I do not own the characters; they belong to the brilliant JK. I’m only taking them for a little spin around the block. I promise not to harm them (ok, maybe I’ll harm them a little bit, but only for drama’s sake!), so please do not send any lawyers after me.
Friends in Low Places
By Nola Ryan
After the Chamber
As the door to McGonagall’s office closed behind them, Ginny broke into a fresh wave of tears. Mrs. Weasley, who already had an arm around Ginny’s shoulders, pulled her into a hug, but Ginny pushed her away.
“Don’t,” Ginny pleaded. “I’m dirty.”
“I don’t care,” Mrs. Weasley declared fiercely, pulling Ginny close to her again.
Ginny started shaking as her mother held her tightly. “Mum, I’m…I’m…”
“Shh, don’t talk,” Mrs. Weasley soothed. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Mummy’s here, and Daddy, and we’re going to keep you safe.”
“Safe,” Ginny murmured. “Safe.”
She slumped in her mother’s arms, unconscious. Mrs. Weasley almost fell over from the sudden dead weight, and Mr. Weasley caught both of them before they fell. He scooped
Ginny into his arms.
“Let’s get her to the hospital wing,” he suggested as he started down the hall quickly.
“What’s wrong with her?” Mrs. Weasley cried. “What did he do to her?”
“She’s exhausted, Molly,” Mr. Weasley said gently. “She’s been through quite an ordeal, and it’s all catching up with her.”
“What if it’s more than that?” worried Mrs. Weasley. “Remember what Lily warned us about; that the dark magic she used to save Ginny would always leave her vulnerable to dark influences? You-Know-Who could have put all kinds of spells on her.”
“We’ll have Poppy check her carefully, but I think any spells that might have been done on her were destroyed when Harry destroyed the diary,” Mr. Weasley theorized.
“If he hadn’t found Ginny when he did…” Mrs. Weasley stopped, shuddering.
“Don’t think about that, Molly,” Mrs. Weasley instructed. “Harry did find her, and he and Ron and Ginny are all fine.”
“They’re safe, but I don’t know if they’re all fine,” Mrs. Weasley commented, taking Ginny’s hand. “How could this happen, Arthur? I thought this was the one place they would all be safe, no matter what was going on in the world outside of here.”
“Lucius Malfoy,” Mr. Weasley muttered. “He was the one who had Dumbledore suspended as Headmaster, and he certainly would be the sort to have something like that diary in his possession.”
They reached the hospital wing. The room was abuzz with activity as Mr. Weasley carried Ginny through the door. Snape sat at Madame Pomfrey’s desk, a small cauldron in front of him. He was spooning the contents of it into goblets, which Madame Pomfrey was using to administer the Mandrake potion to her petrified patients.
Snape looked up in surprise when the Weasleys entered. “You found her?” he questioned, obviously stunned. “And she’s alive?”
“Harry and Ron found her, and she’s fine,” declared Mrs. Weasley curtly.
Madame Pomfrey came running over. “This is the girl from the Chamber?” she asked. Mr. Weasley nodded. “Put her over here.”
She led them to a bed with curtains already set up around it. Madame Pomfrey looked Ginny over as Mr. Weasley laid her down on the bed.
“She’s not petrified,” she noticed.
“No, just unconscious,” Mr. Weasley told her. “She fainted on our way here from McGonagall’s office.”
Madame Pomfrey checked Ginny’s pulse. “A little fast, but nice and strong,” she noted. “Give me one minute to finish administering this Mandrake draft, and then I will examine her more closely. Could you please get her robes off while I’m gone?”
She bustled off as Mrs. Weasley started to unbutton Ginny’s robes, spreading dirt and slime and other things Mrs. Weasley did not want to identify onto the crisp white sheets. “She’s going to need a soak in a tub for a week to get all this muck off of her,” Mrs. Weasley commented as she pulled the tattered robe off Ginny.
Ginny’s wand fell out of her pocket with a clatter that made both her parents jump. Mr. Weasley picked it up and looked at the wand thoughtfully. “We could try Prior Incantato to find out what sort of spells she’s been forced to cast,” he suggested.
Mrs. Weasley shook her head. “I don’t want to know. If Ginny can’t remember them, they should stay forgotten.”
Mr. Weasley nodded his agreement distractedly as he continued to study the wand. “Is this yew?”
Mrs. Weasley nodded. “Yew and unicorn hair. We had quite a time finding a match for her,” Mrs. Weasley remembered. “Mr. Ollivander said Ginny was one of the most difficult customers he ever had. He figured she would have a unicorn hair core, as the boys all do, but we tried almost every unicorn hair wand in the store before she finally found a match with this one.”
“It is quite a powerful wand for a little girl,” Mr. Weasley commented.
