Author’s Note: So I thought I’d try an extended short story to spice things up a bit. I haven’t neglected Don’t Wake Me From This Dream, but I wanted to do something spur of the moment and for Halloween. This will be posted in three parts over the course of the next few days (this fic is completed). Hope you enjoy!
Part 1: Millicent’s Dare
“I’ll bet you can’t do it, Weasley. I’ll bet you can’t stay one entire night in the Shack alone.” Several of the Slytherins laughed aloud as Millicent Bulstrode threw her dare out on the table for the youngest Weasley to take in. She seemed to grow a few inches as she puffed out her chest, taking in a deep breath with an expression of triumph written across her face.
Ginny felt her face growing hot, her cheeks quickly turning the color of her hair as her foolish temper got the best of her. “It’s just an old shack. What do I have to be afraid of?”
“Well then,” said Pansy Parkinson over Millicent’s laughter. “Does that mean you’ll do it?”
Ginny thought for all of a split second. “And if I win…does this mean you’ll return the lion?” Her heart raced in her chest as she felt the anger bubbling up inside again. One of the Slytherins had managed to find their way into the Gryffindor common room the day before and had stolen their beloved, golden mascot. It was an ongoing trick, really, to see who could pull the cruelest prank during the Halloween season. And it had been Ginny who’d foolishly let the first year through the portrait hole as he claimed to have forgotten the password. With so many new students this year she assumed that the red and gold accenting on his robes were proof enough that he resided in the same house as she. Ginny swallowed hard as the lump in her chest refused to go down, anticipating Pansy’s answer.
Pansy gave a long, thoughtful sigh and raised her eyebrows to the other members of her squad, receiving mischievous nods from them all. “Why not,” she said. “I suppose the damage has been done and your egos have been taken down a peg or two from our little sting.” She held out her hand to shake Ginny’s so the deal could be sealed.
Ginny gripped Pansy’s hand rather hard as she responded. “Then it’s done. So when do you want me to stay?”
“Why, Halloween, of course.” Pansy’s smile spread across her seemingly innocent face. “After the feast, Weasley, we’ll meet you out at the Whomping Willow and escort you up to the Shack through the passageway. There will be a Slytherin standing guard near the entrance gate to the Shack, as well as one in the passageway. That way, if you even think of trying to leave, your beloved lion will become the giant squid’s new toy. Understood?”
Ginny wanted nothing more than to scratch the eyeballs from Pansy’s conceited face, but she knew that the spoiled, only daughter of Selibus Parkinson was goading her. Pansy had her right where she wanted and Ginny had no choice but to succumb to her wishes. She was determined to get the lion back or die trying.
“Fine. I’ll see you after the feast, then.” With that, Ginny turned on her heel and headed off down the corridor, unaware of the curious bystander poking his blond head out of the shadows.
XXXXX
“So what’s going on with the Weasel’s little sis?” The other Slytherins were startled when Draco Malfoy’s slow drawl seemingly came from out of nowhere and they jumped as he emerged from the shadows.
Pansy gave a relieved sigh followed by a loud laugh. “Oh Draco, you should have seen her! Groveling at our feet in an attempt to get that sodding, old lion back. Listen to how classic this story is…”
Draco stood in the midst of the group as Pansy relived the conversation between Ginny and the other Slytherins, clearly quite proud of herself for prodding the young Gryffindor along.
“…and the best part,” she continued, “is that we aren’t even going to give her that ridiculous thing back. She’s going to stay in that shack the whole night and we’re going to make sure she gets scared out of her wits. Nott and Zabini already have a full list of things in store for her.”
“Like what?” Draco glanced over at his fellow housemates as they smiled wickedly.
“Oh…just ideas,” said Pansy with a mysterious air to her voice. “Trust us, Draco - Weasley is going to run screaming from that place.” Pansy laughed aloud. “Well…if she’s able to run, that is.”
Draco said nothing. He’d never admitted to himself how often he’d stared at Weasley in the corridors between classes. She’d never backed down where he was concerned and that fact alone seemed to start a slow blaze burning in his chest. Draco would never let himself be associated with a pureblood of her kind, growing up with the idea to embrace Muggle-borns as one of their own, but something inside him just wouldn’t let a horrible incident such as this befall her. He was determined to do something about it, unbeknownst to the other Slytherins.
He raised his chin and looked at Pansy. “I’ll do it.”
“What?” Pansy looked confused. “What do you mean you’ll do it?”
