Magical Theory

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or this song by P.O.D.

Alive

Everyday is a new day
I’m thankful for every breath I take
I won’t take it for granted
So I learn from my mistakes
It’s beyond my control, sometimes it’s best to let go
Whatever happens in this lifetime
So I trust in love
You have given me peace of mind

Draco wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't fight it anymore. His father was a Death Eater and it made Draco almost afraid of his father. Lucius Malfoy was a coward and Draco was following his in footsteps. But Draco, even if he liked to tease and bully those weaker than him and pretend he's better than everyone else, he did not want to become a Death Eater himself. No one could make him. Sure, they would try. Voldemort would demand Draco to become like his father and serve him and if he refused, he'd be asking for death. Draco was not going to let Voldemort have the pleasure of killing him. He'd kill himself first before he laid a nasty finger on him. He would not end up like Cedric Diggory, dying the way he had. Maybe Draco would run away but soon someone would find him. He had to kill himself.

'Kill myself,' Draco thought, 'that's what I'd do. It's the only way.'

All he needed was a way to do it. He could hex himself, but it was too easy. He pondered this during dinner. He hoped know one could see what he was thinking. Everyone was eating and looking happy except for him.

'Look at all them,' Draco thought, 'they have no idea.' He left the table early.

"Where are you going?" Crabbe asked.

"To the dungeon for a minute," he replied, "I'll be back."

Draco walked away to the Slytherin dungeon and loaded his pockets with money. He took out a picture of his parents and laid it down on his bed, followed by a small note. It was addressed to no one in particular, perhaps whoever was the unfortunate soul who found it. It read:

To whom it may concern:

I will not be the son of a Death Eater no longer. I will not become a Death Eater either. I would die first.

Draco Malfoy

Draco took a breath and patted his wand. He left Slytherin House then walked down the hall to the great doors, just as Ginny Weasley was walking out of the great hall to go to Gryffindor Tower.

'I wonder where he's going,' she thought. 'Probably up to no good, I'd better follow him.'

Draco looked behind his shoulder and she pressed her back against the wall, hiding next to a suit of armor. Draco walked outside into the cold night. Ginny tiptoed to the doors and waited a moment then stepped out. Draco was headed toward the lake.

'A little late for fishing,' Ginny thought.

Draco climbed a cliff and looked down at the water. It was the perfect way to go. No one would find his body. He only hoped that the merpeople wouldn't try to save him or the giant squid that lived there. Ginny gasped when she realized what he was trying to do.

'He's trying to kill himself!' she thought. She started to wish she hadn't followed him.

Draco pulled out his wand, leaning forward, he pointed his own wand at himself and shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!"

After cursing himself with the Full-Body Bind, Draco fell down to the lake.

Ginny froze. She wasn't sure what to do. She knew what an awful boy he was. He was so cruel to everyone, especially her crush Harry Potter. Maybe she should just walk away and forget what she saw. Maybe Draco deserved to go that way. Then she thought she should go and tell someone to get him out of the lake. But if she were to return with help, it may be too late. She couldn't just walk away. It was true that Draco Malfoy was the sickest, cruelest jerk in school, but he was still a classmate. Someone she went to school with. She'd feel the same if anyone committed suicide. She couldn’t leave and pretend it didn't concern her but she did. She had followed him outside. She had seen him jump. It was already too late. She was already involved.

As a fellow student, she had to take action. Knowing she had no other choice, she ran to the lake, pulling off her robes and shoes so it would be for easier to swim. Wearing just her skirt and shirt, she entered the water and prayed that Draco wasn't already did.

Ginny took a deep breath and dove into the deep where she saw him fall. She couldn’t him and she began to panic. 'No, please!' she prayed, 'I have to find him! Where is he? I can't find him! So help me, I can't find him!'

It was too dark. No way she could find him now. But she couldn't give up. His life was in her hands. She swam to the surface for another quick gasp for air and to encourage herself to move faster.