Madame Pomfrey interrupted, hurrying back to Ginny’s bedside. “I’m very sorry,” she apologized. She looked more closely at the Weasleys, recognition dawning. “Oh, Arthur, Molly, I didn’t even realize it was you. This is your daughter?”
Mrs. Weasley nodded. “She didn’t seem very hurt after she came out of the Chamber, only shaken up,” she told Madame Pomfrey. “But we don’t know what happened to her down there.”
“Can you please give me a few minutes to examine her?” Madame Pomfrey requested. “You can wait right outside the curtain.”
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley reluctantly stepped away from Ginny’s bedside. Mrs. Weasley looked around at the other patients in the ward, who were just starting to awaken from their petrified states. She spotted Hermione and worriedly went over to her bed.
Hermione was looking around in confusion. “Mrs. Weasley?” she asked uncertainly.
Mrs. Weasley nodded as she stroked Hermione’s hair. “How are you feeling, dear?”
“What are you doing here?” Hermione questioned in a panic, struggling to sit up. “Ron?”
“Ron’s fine,” Mrs. Weasley assured her.
“Harry?”
“He’s fine, too.”
“Something’s wrong,” Hermione insisted. “You wouldn’t be here if something wasn’t wrong.”
“Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets,” Mrs. Weasley reluctantly revealed.
Hermione gasped. “She’s not…”
“Harry and Ron got her out,” Mrs. Weasley told her.
“They found it then? The Chamber of Secrets?” Hermione asked excitedly. “They figured out how to get in?”
“Yes, they figured it out. And just in time, too,” Mrs. Weasley informed her.
“Ginny’s okay then?” Hermione questioned worriedly.
“Madame Pomfrey is looking her over now, but I don’t think she was hurt too badly,” Mrs. Weasley said, looking anxiously in Ginny’s direction.
There was suddenly a scream from Ginny’s bed. Mrs. Weasley jumped up. “Excuse me, Hermione dear.”
She hurried back over to the curtain, where both Mr. Weasley and Madam Pomfrey were trying to calm down a hysterical Ginny.
“No! Let me go! Let me go!” Ginny was screaming as they tried to hold her down.
“Let her go,” Mrs. Weasley commanded.
“But, Molly, she’s hysterical,” Arthur protested.
“You’re not going to calm her down fighting her like that,” chastised Mrs. Weasley.
Madame Pomfrey and Mr. Weasley reluctantly let go of Ginny. Rather than settle down, Ginny leapt from the bed immediately, but Mrs. Weasley stopped her by putting an arm around her. “Where are you going, honey?” she asked soothingly.
“I have to get back to Tom,” Ginny declared anxiously. “He’s calling me, I have to get back and help him. His plan can’t work without me.”
Ginny broke free of her mother’s grasp and ran for the door. It opened before Ginny reached it and Ron came through, pushing Lockhart in front of him. “In here, you git,” Ron instructed.
Ginny tried to push past them, but Ron caught her arm. “Whoa, Gin, where are you flying to?”
Ginny didn’t even seem to recognize him as she struggled to break free of his grasp. “Get off of me,” she screeched.
Ron let go of her, startled by her outburst.
“Ron, don’t let her out!” Mr. Weasley called.
Ron quickly ran after Ginny, catching her around the waist and carrying her back into the hospital ward. Ginny kicked and screamed in protest. Ron put her down just inside the door, but grabbed her by the shoulders firmly so she couldn’t run. “Ginny, look at me,” he commanded.
Ginny only fought him harder. Ron shook her by the shoulders. “Look at me!”
“Ron, stop!” Mrs. Weasley cried as Ginny shook her head furiously and closed her eyes.
Ron ignored his mother and pulled Ginny into a tight hug.
“It’s okay, Ginger Snap,” he murmured gently as Ginny continued to fight him. “All the bad things are gone, Ronnie took care of them. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Ginny slowly started to relax against him as he continued to murmur reassurances to her.
“That’s better,” Ron told her when she’d finally quieted down, kissing the top of her head. Ginny clutched his robes tightly and looked up into his blue eyes, which were worried-looking and bright with tears.
“He won’t get out of my head, Ronnie,” Ginny cried. “He keeps calling me, telling me I have to come back there and help him.”
“It’s not real, Ginny,” Ron assured her. “He’s gone now.”
“It is real!” Ginny insisted. “He’s still here, I can still hear him! Make him stop, Ronnie, please make him stop. I don’t want him in my head anymore!”
“You just need some sleep, Gin,” Ron told her, casting an anxious look over her head at their parents. “A night of dreamless sleep and you’ll feel right as rain again.” He scooped her easily into his arms. “Let’s get you back into bed, okay?”