“I mean that I owe that little wench for that bat bogey hex she threw on me last year in Umbridge’s office. I’m not letting this opportunity go, Pansy, and you’re going to let me do it. Just me. You got it?”
Pansy gave him a slow nod, clearly unsure of why she should turn over their brilliant plan to Draco, but unwilling to tell the boy of her dreams no. She immediately caved in. “Alright,” she said a bit uncertainly. “Do you…do you want some help with any-“
“Nope. You’ve set this up just perfectly, doll.” He gave her an affectionate clip on the chin and she smiled back at him, a tinge of pink appearing in her cheeks. Draco continued, for good measure, “Weasley’s going to wish she’d kept that wand in her pocket last year.”
Pansy slipped her arm in his and Draco walked off down the corridor with his band of Slytherins, thoughts racing wildly as to what he’d just gotten himself into.
XXXX
“Stop hounding me, Ron. Nothing you say is going to change my mind and I have to get that lion back. Besides, you and I both know the story behind the Shrieking Shack is nothing more than a myth. A falsehood created by Dumbledore to give Remus a place to conceal himself during a full moon.” Ginny was fighting her brother tooth and nail over the bet she’d agreed to take.
“It’s not that I’m worried about the Shack, Ginny.” Ron was growing quite impatient with her as his urgent whispers rose to carry over the noise in the Common Room. “The Slytherins have something in store for you and I know it. You’ll never get me to believe it’s going to be as simple as you just sitting in there by yourself all night.”
“Then I’ll deal with it.” Ginny’s response was very matter-of-fact. “So they might play a few tricks to try and spook me out. So what? I’ve never scared easily and you know it. They aren’t going to hurt me! It’s one sodding night and…” Ron began to interrupt her but she’d have none of it… “AND – if I get into trouble I’ll shoot some sparks out the window. Heaven knows you’ll be sleeping up on the Astronomy Tower anyway – keeping watch.”
Ginny shoved a bag into his hands before he could say another word. “Here. Once the feast is over I want you to toss this out the window of the boys’ dormitory. There’s some stuff in here that I’ll need and I can’t very well walk out the front door of the castle with a bag slung over my shoulder, can I?”
Ron held the bag limply as he glared at her. “Fine! But for the record, I still don’t agree with this and you can bloody well bet I’ll be sleeping up in the Astronomy Tower so I can see if you get into trouble.”
Ginny scoffed and made her way to the portrait hole, stepped through it and was halfway down the Grand Staircase without incident. However, she was so put-out by her brother’s behavior that she was blind to the trick step on the third floor and tumbled forward several steps before taking someone down with her. The rolling heap of black robes came to a sudden halt as they hit the second floor landing, one on top of the other, and Ginny stared right into the most powerful set of gray eyes she’d ever seen. Her heart skipped a beat as his gaze captured hers while he appeared to be searching her deepest thoughts. Until…
“Weasley! What in bloody hell are you doing?”
Draco Malfoy was scowling and shoving Ginny from his chest as she realized just who it was she was lying on top of. She stood up quickly, brushing off her robes as she tried to find something to say to hide the embarrassment she was feeling. How could Malfoy have stirred her up so much?
“I tripped, alright?” Ginny turned to leave, truly not wanting any more interaction between them, but Malfoy interrupted her departure.
“No apology then?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “You knocked me down a flight of stairs.”
It wasn’t in Ginny’s nature to be impolite when she’d done something wrong - even to Malfoy. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to knock into you when I fell…I just wasn’t paying attention.” Her voice trailed off as she turned to leave again, but Draco’s words slowed her steps once more.
“So do you think you’ll make it?”
When she turned to look at him his arms were folded across his chest, a rather smug look painted across his face.
“What do you mean?” She knew very well what he was getting at, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Tonight. Do you think you’ll manage to stick it out or will you turn chicken and run? I hear that lion means an awful lot to the Gryffindors.” Draco’s thumb gave a careless touch to the tip of his nose as he continued to taunt her. “Of all the nights to stay up there. Halloween. And during a full-moon, no less.”
Thoughts were running rampant inside Ginny’s head as she imagined Malfoy and the other Slytherins having a good laugh in their house common room at her expense and she no longer felt the politeness she’d demonstrated a moment before. However, instead of lashing out at his rude remarks she rolled her eyes and started down the steps again before saying over her shoulder, “I’ll see you around, Malfoy.”