"Draco, I'll get you out of here!" she vowed, "So help me!" She pulled out her wand and shouted something. Sparks danced on the end of the wand, like a torch or flashlight and she submerged into the water again. Her lit up wand helped a little. She could see better now but still no sign of Draco. He could be sinking to the bottom. Then, when all seemed lost, she found him face down on top what had to be an underwater cave. She swam faster to him and scooped her arm around him. There were a few galleons and other wizard money lying around him.

'He loaded his pockets with that,' she thought, pulling him up to the surface, 'to make him sink.'

She took a deep gasp of air when they came up to the air. She held his head up and tried to keep his head from getting in the water as she sidestroked to the side of the lake.

"Please," she begged, "please don’t die!"

For Ginny, it felt like an eternity until they got to shore. She used the last of her strength to drag him to dry land. She lay him down on his back and leaned over him to check his breathing. She put her ear to his mouth and eyed his chest to see if it was going up and. She didn't feel his breath on her ear and she didn't see his chest move. He already had too much water in his lungs. Now she put her ear to his heart and she could hear a slight, very faint thump. She had to get him to the hospital wing but she was too weak to carry him. She couldn't remember the thing that muggles do. What was it called, C.P.A? Ginny felt helpless. She covered his still body with her robes. Now she had to go and get someone, anyone. Leaving Draco where he lay and not bothering to put her shoes and robes back on, she made haste back to the castle.

I feel so alive for the very first time
I can’t deny you
I feel so alive
I feel so alive for the very first time
And I think I can fly

"Someone get Madam Pomfrey, quick!" Ginny shouted, running into the great hall where some people were still having dinner. Everyone turned to look at the soaking wet girl. Professor Dumbledore and the other professors stood up. Students that were in the halls circled around her.

"Ginny, why are you all wet?" Ron demanded.

"It's Draco Malfoy!" she shrieked, "He tried to drown himself! He's not breathing! Please hurry!"

A girl from Hufflepuff standing next to Ginny dropped her books and ran to get Madam Pomfrey. Pansy confronted Ginny.

"You're lying!" she shouted.

"Would I be lying if I was wet?" Ginny demanded. "I saw him jump! I jumped after him!"

"Where is he?"

"On the shore," she whispered. "I couldn't bring him to the castle."

"I have Madam Pomfrey!" the Hufflepuff student declared.

"Goodness gracious!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, "You're all wet! Did you jump after him?"

"Yes. I'll show you where he is," Ginny mumbled, starting for the doors. "Follow me."

"No, you stay here," Madam Pomfrey, "I won't let you be getting sick too!"

"But--" Ginny protested.

"We can't let any heroes catching cold," Professor Dumbledore said, shocking Ginny. She didn't notice him come walking up.

"Professor," she gasped.

Crabbe, Goyle and a handful of Slytherin students followed Madam Pomfrey outside. Harry and Ron stood next to Ginny and grasped one of her arms.

"Let's get you to the hospital wing," Ron said. "Or at least back to Gryffindor Tower."

"But I'm not the one who--" she began.

"You heard what Dumbledore said," Harry said. "You can catch a cold if you stay in those wet clothes any longer."

"No, I want to be with Draco," Ginny insisted. "I want to find out why he jumped."

Harry and Ron gasped.

Madam Pomfrey burst through the doors with Draco on an invisible stretcher. Crabbe and Goyle and the handful of Gryffindor students were behind her.

"Madam Pomfrey," Ginny said, following her to the hospital wing, "Can I come with you?"

"This boy needs--"

"I can wait," Ginny said, "in the hospital wing."

"She saved his life," Professor Dumbledore reminded. "I think she deserves to be with him, Poppy."

"All right then," Madam Pomfrey said, "you will need some attention too. But you all will have to go back to your houses."

"If she can be with Draco then I can too!" Pansy yelled.

"Back to your houses, all of you!" Professor McGonagall snapped.

Everyone scattered to his or her houses and Ginny followed Madam Pomfrey to the hospital wing. Ginny, wrapped in a blanket and holding a tea cup, sat waiting with Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore as Madam Pomfrey worked on getting the water out of Draco's lungs.