Ginny nodded as she lay her head on his shoulder. Ron carried her back over to the bed and laid her down, but Ginny caught his hand. “Don’t go,” she pleaded.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Ron promised, sitting on the bed next to her. Mr. Weasley put a hand on Ron’s shoulder as Mrs. Weasley went around to the other side of the bed to grasp Ginny’s other hand.
“Thank you,” Mr. Weasley murmured. Ron only nodded as he glanced around the hospital wing.
“I saw Hermione, Ron,” Mrs. Weasley told him, guessing what he was looking for. “She’s fine, and very proud of you and Harry.”
“I bet she hates me,” Ginny wailed. “Everyone is going to hate me when they find out I was the only one who opened the Chamber of Secrets.”
“No one is going to know,” Ron told her. “Dumbledore will keep it quiet.”
“You know you can’t keep a secret here!” Ginny cried. “By tomorrow everyone will know what a horrible person I am.”
“You are not a horrible person, Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley scolded. “You got caught up in something much more powerful than you, that’s all. People will understand that.”
“No they won’t!” Ginny insisted loudly. “They’re all going to be scared of me, and I’m never going to get any friends here!”
“No one is going to know the truth, Gin,” Ron promised her. “Because tomorrow I’m going to start spreading a story about what happened down there that will be so good, no one will ever believe the real story.”
“You will?” Ginny chocked between sobs.
Ron nodded. “Haven’t I always taken care of you?”
“Always,” Ginny said.
“I messed up a bit on that this year,” Ron admitted. “But no more. You’ve got your big brother looking out for you, no one better dare try to do anything to you again.”
“If they did they’d have to get past us, too,” declared Fred, as he and George approached Ginny’s bedside. Both were pale, with dark circles under their red-rimmed eyes.
“You okay, Gin?” George asked worriedly, taking in the torn robes balled up on her bed, and the mud and bloodstains on her clothes.
“She’s going to be fine,” Mrs. Weasley declared.
Fred glanced at Ron’s muddy robes. “Did you and Harry really get her out of the Chamber of Secrets?”
Ron nodded.
“Cool,” George murmured. “We thought McGonagall was having us on.”
“It was Harry, really,” Ron admitted.
“Why didn’t you come get us?” George questioned.
“Yeah, we could have helped,” Fred piped up.
“Just what I need, two more of my children risking their lives,” Mrs. Weasley proclaimed, going to the twins and putting an arm around each of them, squeezing the boys tightly.
“Geroff, Mum,” both grumbled. “We’re fine, except that we missed a great adventure,” Fred added.
“There was nothing great about it,” Ron growled. “Especially for Ginny and Harry.”
Both the twins looked properly abashed. “Sorry, Gin,” they muttered.
“Where’s Percy?” Mr. Weasley asked.
Fred and George shot each other a look. “He…uh…he’s still up in the dorm,” mumbled Fred. “He should be down soon to check on Ginny.”
“Where’s Harry?” George wondered.
“Still in with Dumbledore,” Ron told him. “But I’m sure he’ll come up here when he’s done, to check on Ginny.”
“No!” Ginny exclaimed.
“What’s wrong?” Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly.
“I can’t face Harry,” proclaimed Ginny. “Never!”
“You’re going to have to face him sometime,” Ron said gently. “You are both in Gryffindor, afterall. And I’m sure he’s going to be at the Burrow some time during your life,” he added with a smile.
“Ron,” Mrs. Weasley hissed.
“How can I look at him when he knows what I did?” Ginny wailed.
“You never could look at him before, I bet he won’t even notice the difference,” Ron teased.
“That’s enough, Ronald,” Mrs. Weasley scolded.
“My point is, Ginny, Harry is not going to feel any differently about you because of this,” Ron told her.
“But he almost died because of me.”
“He almost died because of You-Know-Who,” Ron reminded her. “You just happened to be his way of getting to Harry this time around. Next time it will be someone else.”
“Next time?” Mrs. Weasley murmured, going pale.
“There’s always a next time with You-Know-Who,” Ron said somberly. “We all know he’s not going to stop until he kills Harry – or someone finds a way to kill….”
Ron stopped short as Snape passed by the bed. “I’m glad you’re safe, Miss Weasley,” Snape murmured as he strode past, his robes billowing out behind him.
******************
Snape continued out of the hospital wing and down the hall, which was eerily quiet. He wearily rubbed the back of his hand across his face, and plodded toward the Grand Staircase and the dungeon.
Just as he reached the top of the staircase, he saw Lucius Malfoy storming from the direction of the dungeon. “He doesn’t look happy,” Snape muttered with a shake of his head. He shrank back away from the railing until Lucius had slammed out of the front door of the castle, and then continued his descent down the stairs. He was just about to open the door leading to the dungeon when it burst open and Pansy Parkinson came flying out, nearly bowling Snape over.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Pansy gasped. “Professor, you have to come with me! Quick!”