Had Ginny turned to look at him again she would’ve seen those gray eyes softening as he thought, “Yeah, Weasley, you bet you will.”
XXXX
Draco slowly walked the passageway to the Shrieking Shack on his own, fully aware that he’d find a few stray Slytherins at the other end, but ready to relieve them of their duties once he arrived. He didn’t want to enter the house while they lingered in the passage below, knowing full well that they would not, in fact, let him do this alone.
Truth be told, ever since Draco had insisted on being the sole instigator for this little plan he’d been taking a mental beating for it. He didn’t want Weasley subjected to the torture the others would’ve put her through, but if Draco didn’t do something to her his classmates would most certainly question him. They would wonder why he was unable to deliver the torment and he’d lose face. What a predicament he’d gotten himself into.
He pulled away from those thoughts as he saw a small flicker of light up ahead and the sounds of whispering coming from the same direction. After a few moments more, Millicent’s face, and then Nott’s, swam into view.
“You made it.” Nott directed his words at Draco as he tried to hide his annoyance. “We were beginning to wonder, you know?”
Draco gave Nott a hard glare as he gestured to the trap door above his head.
“So this is it, then?”
“Yeah. This’ll lead you right into the heart of the Shack, but you’ll need to follow the staircase up to the top floor. From there, there’s a small door to get into the attic and you’ll be able to see her more easily. Zabini and I have already checked it out.”
Draco nodded his head at Nott and looked over at Millicent. “Did Pansy tell you?”
Millicent’s expression mirrored the dumb-founded looks that Crabbe and Goyle usually gave him. “Tell me…what?”
“You guys are relieved of your duty. Once I go in I want you back in the Common Room. I’m doing this alone and I can’t chance one of the other house Prefects discovering that you’re gone. One Slytherin won’t be missed, but the entire lot of you will.”
Millicent looked highly disappointed as she agreed to Malfoy’s terms and Nott lifted the trap door for Draco to enter. “Make us proud, mate.” A note of sarcasm was evident in his voice.
Draco simply nodded and put a leg up through the opening, stopping halfway through to say again, “Remember what I said…back to the Common Room.”
Nott rolled his eyes as he and Millicent nodded their heads and Draco disappeared through the opening, closing the door behind him. He could hear their soft whispers departing down the tunnel and stood on the door for several moments, making certain they didn’t return. Once Draco was sure he was alone he headed off in the direction of the staircase, giving quick glances over his shoulders as he went.
The place was spooky. He’d never entered the Shack before and felt a slight prickle as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Weasley had definitely been a fool to agree to this but he smiled to himself as he remembered what a fiery little witch she was. Draco stopped dead in his tracks.
“You have to stop thinking like that! What in bloody hell do you see in her?”
He tried to shake every thought from his head as he concentrated on climbing the staircase. There were spiders spinning their webs along the railing and rat droppings dotting each and every step. It was the most disgusting place he’d ever been in and a piece of him wanted to scare the living hell out of Weasley just so they could return to Hogwarts to sleep in a nice, warm, spider-free bed. Draco gave one last shudder as he imagined what the attic was going to be like.
“Just get it over with. It’s one sodding night and then you’ll be done with it.”
He reached the door leading into the attic and used his wand to cast Alohomora to open it, half out of habit, and half out of repulsion for not wanting to touch it. He stepped inside and immediately searched the space above his head, clearly afraid of getting a spider-web entangled in his blond tresses. Draco was pleasantly surprised at how much cleaner the attic was than the rest of the house, but that thought quickly left his head as he heard a slamming noise beneath him.
Draco shut the door to the attic behind him and tiptoed to a crack in the floor directly above the staircase, giving him a clear view of the approaching intruder below him.
XXXX
Ginny heard the old house whistling and screaming above her head as she approached the end of the passageway, yet she took a slow breath and continued on her path. Pansy and several of the other Slytherins were following in her wake, noticeably uncomfortable with the sounds overhead, but wanting to make sure Ginny kept up her end of the deal. They’d run into Millicent Bulstrode and Theodore Nott about halfway into the passage, both of them looking rather sulky, and neither saying much of anything as they passed by them on their way back toward the school. Ginny was wondering if they’d planted any surprises in the Shack for her as she climbed the short flight of stone steps leading up to the trap door. She turned around to face Pansy.
“Well, this is where I get off. Guess I’ll be seeing you guys in the morning,” she said with a hint of sarcasm. Just as Ginny put her hand up to push the trap door open, Pansy stopped her.
