns me on." Ron interrupted with one of his peculiar compliments. Hermione flushed and let go of his hand.
"Oh! You are ever relentless. You shouldn’t say things like that in front of all these people." Hermione scolded him as Ron made a noise of protest when his hand was released.
"Sorry, I wasn’t aware it was against the rules to show affection in the Great Hall." Ron responded with icy sarcasm. Hermione offered him a slightly bruised expression just as Harry’s voice joined the conversation.
"I had a dream last night," Harry paused after saying this, making sure he had Ron and Hermione’s undivided attention. Ron glanced over to Harry, his hand sneaking back over to wedge between Hermione’s hand and the table. A furtive smile threatened to tug at the corners of her mouth, but she quickly hid it and turned her gaze to Harry. Harry cleared his throat and began once more, "I had a dream last night...Hogwarts was deserted, a ghost of it’s former self. It wasn’t exactly in ruin, but it looked like it would get there soon...I was standing on a balcony in one of the upper floors. The overwhelming sense of being completely alone washed over me. No one was on the grounds...no one was in Hogsmeade...it was completely desolate. It was sunny outside, but it was as if the whole world was covered in a sallow haze..." his voice trailed off with the haunting memory of his dream. Ron and Hermione were staring at him as if he had just sprouted two heads.
"Did your scar hurt?" Ron asked; remembering when Harry dreamed about Voldemort his scar would burn. Hermione cleared her throat to interrupt Harry as he was just about to answer Ron’s question.
"That is very odd indeed...but it’s just a dream. Let’s not get freaked out," Hermione tried to reason with them. She stood and gave Ron’s hand a slight squeeze, "I have some homework I need to get done. Ron, will you meet me at the Library when you’re done?"
"Yeah..." Ron muttered, still staring at Harry. Hermione left in a rush, Hogwarts uniform billowing behind her. Ron blinked then stared down at his food, poking the slice of ham thoughtfully. Harry’s eyebrows met in slight bewilderment. He had only told them about a dream of his, and they had acted as if he informed them that Voldemort was going to attack the school this evening.
"I wasn’t quite done..." Harry murmured to himself, turning back to his plate. Ron speared the ham with his fork and chewed for a few moments, eyes turned to the high ceiling of the Great Hall. The moon had just gone behind a cottony cloud on the mystical ceiling, shadowing the Gryffindor table.
"I know." Ron responded at last, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. Harry didn’t realize what he said at first, and continued staring down at his untouched plate. Then it dawned on him.
"You know?" Harry asked.
"Don’t go saying this around ‘Mione. She’ll think we’re loony," Ron’s voice was much lower now, barely audible, "I think I had the same dream as you..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco mused to himself about Ginny’s sacred parchment. A love poem, or some other rubbish. He was willing to bet a thousand galleons that they contained overly florid text scripting across the ever so slightly beiged parchment. For the moment, he left it alone, content to bother her in great depth about it later, "You know, this area is strictly forbidden to students. It would pain me greatly to have to turn you in...but I know better." Draco knew that if he mentioned he stepped foot in this area, even if it were to reveal that a Gryffindor had been hiding out here, he would most likely face consequences as severe as Ginny could. Ginny’s eyes followed Draco as he moved closer to her. Circling her like a wolf circles his prey. His pale skin made a stark contrast against the sleek blackness of his robes, which seemed to melt into the shadows that surrounded them. Liquid steel eyes drank her in, and Draco’s lips curled in a mischievous smile, "You know, Little Weasley, I think I will give you the benefit of keeping your precious secret safe."
Ginny was unsure if she should feel relieved, skeptical, or fearful. The cocktail of emotions made her dizzy, and she shifted uncomfortably on her knees. As her eyes caught his in an eerily mesmerizing gaze, she felt as if he was lulling her into an intoxicated stupor. Such a snake he is. So...charming. Fiery red tresses were tossed about her shoulders as she shook her head to tear her eyes from him.
"Please leave..." Ginny’s pleading voice broke the silence. Draco stood over her, tall and lithe, platinum strands of slicked-back hair gleaming subtly in the moonlight. He looks awfully vampiric... Ginny tried not to look up at him. He eyed her papers once again, now splayed out on the floor behind her willowy silhouette, and swept one up with stealthy ease.
"Very well, Little Weasley." Liquid steel drank her in once more as Draco’s eyes swept over her, resting briefly at the faintly glinting pendant that hung from a crude chain at her neck. What a pity, wearing pewter jewelry. Something other than maliciousness stirred deep in the hollow of his spirit. He followed the soft curve of her neck to the ethereal shadows that were cast across her face. Definitely a lot more to this one...With that last thought, he turned on his heel and exited just as heedlessly as he had entered.
Alone within the shadows, her cherished poem in the clutches of one devious Malfoy, Ginny stared after him wearily. A creeping realization swept over her back as her eyes darted around the desolate room. A dusty escritoire rested chairless to her left, a moldy forest green couch was pushed against the window wall, and an ornate wooden framed mirror was hung crooked on the wall opposite of the escritoire. She became very curious about what could be found in the drawers of the escritoire. However, curiosity was sideswiped by an all together foreboding sensation. She shouldn’t be here. It had nothing to do with this hallway being restricted, however, and Ginny was sure of it. Deciding it would be best if she left, she reached out to gather her belongings, and once they were gathered, she stood unsteadily, smoothing out her robes.
She had her secret trusted to Malfoy...
Just as she was passing through the threshold of the room to the hallway, she heard something. Voices. They were barely a whisper, traveling to this realm as if from some alternate reality. Ginny was held by the voices only momentarily before she hurried out of the forbidden hallway and to the stairwell that lead to the main hallway above, scared nearly out of her wits.
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Draco and Ginny belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros and various other corporations. They are being used here without permission and/or affiliation with the above. None of the authors listed here make any profit from these stories.