“What are you on about?” Snape snapped in the tone he usually only reserved for members of other houses.
“It’s Draco!” she cried. “He’s hurt. Very badly, I think.”
“Show me,” Snape commanded. Pansy was already sprinting back toward the dungeon, Snape right on her heels.
“Lucius, what have you done?” Snape murmured as he spotted Draco lying in a heap at the bottom of the stone steps.
“I’m back,” Pansy announced as she fell to her knees next to him. “And I brought Professor Snape.”
Draco moaned. “I told you I’m fine.”
He tried to prove his point by pushing himself up, but his arms gave out about halfway to a sitting position, and he fell back onto the floor with a whimper.
“That’s the worst impression of fine I’ve ever seen,” Pansy sniped.
“Shut up, Pan” Draco muttered. “I need a minute, that’s all.”
“Draco, where are you hurt?” Snape asked, looking him over.
“I’m not,” Draco gritted out.
“Where are you hurt, boy?” Snape growled.
“Back,” Draco admitted. He winced from a sudden spasm of pain. “And ribs.”
“Would you like to tell me what happened?” Snape questioned
“Fell,” Draco muttered.
Pansy gasped in surprise.
“Miss Parkinson, you do not belong outside of your dormitory this late at night,” Snape scolded.
“But I was helping…”
“I appreciate you coming to Mr. Malfoy’s aid,” Snape told her. “But I have the situation well in hand now, so you may return to your common room.”
Pansy opened her mouth to protest, but Snape spoke again before she could. “Please don’t make me take points from my own house, Miss Parkinson.”
“Yes, sir,” answered Pansy glumly. “Feel better, Draco.”
Draco grumbled something as Pansy flounced off toward the Slytherin common room. Once she was gone, Snape knelt down at Draco’s side.
“Don’t move, Draco,” Snape instructed. “I’ll conjure a stretcher to take you up to the hospital wing.
“No, no hospital wing,” Draco protested, eyes closed in concentration as he pushed himself up. He bit through his lip to keep from crying out in pain, but managed to make it into a sitting position. Snape just watched him closely as Draco leaned back against the stairs, breathing heavily from the effort of sitting up. Draco licked away the blood on his lip and looked up at Snape. “See…I’m…fine,” he gasped. “Just a little…Indolentae Potion…I’ll be good…as new.”
Snape shook his head as he watched Draco trying to catch his breath. “Not this time, Draco. If you cover up the pain when you’re seriously hurt, there could be permanent damage.”
“Falling down these stairs can’t be any worse than falling off my broom, and I’ve never been seriously hurt from that,” Draco complained.
“Stop lying,” Snape snapped. “I know you didn’t fall down the stairs. I saw your father storming out of the castle.” His demeanor softened a bit. “I’d hoped he hadn’t crossed paths with anyone when he was in such a horrible state, especially you. But obviously that wasn’t the case.”
Draco hesitated a moment, then said softly, “He came to take me home. He wanted me to leave Hogwarts.”
“For good?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you said no?” Snape asked, obviously surprised.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Draco quipped, biting down on his lip again as another spasm of pain swept over him. “I didn’t think Durmstrang would agree with me.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Snape murmured. “I suspect some of the curriculum might be familiar.”
“I’m sure it would be, but I don’t fancy freezing my arse off in the middle of nowhere to learn it,” Draco declared.
Snape raised an eyebrow.
“Pardon my language, sir,” Draco added quickly.
“That’s quite alright,” Snape assured him. “I said rather the same thing when my father tried to send me to a school I didn’t want to attend.”
“Did your father ever…” Draco’s voice trailed off as he decided not to finish his question.
“He could be…difficult,” Snape admitted.
Snape suddenly conjured a stretcher with a quick wave of his wand. “Come, let’s get you to the hospital wing.”
“I’m not going on that,” Draco declared, nodding his head in the direction of the stretcher and wincing at the movement. “Help me up and I’ll walk there.”
“Excuse me?”
Draco quickly remembered his manners. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said contritely. “Would you please help me up?”
Snape nodded and extended a hand to him. Draco took it, and started to pull himself up with great difficulty, clutching his ribs with his free hand.
“I can do this, I can do this, I can do this,” Draco murmured to himself, gritting his teeth against the pain.
He finally made it to his feet, but swayed as he tried to remain standing. “Professor, I don’t feel so well,” he mumbled, just before crumpling to the floor.
Author’s Notes: The idea for this story came to me because I wondered why there was no mention of Draco being at the feast at the end of ‘Chamber of Secrets’. After Harry’s confrontation with Lucius, what Draco was up to would certainly have been on Harry’s mind, so it was odd to me that he didn’t mention Draco at all. Thus I came up with the story of where Draco might have been (and how he and Ginny might conceivably get to know each other within the confines of canon). Thanks to Karen for being the world’s best beta.