“Don’t forget, Weasley…not until dawn. You see that sunlight coming up over the hill or you can forget about the lion, got it?”
Ginny glared at her with narrowed eyes before pushing her way up through the door and demonstrated her fearlessness by slamming it more forcefully than she’d intended. Once the echo had died down Ginny could hear the wind blowing through the cracks of the walls and pulled her cloak tightly over her shoulders. Taking a deep breath and clutching her bag to her chest, Ginny turned to look up at the staircase.
“It’s just a house,” she thought. “You know full well that there’s no truth to those haunted stories...”
But Ginny wasn’t entirely convinced as she’d never stepped foot in the place until now. She’d only received her information secondhand from Ron, Harry and Hermione to rebuke a rumor she’d heard her brothers talk about her entire life.
“…but what if there IS truth to the rumors?”
Ginny grew angry with herself for having these thoughts. She shook her head, gathered her courage and slowly began to climb the stairs. Each new step creaked louder than the last, but Ginny finally reached the top and her eyes scanned the hallway. It smelled of mold and she’d never seen so much dust in her life, but Ginny picked the most comfortable bedroom that she could find. After settling herself down on a tattered rug in the corner of the room she untied the drawstrings on her bag and pulled out the contents. Ginny carefully laid next to her a pile of pumpkin pasties, two bottles of butterbeer, a book, a blanket, a blue knit sweater with a “G” on the front (one of her mum’s Christmas gifts to her) and a tiny jelly jar with Hermione’s distinctive bluebell flame spell burning away inside. Ginny removed the lid and let the heat pour out onto her face and hands. The house was warmer than she’d expected yet she was still quite chilly.
Ginny gave another look around the room. “Well…so far, so good. But now what am I supposed to do?”
She put her sweater on and leaned up against the wall as she covered her legs with the blanket. Setting the jelly jar next to her elbow, Ginny picked up her book – a Muggle romance novel that Hermione had given her for her last birthday - and began reading where she’d left off. She was four or five chapters in and just approaching the part where Reginald rescued Lady Daphne from a band of robbers when a crashing noise drew her from the plot and Ginny jumped up with wand in hand. Her mouth fell open as the wand dropped several inches. She couldn’t believe her eyes!
XXXX
Draco held his breath as he stared through the crack for what seemed like hours. Finally, just as his leg began to cramp, a red head appeared and he took a sigh of relief. “She’s here,” he thought. “Guess it’s time to find out what the night has in store.” The only problem was that Draco still had no clue.
He stood as still as he could while Ginny paced the hallway searching for a place to spend the night. Once she’d settled on a room, Draco tiptoed softly to a spot directly above her, ever thankful for the noise of the wind so he wouldn’t be heard. He had a perfect view of her through the old rafters and rotting wood and promptly settled himself down to relieve the cramps in his legs.
Draco watched as Ginny pulled some items from her bag - a wise decision on her part to make her stay more comfortable. He could feel a tiny bit of heat generating from a small glass jar that she held in her hands and wondered why he didn’t think of bringing such luxuries with him. His stomach gave a growl as his eyes fell on Ginny’s butterbeer and pumpkin pasties sitting next to her.
He shook his head. “What are you doing here, Draco? You’re supposed to be back at Hogwarts enjoying the after-party in the Common Room, but nooooo – you had to have your head turned by some annoying little witch-“
Draco stopped his thought mid-sentence as Ginny lifted the hair off her neck and began to massage an apparently aching muscle.
“Christ!”
He closed his eyes and refused to look at her. Draco needed to come up with a game plan and figure out how to get through this mess he’d landed himself in. As hard as he tried to keep his eyes shut to think of one he found himself staring down at her once more. It was as though the wind outside had stopped blowing and he could hear her soft breathing – not to mention he swore that the smell of her shampoo was wafting up through the cracks in the floor. He shook his head once more and hastily wiped the tiny balls of sweat forming on his forehead. Draco just couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of her. He’d give anything to be invisible right now so that he could sit next to her and watch the graceful movements she made as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, delicately turning the pages of her book, sucking in her bottom lip as she became engrossed in the text.
“What is it about her?” Draco closed his eyes again and his imagination began to wander to places that it shouldn’t go.