"What were you doing outside, Miss Weasley?" McGonagall asked.

"I followed Draco," she replied, "outside. I thought he was up to something. I had no idea he was trying to kill himself."

"Nothing like this had happened here," Professor Dumbledore said, amazed. "You deserve to be rewarded, young lady."

"No, Professor," Ginny said, blushing a little, "I don't want--"

"You should feel proud of yourself," he insisted. "You may have saved Mr. Malfoy's life. If it weren't for you I may have lost a student. I know that Draco Malfoy isn't everyone's favorite person and he's not the best student at Hogwarts, but he is still a student to me and I care for all of my students."

Ginny took the last drop of her tea and nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

"I will ask Hermione Granger to bring you some dry clothes," McGonagall said, "I think it may be wise that you stay here so Madam Pomfrey may keep an eye on you."

"I'm fine, Professor," Ginny said, then she sneezed.

Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore left the hospital wing. Ginny watched Madam Pomfrey work on Draco.

'He has to live,' she thought. 'I have questions for him.'

She heard a breath coming from Draco's bed and she hurried to him.

"He's all right?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey replied. "He's breathing now but I'm afraid he hit his head in the fall. He will need rest. You should get some too."

"But I need to talk to Draco," Ginny said.

"You will when he's awake," Madam Pomfrey said. "I will get something for your cold."

"I only sneezed once," Ginny told her.

When Madam Pomfrey bustled to the other side of the hospital wing to search in her cupboard, Ron entered the room.

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed in a whisper.

"I want to know why you saved him," Ron whispered back. "There are other ways to make Harry jealous."

"That's not why I saved him," Ginny muttered.

"Then why?" Ron asked, "You could've just let him drown."

"Ron, that's a terrible thing to think!" Ginny nearly shouted. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone, even Malfoy. I had to save him, it was the right thing to do!"

"What are you doing in here?" Madam Pomfrey demanded, "I have two sick patients here. Leave! Shoo!"

"I'm not letting my sister stay here with, with--him!" Ron back talked.

"Ron, I'm fine," Ginny insisted. "I'll stay here tonight."

As Ron walked out, he nearly collided with Hermione who had clothes in her arms. "Professo rMcGonagall told me to get you some dry clothes." She stated. "Your shoes and robes are back at the tower."

"Yes, thanks, Hermione."

"Why'd you do it?" Hermione asked.

Ginny groaned, "Hermione, I know if it was you who saw Draco jump you'd let him fall to his death because he hates people like you, but I had to save Draco. It was the right thing to do. It's not like I'm in love with him or anything. What, are you trying to make me regret it now?"

"I was only wondering," Hermione said.

"Listen, I'm tired."

"Yes, you can visit her tomorrow afternoon," Madam Pomfrey said. "Go now."

"All right," Hermione sighed and left the hospital wing.

"I have a bed ready for you, dear," Madam Pomfrey said softly. "This way."

The empty bed was right across from Malfoy's. Ginny pulled the curtain around her bed and took off her wet skirt and shirt then the dry nightgown Hermione had brought her. She opened her curtain again and looked for Madam Pomfrey. She had gone into another room somewhere. Ginny walked over to Draco's beside and slightly shook his arm.

"Draco," she said softly. "Wake up."

He groaned and blinked. He didn't open his eyes. She examined his head. She didn't recall a head injury when she had saved him. She was too worried about him drowning.

"Please, wake up," she coaxed.

Draco slowly opened his eyes and focused on Ginny. "Am I dead?"

"No," she replied. "I saved you. I have the wet hair to prove it."

"But why?" he asked groggily.

"I had to," she responded. "I had no choice, Draco."

Draco opened his mouth to say something else but he fell into a deep slumber again. Ginny went to her bed and after some time, she fell asleep. She didn't understand why, but she felt kind of awkward. She had just saved a classmate. She did a heroic deed, so why did she feel the way she did?