Friends in Low Places
By Nola Ryan
After the Chamber
As the door to McGonagall’s office closed behind them, Ginny broke into a fresh wave of tears. Mrs. Weasley, who already had an arm around Ginny’s shoulders, pulled her into a hug, but Ginny pushed her away.
“Don’t,” Ginny pleaded. “I’m dirty.”
“I don’t care,” Mrs. Weasley declared fiercely, pulling Ginny close to her again.
Ginny started shaking as her mother held her tightly. “Mum, I’m…I’m…”
“Shh, don’t talk,” Mrs. Weasley soothed. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Mummy’s here, and Daddy, and we’re going to keep you safe.”
“Safe,” Ginny murmured. “Safe.”
She slumped in her mother’s arms, unconscious. Mrs. Weasley almost fell over from the sudden dead weight, and Mr. Weasley caught both of them before they fell. He scooped
Ginny into his arms.
“Let’s get her to the hospital wing,” he suggested as he started down the hall quickly.
“What’s wrong with her?” Mrs. Weasley cried. “What did he do to her?”
“She’s exhausted, Molly,” Mr. Weasley said gently. “She’s been through quite an ordeal, and it’s all catching up with her.”
“What if it’s more than that?” worried Mrs. Weasley. “Remember what Lily warned us about; that the dark magic she used to save Ginny would always leave her vulnerable to dark influences? You-Know-Who could have put all kinds of spells on her.”
“We’ll have Poppy check her carefully, but I think any spells that might have been done on her were destroyed when Harry destroyed the diary,” Mr. Weasley theorized.
“If he hadn’t found Ginny when he did…” Mrs. Weasley stopped, shuddering.
“Don’t think about that, Molly,” Mrs. Weasley instructed. “Harry did find her, and he and Ron and Ginny are all fine.”
“They’re safe, but I don’t know if they’re all fine,” Mrs. Weasley commented, taking Ginny’s hand. “How could this happen, Arthur? I thought this was the one place they would all be safe, no matter what was going on in the world outside of here.”
“Lucius Malfoy,” Mr. Weasley muttered. “He was the one who had Dumbledore suspended as Headmaster, and he certainly would be the sort to have something like that diary in his possession.”
They reached the hospital wing. The room was abuzz with activity as Mr. Weasley carried Ginny through the door. Snape sat at Madame Pomfrey’s desk, a small cauldron in front of him. He was spooning the contents of it into goblets, which Madame Pomfrey was using to administer the Mandrake potion to her petrified patients.
Snape looked up in surprise when the Weasleys entered. “You found her?” he questioned, obviously stunned. “And she’s alive?”
“Harry and Ron found her, and she’s fine,” declared Mrs. Weasley curtly.
Madame Pomfrey came running over. “This is the girl from the Chamber?” she asked. Mr. Weasley nodded. “Put her over here.”
She led them to a bed with curtains already set up around it. Madame Pomfrey looked Ginny over as Mr. Weasley laid her down on the bed.
“She’s not petrified,” she noticed.
“No, just unconscious,” Mr. Weasley told her. “She fainted on our way here from McGonagall’s office.”
Madame Pomfrey checked Ginny’s pulse. “A little fast, but nice and strong,” she noted. “Give me one minute to finish administering this Mandrake draft, and then I will examine her more closely. Could you please get her robes off while I’m gone?”
She bustled off as Mrs. Weasley started to unbutton Ginny’s robes, spreading dirt and slime and other things Mrs. Weasley did not want to identify onto the crisp white sheets. “She’s going to need a soak in a tub for a week to get all this muck off of her,” Mrs. Weasley commented as she pulled the tattered robe off Ginny.
Ginny’s wand fell out of her pocket with a clatter that made both her parents jump. Mr. Weasley picked it up and looked at the wand thoughtfully. “We could try Prior Incantato to find out what sort of spells she’s been forced to cast,” he suggested.
Mrs. Weasley shook her head. “I don’t want to know. If Ginny can’t remember them, they should stay forgotten.”
Mr. Weasley nodded his agreement distractedly as he continued to study the wand. “Is this yew?”
Mrs. Weasley nodded. “Yew and unicorn hair. We had quite a time finding a match for her,” Mrs. Weasley remembered. “Mr. Ollivander said Ginny was one of the most difficult customers he ever had. He figured she would have a unicorn hair core, as the boys all do, but we tried almost every unicorn hair wand in the store before she finally found a match with this one.”
“It is quite a powerful wand for a little girl,” Mr. Weasley commented.
Madame Pomfrey interrupted, hurrying back to Ginny’s bedside. “I’m very sorry,” she apologized. She looked more closely at the Weasleys, recognition dawning. “Oh, Arthur, Molly, I didn’t even realize it was you. This is your daughter?”