He was smiling to himself, unaware of how long he’d been lost in his thoughts, when a curious cracking noise whipped his mind back to reality. Draco had no time to react before a free-falling sensation hit his stomach and his body tore through the ceiling, landing just inches from Weasley. He was afraid to look up and it seemed like an eternity before she spoke to him.
“Malfoy!” Ginny raised her wand a few inches, the shock evident on her face. “What are you doing here?”
Thanks to Shelly and Judy for the beta work, Laura for the inspiration and delicious plot bunny, and to Shelly again for a much better title. ;)
Part 1: Millicent’s Dare
“I’ll bet you can’t do it, Weasley. I’ll bet you can’t stay one entire night in the Shack alone.” Several of the Slytherins laughed aloud as Millicent Bulstrode threw her dare out on the table for the youngest Weasley to take in. She seemed to grow a few inches as she puffed out her chest, taking in a deep breath with an expression of triumph written across her face.
Ginny felt her face growing hot, her cheeks quickly turning the color of her hair as her foolish temper got the best of her. “It’s just an old shack. What do I have to be afraid of?”
“Well then,” said Pansy Parkinson over Millicent’s laughter. “Does that mean you’ll do it?”
Ginny thought for all of a split second. “And if I win…does this mean you’ll return the lion?” Her heart raced in her chest as she felt the anger bubbling up inside again. One of the Slytherins had managed to find their way into the Gryffindor common room the day before and had stolen their beloved, golden mascot. It was an ongoing trick, really, to see who could pull the cruelest prank during the Halloween season. And it had been Ginny who’d foolishly let the first year through the portrait hole as he claimed to have forgotten the password. With so many new students this year she assumed that the red and gold accenting on his robes were proof enough that he resided in the same house as she. Ginny swallowed hard as the lump in her chest refused to go down, anticipating Pansy’s answer.
Pansy gave a long, thoughtful sigh and raised her eyebrows to the other members of her squad, receiving mischievous nods from them all. “Why not,” she said. “I suppose the damage has been done and your egos have been taken down a peg or two from our little sting.” She held out her hand to shake Ginny’s so the deal could be sealed.
Ginny gripped Pansy’s hand rather hard as she responded. “Then it’s done. So when do you want me to stay?”
“Why, Halloween, of course.” Pansy’s smile spread across her seemingly innocent face. “After the feast, Weasley, we’ll meet you out at the Whomping Willow and escort you up to the Shack through the passageway. There will be a Slytherin standing guard near the entrance gate to the Shack, as well as one in the passageway. That way, if you even think of trying to leave, your beloved lion will become the giant squid’s new toy. Understood?”
Ginny wanted nothing more than to scratch the eyeballs from Pansy’s conceited face, but she knew that the spoiled, only daughter of Selibus Parkinson was goading her. Pansy had her right where she wanted and Ginny had no choice but to succumb to her wishes. She was determined to get the lion back or die trying.
“Fine. I’ll see you after the feast, then.” With that, Ginny turned on her heel and headed off down the corridor, unaware of the curious bystander poking his blond head out of the shadows.
“So what’s going on with the Weasel’s little sis?” The other Slytherins were startled when Draco Malfoy’s slow drawl seemingly came from out of nowhere and they jumped as he emerged from the shadows.
Pansy gave a relieved sigh followed by a loud laugh. “Oh Draco, you should have seen her! Groveling at our feet in an attempt to get that sodding, old lion back. Listen to how classic this story is…”
Draco stood in the midst of the group as Pansy relived the conversation between Ginny and the other Slytherins, clearly quite proud of herself for prodding the young Gryffindor along.
“…and the best part,” she continued, “is that we aren’t even going to give her that ridiculous thing back. She’s going to stay in that shack the whole night and we’re going to make sure she gets scared out of her wits. Nott and Zabini already have a full list of things in store for her.”
“Like what?” Draco glanced over at his fellow housemates as they smiled wickedly.
“Oh…just ideas,” said Pansy with a mysterious air to her voice. “Trust us, Draco - Weasley is going to run screaming from that place.” Pansy laughed aloud. “Well…if she’s able to run, that is.”
Draco said nothing. He’d never admitted to himself how often he’d stared at Weasley in the corridors between classes. She’d never backed down where he was concerned and that fact alone seemed to start a slow blaze burning in his chest. Draco would never let himself be associated with a pureblood of her kind, growing up with the idea to embrace Muggle-borns as one of their own, but something inside him just wouldn’t let a horrible incident such as this befall her. He was determined to do something about it, unbeknownst to the other Slytherins.