Sunshine upon my face
A new song for me to sing
Tell the world how I feel inside
Even though it might cost me everything
Now that I know this, so beyond, I can’t hold this
I can never turn my back away
Now that I’ve seen you
I can never look away

Ginny woke up and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. She glanced to the wet clothes in the floor. She had a headache and still had the sniffles and that funny awkward feeling, but other than that, she was all right. She stood up and picked up her clothes in her arms. She wanted to talk to Draco again but decided to go get dressed and possibly eat something. Hoping that no one noticed her, she walked to the Gryffindor common room and to the girls' dormitory. Hermione and the others were waking up.

"Ginny, I thought you'd still be in the hospital wing," Hermione said.

"How do you feel?" Lavender asked.

"I'm all right," Ginny told them. "Just came up to get dressed and eat something then I'll go back to the hospital wing."

"I thought you just said you felt fine," Lavender said, confused.

"I do," Ginny insisted, pulling a white shirt over her head. "I need to see Draco." She put a pink jumper dress over it. Before they asked any more questions, Ginny left for some breakfast.

Ginny put some eggs and bacon on her plate and shoveled them in her mouth, washed it down with some orange juice and loaded some food on a clean plate. Ron noticed this.

"Hungry?" he questioned.

"It's not for me," she told him. "It's for Draco."

"What?"

"He'll want some breakfast too," she said bluntly. After putting bacon, eggs and toast on a new plate, she grabbed a glass of orange juice and walked to the Hospital Wing. "Madam Pomfrey, I brought Draco some breakfast. May I feed it to him?"

Madam Pomfrey scowled, "you should have stayed in bed."

"But I feel fine," she insisted.

"Very well," Madam Pomfrey sighed, "I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore. If you need me--"

"Thanks, Madam Pomfrey."

Madam Pomfrey smiled then left.

Ginny sat down in a chair and pulled it close to Draco's bed. He smelt the aroma and it made him stir. He didn't expect Ginny to be there with a plate of food for him.

"I brought you some breakfast," she said simply, stabbing some eggs with a fork. "I don't think you're strong enough to serve yourself so I'll serve you."

"You don't have to do that," he grunted, "I can feed myself. If I wanted any, that is."

"You need your strength," she told him. "I have questions for you but I'll ask them later. Right now I want you to eat, please."

She held the fork in front of his mouth and he kept it closed.

"Draco Malfoy, I'm not leaving until you eat this and I get my answers," she muttered.

He groaned and opened his mouth. He chewed and swallowed and she fed him another forkful of eggs. Then she put it on the nightstand, picked up the orange juice and helped him sit up to drink it. Draco finished everything in about six minutes.

After she fed him his breakfast, Draco inquired, "Why are you doing this?"

"Hmm?"

"Feeding me breakfast after going after me," he said. "This doesn't concern you."

"Yes it does, Draco," she said. "I saw you jump. Your pockets were heavy with money. You performed the body-bind curse on yourself."

"Why didn't you just let me drown?"

"I was already involved," she told him. "I had to go in after you. I don't understand why you did it. You have everything anyone could want. Money, a big home--why would you throw that all away?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"So make me understand." She commanded. "Tell me what happened to make you feel you had no other way out."

"Oh, do you think you can help?" he demanded.

"Maybe," she said, "if you told me."

Now that I know you (I could never turn my back away)
Now that I see you (I could never look away)
Now that I know you (I could never turn my back away)
Now that I see you (I believe no matter what they say)

He didn't respond.

"Draco, I saved your life," she reminded. "I went in after you. I pulled you to shore and I got help. I nearly got sick and I had to stay here overnight myself. I'm in too deep to leave now. Please, tell me."

"You really want to know?"

"Well, yes."

"My father's a death eater."

"Is this true?"

"Yes. I left a note in my house."

"That's the reason why you tried to kill yourself?" She demanded, unable to understand, "for a mistake your father made? It's not your fault!"

"They'd try to make me into one of them."

"Who?"

"The other death eaters," he said, "and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They'd turn me into one of them or kill me. I knew I would be unable to fight them, so I tried to kill myself before they would get a chance. I wouldn't let them turn me into something I'm not. I will not give them the satisfaction. Never."