Mrs. Weasley nodded. “She didn’t seem very hurt after she came out of the Chamber, only shaken up,” she told Madame Pomfrey. “But we don’t know what happened to her down there.”
“Can you please give me a few minutes to examine her?” Madame Pomfrey requested. “You can wait right outside the curtain.”
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley reluctantly stepped away from Ginny’s bedside. Mrs. Weasley looked around at the other patients in the ward, who were just starting to awaken from their petrified states. She spotted Hermione and worriedly went over to her bed.
Hermione was looking around in confusion. “Mrs. Weasley?” she asked uncertainly.
Mrs. Weasley nodded as she stroked Hermione’s hair. “How are you feeling, dear?”
“What are you doing here?” Hermione questioned in a panic, struggling to sit up. “Ron?”
“Ron’s fine,” Mrs. Weasley assured her.
“Harry?”
“He’s fine, too.”
“Something’s wrong,” Hermione insisted. “You wouldn’t be here if something wasn’t wrong.”
“Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets,” Mrs. Weasley reluctantly revealed.
Hermione gasped. “She’s not…”
“Harry and Ron got her out,” Mrs. Weasley told her.
“They found it then? The Chamber of Secrets?” Hermione asked excitedly. “They figured out how to get in?”
“Yes, they figured it out. And just in time, too,” Mrs. Weasley informed her.
“Ginny’s okay then?” Hermione questioned worriedly.
“Madame Pomfrey is looking her over now, but I don’t think she was hurt too badly,” Mrs. Weasley said, looking anxiously in Ginny’s direction.
There was suddenly a scream from Ginny’s bed. Mrs. Weasley jumped up. “Excuse me, Hermione dear.”
She hurried back over to the curtain, where both Mr. Weasley and Madam Pomfrey were trying to calm down a hysterical Ginny.
“No! Let me go! Let me go!” Ginny was screaming as they tried to hold her down.
“Let her go,” Mrs. Weasley commanded.
“But, Molly, she’s hysterical,” Arthur protested.
“You’re not going to calm her down fighting her like that,” chastised Mrs. Weasley.
Madame Pomfrey and Mr. Weasley reluctantly let go of Ginny. Rather than settle down, Ginny leapt from the bed immediately, but Mrs. Weasley stopped her by putting an arm around her. “Where are you going, honey?” she asked soothingly.
“I have to get back to Tom,” Ginny declared anxiously. “He’s calling me, I have to get back and help him. His plan can’t work without me.”
Ginny broke free of her mother’s grasp and ran for the door. It opened before Ginny reached it and Ron came through, pushing Lockhart in front of him. “In here, you git,” Ron instructed.
Ginny tried to push past them, but Ron caught her arm. “Whoa, Gin, where are you flying to?”
Ginny didn’t even seem to recognize him as she struggled to break free of his grasp. “Get off of me,” she screeched.
Ron let go of her, startled by her outburst.
“Ron, don’t let her out!” Mr. Weasley called.
Ron quickly ran after Ginny, catching her around the waist and carrying her back into the hospital ward. Ginny kicked and screamed in protest. Ron put her down just inside the door, but grabbed her by the shoulders firmly so she couldn’t run. “Ginny, look at me,” he commanded.
Ginny only fought him harder. Ron shook her by the shoulders. “Look at me!”
“Ron, stop!” Mrs. Weasley cried as Ginny shook her head furiously and closed her eyes.
Ron ignored his mother and pulled Ginny into a tight hug.
“It’s okay, Ginger Snap,” he murmured gently as Ginny continued to fight him. “All the bad things are gone, Ronnie took care of them. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Ginny slowly started to relax against him as he continued to murmur reassurances to her.
“That’s better,” Ron told her when she’d finally quieted down, kissing the top of her head. Ginny clutched his robes tightly and looked up into his blue eyes, which were worried-looking and bright with tears.
“He won’t get out of my head, Ronnie,” Ginny cried. “He keeps calling me, telling me I have to come back there and help him.”
“It’s not real, Ginny,” Ron assured her. “He’s gone now.”
“It is real!” Ginny insisted. “He’s still here, I can still hear him! Make him stop, Ronnie, please make him stop. I don’t want him in my head anymore!”
“You just need some sleep, Gin,” Ron told her, casting an anxious look over her head at their parents. “A night of dreamless sleep and you’ll feel right as rain again.” He scooped her easily into his arms. “Let’s get you back into bed, okay?”
Ginny nodded as she lay her head on his shoulder. Ron carried her back over to the bed and laid her down, but Ginny caught his hand. “Don’t go,” she pleaded.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Ron promised, sitting on the bed next to her. Mr. Weasley put a hand on Ron’s shoulder as Mrs. Weasley went around to the other side of the bed to grasp Ginny’s other hand.