He raised his chin and looked at Pansy. “I’ll do it.”
“What?” Pansy looked confused. “What do you mean you’ll do it?”
“I mean that I owe that little wench for that bat bogey hex she threw on me last year in Umbridge’s office. I’m not letting this opportunity go, Pansy, and you’re going to let me do it. Just me. You got it?”
Pansy gave him a slow nod, clearly unsure of why she should turn over their brilliant plan to Draco, but unwilling to tell the boy of her dreams no. She immediately caved in. “Alright,” she said a bit uncertainly. “Do you…do you want some help with any-“
“Nope. You’ve set this up just perfectly, doll.” He gave her an affectionate clip on the chin and she smiled back at him, a tinge of pink appearing in her cheeks. Draco continued, for good measure, “Weasley’s going to wish she’d kept that wand in her pocket last year.”
Pansy slipped her arm in his and Draco walked off down the corridor with his band of Slytherins, thoughts racing wildly as to what he’d just gotten himself into.
“Stop hounding me, Ron. Nothing you say is going to change my mind and I have to get that lion back. Besides, you and I both know the story behind the Shrieking Shack is nothing more than a myth. A falsehood created by Dumbledore to give Remus a place to conceal himself during a full moon.” Ginny was fighting her brother tooth and nail over the bet she’d agreed to take.
“It’s not that I’m worried about the Shack, Ginny.” Ron was growing quite impatient with her as his urgent whispers rose to carry over the noise in the Common Room. “The Slytherins have something in store for you and I know it. You’ll never get me to believe it’s going to be as simple as you just sitting in there by yourself all night.”
“Then I’ll deal with it.” Ginny’s response was very matter-of-fact. “So they might play a few tricks to try and spook me out. So what? I’ve never scared easily and you know it. They aren’t going to hurt me! It’s one sodding night and…” Ron began to interrupt her but she’d have none of it… “AND – if I get into trouble I’ll shoot some sparks out the window. Heaven knows you’ll be sleeping up on the Astronomy Tower anyway – keeping watch.”
Ginny shoved a bag into his hands before he could say another word. “Here. Once the feast is over I want you to toss this out the window of the boys’ dormitory. There’s some stuff in here that I’ll need and I can’t very well walk out the front door of the castle with a bag slung over my shoulder, can I?”
Ron held the bag limply as he glared at her. “Fine! But for the record, I still don’t agree with this and you can bloody well bet I’ll be sleeping up in the Astronomy Tower so I can see if you get into trouble.”
Ginny scoffed and made her way to the portrait hole, stepped through it and was halfway down the Grand Staircase without incident. However, she was so put-out by her brother’s behavior that she was blind to the trick step on the third floor and tumbled forward several steps before taking someone down with her. The rolling heap of black robes came to a sudden halt as they hit the second floor landing, one on top of the other, and Ginny stared right into the most powerful set of gray eyes she’d ever seen. Her heart skipped a beat as his gaze captured hers while he appeared to be searching her deepest thoughts. Until…
“Weasley! What in bloody hell are you doing?”
Draco Malfoy was scowling and shoving Ginny from his chest as she realized just who it was she was lying on top of. She stood up quickly, brushing off her robes as she tried to find something to say to hide the embarrassment she was feeling. How could Malfoy have stirred her up so much?
“I tripped, alright?” Ginny turned to leave, truly not wanting any more interaction between them, but Malfoy interrupted her departure.
“No apology then?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “You knocked me down a flight of stairs.”
It wasn’t in Ginny’s nature to be impolite when she’d done something wrong - even to Malfoy. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to knock into you when I fell…I just wasn’t paying attention.” Her voice trailed off as she turned to leave again, but Draco’s words slowed her steps once more.
“So do you think you’ll make it?”
When she turned to look at him his arms were folded across his chest, a rather smug look painted across his face.
“What do you mean?” She knew very well what he was getting at, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Tonight. Do you think you’ll manage to stick it out or will you turn chicken and run? I hear that lion means an awful lot to the Gryffindors.” Draco’s thumb gave a careless touch to the tip of his nose as he continued to taunt her. “Of all the nights to stay up there. Halloween. And during a full-moon, no less.”
Thoughts were running rampant inside Ginny’s head as she imagined Malfoy and the other Slytherins having a good laugh in their house common room at her expense and she no longer felt the politeness she’d demonstrated a moment before. However, instead of lashing out at his rude remarks she rolled her eyes and started down the steps again before saying over her shoulder, “I’ll see you around, Malfoy.”