"Killing yourself wouldn't stop them."

"Sure it would."

"That'd be something they want."

"Maybe, but it's better than serving him."

"You have to fight them," she said. "And stand for what you believe in."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because--I'm too afraid." He whispered. "I'm better off dead."

"You coward!" she shouted, standing up so fast that it pushed her chair back. "I followed you outside. I saw you jump. I could have just let you drown, but I didn't!" As she yelled at Draco, she had tears streaming down her cheeks. "I went in after you and even if I had trouble finding you, I wouldn’t' stop until I found you! I saved your life, Draco Malfoy and now--now you're making me regret it! Go ahead and jump again, and see if anyone saves you!" She turned to leave but she felt his hand around her wrist.

"Wait," he muttered. "Don't go."

I feel so alive for the very first time
I can’t deny you
I feel so alive
I feel so alive for the very first time
And I think I can fly

"What?" she asked, turning around.

He pulled on her hand and forced himself to sit up. "You didn't have to save me."

"But I did."

"I knew other way out," he mumbled. A tear formed in his eye and now fell down his cheek as another started to form in the other. "I didn't know what to do. I really should thank you, for saving my life. My parents will pay you anything. We'll give your family a new home or---"

"I don't want your money, Draco."

"Please--" he said. "You saved my life. I know you hate me."

"I don't hate you, Draco."

"You don't?"

"No," she said. "I know everyone in the whole school does, but I don't. I probably used to, but...I don't anymore."

"Why?"

"I-I'm not sure." She sighed, glancing down. "I guess these kinds of things can change a person."

"Thank you for saving me," he told her. "There has to be a way for me to repay you."

"You don't need to repay me."

"But I want to. Ask me anything. I'll never be mean to you or your brother again. I'll give you enough money to buy the dress you've always wanted but never had enough money to get. Anything."

"Well, there is one thing."

"Name it."

"Promise me that you'll never try to kill yourself again," she said. "All right?"

"I promise."

"You mean it?" she asked.

"I mean it."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You'd better not be lying to me."

"I'm not lying," Draco said, for once sounding sincere.

Her lips pulled back into a smile. "I'm glad."

For a moment or two, they just looked at each other. Draco still had his hand around her wrist. Ginny felt highly awkward now. Her instincts told her to leave but she stood still. 'Your heart belongs to Harry, for goodness sake!' she told herself.

Draco moved forward. Ginny blinked in surprise when she felt his lips touch hers ever so gently. Their lips had only met and then there was an angry voice.

"Draco, get your hands off my sister!" Ron yelled.

"Ron!" she gasped. "It's not what you think!"

Ron grabbed Ginny by the arm and pulled her away, "you touch her again, Malfoy and I'll put you in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the year!"

"I was only--" he began.

"He was just thanking me!" Ginny shouted.

"What?" Ron mumbled.

"Thanking me for saving his life," Ginny explained. "He made me a promise that he wouldn't try killing himself again."

"Oh, well...all right." He tugged on her arm. "Hurry, there's an assembly in the great hall. Dumbledore wants to give you a medal."

"A what?"

Ron was right. When Ginny entered the great hall, a loud applause filled the room. Ginny blushed and walked to the front. Professor Dumbledore dropped his hand on her arm and a presented a gold medal.

"Never in all my years have I seen such heroism," Dumbledore began. "This young lady was courageous enough to put the nonsense and differences between Gryffindor and Slytherin House behind her and save a student from Slytherin. For your courage and selflessness, Miss Weasley I present to you this medal and to your house, 100 points! May we all learn from your great act of courage!"

"Professor--" she began but he had already placed the medal over her head. She studied the gold medal. It was her saving Draco. It wasn't just an ordinary medal, it even had her face on it and on the back it read: To Ginny Weasley.

Ginny nearly cried. She never felt so happy and as for Draco, hearing the applause from all the way from the hospital wing, never felt so alive.

I feel so alive for the very first time
I can’t deny you
I feel so alive
I feel so alive for the very first time
And I think I can fly

* * *

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.