“Thank you,” Mr. Weasley murmured. Ron only nodded as he glanced around the hospital wing.
“I saw Hermione, Ron,” Mrs. Weasley told him, guessing what he was looking for. “She’s fine, and very proud of you and Harry.”
“I bet she hates me,” Ginny wailed. “Everyone is going to hate me when they find out I was the only one who opened the Chamber of Secrets.”
“No one is going to know,” Ron told her. “Dumbledore will keep it quiet.”
“You know you can’t keep a secret here!” Ginny cried. “By tomorrow everyone will know what a horrible person I am.”
“You are not a horrible person, Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley scolded. “You got caught up in something much more powerful than you, that’s all. People will understand that.”
“No they won’t!” Ginny insisted loudly. “They’re all going to be scared of me, and I’m never going to get any friends here!”
“No one is going to know the truth, Gin,” Ron promised her. “Because tomorrow I’m going to start spreading a story about what happened down there that will be so good, no one will ever believe the real story.”
“You will?” Ginny chocked between sobs.
Ron nodded. “Haven’t I always taken care of you?”
“Always,” Ginny said.
“I messed up a bit on that this year,” Ron admitted. “But no more. You’ve got your big brother looking out for you, no one better dare try to do anything to you again.”
“If they did they’d have to get past us, too,” declared Fred, as he and George approached Ginny’s bedside. Both were pale, with dark circles under their red-rimmed eyes.
“You okay, Gin?” George asked worriedly, taking in the torn robes balled up on her bed, and the mud and bloodstains on her clothes.
“She’s going to be fine,” Mrs. Weasley declared.
Fred glanced at Ron’s muddy robes. “Did you and Harry really get her out of the Chamber of Secrets?”
Ron nodded.
“Cool,” George murmured. “We thought McGonagall was having us on.”
“It was Harry, really,” Ron admitted.
“Why didn’t you come get us?” George questioned.
“Yeah, we could have helped,” Fred piped up.
“Just what I need, two more of my children risking their lives,” Mrs. Weasley proclaimed, going to the twins and putting an arm around each of them, squeezing the boys tightly.
“Geroff, Mum,” both grumbled. “We’re fine, except that we missed a great adventure,” Fred added.
“There was nothing great about it,” Ron growled. “Especially for Ginny and Harry.”
Both the twins looked properly abashed. “Sorry, Gin,” they muttered.
“Where’s Percy?” Mr. Weasley asked.
Fred and George shot each other a look. “He…uh…he’s still up in the dorm,” mumbled Fred. “He should be down soon to check on Ginny.”
“Where’s Harry?” George wondered.
“Still in with Dumbledore,” Ron told him. “But I’m sure he’ll come up here when he’s done, to check on Ginny.”
“No!” Ginny exclaimed.
“What’s wrong?” Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly.
“I can’t face Harry,” proclaimed Ginny. “Never!”
“You’re going to have to face him sometime,” Ron said gently. “You are both in Gryffindor, afterall. And I’m sure he’s going to be at the Burrow some time during your life,” he added with a smile.
“Ron,” Mrs. Weasley hissed.
“How can I look at him when he knows what I did?” Ginny wailed.
“You never could look at him before, I bet he won’t even notice the difference,” Ron teased.
“That’s enough, Ronald,” Mrs. Weasley scolded.
“My point is, Ginny, Harry is not going to feel any differently about you because of this,” Ron told her.
“But he almost died because of me.”
“He almost died because of You-Know-Who,” Ron reminded her. “You just happened to be his way of getting to Harry this time around. Next time it will be someone else.”
“Next time?” Mrs. Weasley murmured, going pale.
“There’s always a next time with You-Know-Who,” Ron said somberly. “We all know he’s not going to stop until he kills Harry – or someone finds a way to kill….”
Ron stopped short as Snape passed by the bed. “I’m glad you’re safe, Miss Weasley,” Snape murmured as he strode past, his robes billowing out behind him.
******************
Snape continued out of the hospital wing and down the hall, which was eerily quiet. He wearily rubbed the back of his hand across his face, and plodded toward the Grand Staircase and the dungeon.
Just as he reached the top of the staircase, he saw Lucius Malfoy storming from the direction of the dungeon. “He doesn’t look happy,” Snape muttered with a shake of his head. He shrank back away from the railing until Lucius had slammed out of the front door of the castle, and then continued his descent down the stairs. He was just about to open the door leading to the dungeon when it burst open and Pansy Parkinson came flying out, nearly bowling Snape over.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Pansy gasped. “Professor, you have to come with me! Quick!”
“What are you on about?” Snape snapped in the tone he usually only reserved for members of other houses.