Had Ginny turned to look at him again she would’ve seen those gray eyes softening as he thought, “Yeah, Weasley, you bet you will.”
Draco slowly walked the passageway to the Shrieking Shack on his own, fully aware that he’d find a few stray Slytherins at the other end, but ready to relieve them of their duties once he arrived. He didn’t want to enter the house while they lingered in the passage below, knowing full well that they would not, in fact, let him do this alone.
Truth be told, ever since Draco had insisted on being the sole instigator for this little plan he’d been taking a mental beating for it. He didn’t want Weasley subjected to the torture the others would’ve put her through, but if Draco didn’t do something to her his classmates would most certainly question him. They would wonder why he was unable to deliver the torment and he’d lose face. What a predicament he’d gotten himself into.
He pulled away from those thoughts as he saw a small flicker of light up ahead and the sounds of whispering coming from the same direction. After a few moments more, Millicent’s face, and then Nott’s, swam into view.
“You made it.” Nott directed his words at Draco as he tried to hide his annoyance. “We were beginning to wonder, you know?”
Draco gave Nott a hard glare as he gestured to the trap door above his head.
“So this is it, then?”
“Yeah. This’ll lead you right into the heart of the Shack, but you’ll need to follow the staircase up to the top floor. From there, there’s a small door to get into the attic and you’ll be able to see her more easily. Zabini and I have already checked it out.”
Draco nodded his head at Nott and looked over at Millicent. “Did Pansy tell you?”
Millicent’s expression mirrored the dumb-founded looks that Crabbe and Goyle usually gave him. “Tell me…what?”
“You guys are relieved of your duty. Once I go in I want you back in the Common Room. I’m doing this alone and I can’t chance one of the other house Prefects discovering that you’re gone. One Slytherin won’t be missed, but the entire lot of you will.”
Millicent looked highly disappointed as she agreed to Malfoy’s terms and Nott lifted the trap door for Draco to enter. “Make us proud, mate.” A note of sarcasm was evident in his voice.
Draco simply nodded and put a leg up through the opening, stopping halfway through to say again, “Remember what I said…back to the Common Room.”
Nott rolled his eyes as he and Millicent nodded their heads and Draco disappeared through the opening, closing the door behind him. He could hear their soft whispers departing down the tunnel and stood on the door for several moments, making certain they didn’t return. Once Draco was sure he was alone he headed off in the direction of the staircase, giving quick glances over his shoulders as he went.
The place was spooky. He’d never entered the Shack before and felt a slight prickle as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Weasley had definitely been a fool to agree to this but he smiled to himself as he remembered what a fiery little witch she was. Draco stopped dead in his tracks.
“You have to stop thinking like that! What in bloody hell do you see in her?”
He tried to shake every thought from his head as he concentrated on climbing the staircase. There were spiders spinning their webs along the railing and rat droppings dotting each and every step. It was the most disgusting place he’d ever been in and a piece of him wanted to scare the living hell out of Weasley just so they could return to Hogwarts to sleep in a nice, warm, spider-free bed. Draco gave one last shudder as he imagined what the attic was going to be like.
“Just get it over with. It’s one sodding night and then you’ll be done with it.”
He reached the door leading into the attic and used his wand to cast Alohomora to open it, half out of habit, and half out of repulsion for not wanting to touch it. He stepped inside and immediately searched the space above his head, clearly afraid of getting a spider-web entangled in his blond tresses. Draco was pleasantly surprised at how much cleaner the attic was than the rest of the house, but that thought quickly left his head as he heard a slamming noise beneath him.
Draco shut the door to the attic behind him and tiptoed to a crack in the floor directly above the staircase, giving him a clear view of the approaching intruder below him.
Ginny heard the old house whistling and screaming above her head as she approached the end of the passageway, yet she took a slow breath and continued on her path. Pansy and several of the other Slytherins were following in her wake, noticeably uncomfortable with the sounds overhead, but wanting to make sure Ginny kept up her end of the deal. They’d run into Millicent Bulstrode and Theodore Nott about halfway into the passage, both of them looking rather sulky, and neither saying much of anything as they passed by them on their way back toward the school. Ginny was wondering if they’d planted any surprises in the Shack for her as she climbed the short flight of stone steps leading up to the trap door. She turned around to face Pansy.