“It’s Draco!” she cried. “He’s hurt. Very badly, I think.”
“Show me,” Snape commanded. Pansy was already sprinting back toward the dungeon, Snape right on her heels.
“Lucius, what have you done?” Snape murmured as he spotted Draco lying in a heap at the bottom of the stone steps.
“I’m back,” Pansy announced as she fell to her knees next to him. “And I brought Professor Snape.”
Draco moaned. “I told you I’m fine.”
He tried to prove his point by pushing himself up, but his arms gave out about halfway to a sitting position, and he fell back onto the floor with a whimper.
“That’s the worst impression of fine I’ve ever seen,” Pansy sniped.
“Shut up, Pan” Draco muttered. “I need a minute, that’s all.”
“Draco, where are you hurt?” Snape asked, looking him over.
“I’m not,” Draco gritted out.
“Where are you hurt, boy?” Snape growled.
“Back,” Draco admitted. He winced from a sudden spasm of pain. “And ribs.”
“Would you like to tell me what happened?” Snape questioned
“Fell,” Draco muttered.
Pansy gasped in surprise.
“Miss Parkinson, you do not belong outside of your dormitory this late at night,” Snape scolded.
“But I was helping…”
“I appreciate you coming to Mr. Malfoy’s aid,” Snape told her. “But I have the situation well in hand now, so you may return to your common room.”
Pansy opened her mouth to protest, but Snape spoke again before she could. “Please don’t make me take points from my own house, Miss Parkinson.”
“Yes, sir,” answered Pansy glumly. “Feel better, Draco.”
Draco grumbled something as Pansy flounced off toward the Slytherin common room. Once she was gone, Snape knelt down at Draco’s side.
“Don’t move, Draco,” Snape instructed. “I’ll conjure a stretcher to take you up to the hospital wing.
“No, no hospital wing,” Draco protested, eyes closed in concentration as he pushed himself up. He bit through his lip to keep from crying out in pain, but managed to make it into a sitting position. Snape just watched him closely as Draco leaned back against the stairs, breathing heavily from the effort of sitting up. Draco licked away the blood on his lip and looked up at Snape. “See…I’m…fine,” he gasped. “Just a little…Indolentae Potion…I’ll be good…as new.”
Snape shook his head as he watched Draco trying to catch his breath. “Not this time, Draco. If you cover up the pain when you’re seriously hurt, there could be permanent damage.”
“Falling down these stairs can’t be any worse than falling off my broom, and I’ve never been seriously hurt from that,” Draco complained.
“Stop lying,” Snape snapped. “I know you didn’t fall down the stairs. I saw your father storming out of the castle.” His demeanor softened a bit. “I’d hoped he hadn’t crossed paths with anyone when he was in such a horrible state, especially you. But obviously that wasn’t the case.”
Draco hesitated a moment, then said softly, “He came to take me home. He wanted me to leave Hogwarts.”
“For good?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you said no?” Snape asked, obviously surprised.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Draco quipped, biting down on his lip again as another spasm of pain swept over him. “I didn’t think Durmstrang would agree with me.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Snape murmured. “I suspect some of the curriculum might be familiar.”
“I’m sure it would be, but I don’t fancy freezing my arse off in the middle of nowhere to learn it,” Draco declared.
Snape raised an eyebrow.
“Pardon my language, sir,” Draco added quickly.
“That’s quite alright,” Snape assured him. “I said rather the same thing when my father tried to send me to a school I didn’t want to attend.”
“Did your father ever…” Draco’s voice trailed off as he decided not to finish his question.
“He could be…difficult,” Snape admitted.
Snape suddenly conjured a stretcher with a quick wave of his wand. “Come, let’s get you to the hospital wing.”
“I’m not going on that,” Draco declared, nodding his head in the direction of the stretcher and wincing at the movement. “Help me up and I’ll walk there.”
“Excuse me?”
Draco quickly remembered his manners. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said contritely. “Would you please help me up?”
Snape nodded and extended a hand to him. Draco took it, and started to pull himself up with great difficulty, clutching his ribs with his free hand.
“I can do this, I can do this, I can do this,” Draco murmured to himself, gritting his teeth against the pain.
He finally made it to his feet, but swayed as he tried to remain standing. “Professor, I don’t feel so well,” he mumbled, just before crumpling to the floor.
Author’s Notes: The idea for this story came to me because I wondered why there was no mention of Draco being at the feast at the end of ‘Chamber of Secrets’. After Harry’s confrontation with Lucius, what Draco was up to would certainly have been on Harry’s mind, so it was odd to me that he didn’t mention Draco at all. Thus I came up with the story of where Draco might have been (and how he and Ginny might conceivably get to know each other within the confines of canon). Thanks to Karen for being the world’s best beta.
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