“Well, this is where I get off. Guess I’ll be seeing you guys in the morning,” she said with a hint of sarcasm. Just as Ginny put her hand up to push the trap door open, Pansy stopped her.
“Don’t forget, Weasley…not until dawn. You see that sunlight coming up over the hill or you can forget about the lion, got it?”
Ginny glared at her with narrowed eyes before pushing her way up through the door and demonstrated her fearlessness by slamming it more forcefully than she’d intended. Once the echo had died down Ginny could hear the wind blowing through the cracks of the walls and pulled her cloak tightly over her shoulders. Taking a deep breath and clutching her bag to her chest, Ginny turned to look up at the staircase.
“It’s just a house,” she thought. “You know full well that there’s no truth to those haunted stories...”
But Ginny wasn’t entirely convinced as she’d never stepped foot in the place until now. She’d only received her information secondhand from Ron, Harry and Hermione to rebuke a rumor she’d heard her brothers talk about her entire life.
“…but what if there IS truth to the rumors?”
Ginny grew angry with herself for having these thoughts. She shook her head, gathered her courage and slowly began to climb the stairs. Each new step creaked louder than the last, but Ginny finally reached the top and her eyes scanned the hallway. It smelled of mold and she’d never seen so much dust in her life, but Ginny picked the most comfortable bedroom that she could find. After settling herself down on a tattered rug in the corner of the room she untied the drawstrings on her bag and pulled out the contents. Ginny carefully laid next to her a pile of pumpkin pasties, two bottles of butterbeer, a book, a blanket, a blue knit sweater with a “G” on the front (one of her mum’s Christmas gifts to her) and a tiny jelly jar with Hermione’s distinctive bluebell flame spell burning away inside. Ginny removed the lid and let the heat pour out onto her face and hands. The house was warmer than she’d expected yet she was still quite chilly.
Ginny gave another look around the room. “Well…so far, so good. But now what am I supposed to do?”
She put her sweater on and leaned up against the wall as she covered her legs with the blanket. Setting the jelly jar next to her elbow, Ginny picked up her book – a Muggle romance novel that Hermione had given her for her last birthday - and began reading where she’d left off. She was four or five chapters in and just approaching the part where Reginald rescued Lady Daphne from a band of robbers when a crashing noise drew her from the plot and Ginny jumped up with wand in hand. Her mouth fell open as the wand dropped several inches. She couldn’t believe her eyes!
Draco held his breath as he stared through the crack for what seemed like hours. Finally, just as his leg began to cramp, a red head appeared and he took a sigh of relief. “She’s here,” he thought. “Guess it’s time to find out what the night has in store.” The only problem was that Draco still had no clue.
He stood as still as he could while Ginny paced the hallway searching for a place to spend the night. Once she’d settled on a room, Draco tiptoed softly to a spot directly above her, ever thankful for the noise of the wind so he wouldn’t be heard. He had a perfect view of her through the old rafters and rotting wood and promptly settled himself down to relieve the cramps in his legs.
Draco watched as Ginny pulled some items from her bag - a wise decision on her part to make her stay more comfortable. He could feel a tiny bit of heat generating from a small glass jar that she held in her hands and wondered why he didn’t think of bringing such luxuries with him. His stomach gave a growl as his eyes fell on Ginny’s butterbeer and pumpkin pasties sitting next to her.
He shook his head. “What are you doing here, Draco? You’re supposed to be back at Hogwarts enjoying the after-party in the Common Room, but nooooo – you had to have your head turned by some annoying little witch-“
Draco stopped his thought mid-sentence as Ginny lifted the hair off her neck and began to massage an apparently aching muscle.
“Christ!”
He closed his eyes and refused to look at her. Draco needed to come up with a game plan and figure out how to get through this mess he’d landed himself in. As hard as he tried to keep his eyes shut to think of one he found himself staring down at her once more. It was as though the wind outside had stopped blowing and he could hear her soft breathing – not to mention he swore that the smell of her shampoo was wafting up through the cracks in the floor. He shook his head once more and hastily wiped the tiny balls of sweat forming on his forehead. Draco just couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of her. He’d give anything to be invisible right now so that he could sit next to her and watch the graceful movements she made as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, delicately turning the pages of her book, sucking in her bottom lip as she became engrossed in the text.
“What is it about her?” Draco closed his eyes again and his imagination began to wander to places that it shouldn’t go.
He was smiling to himself, unaware of how long he’d been lost in his thoughts, when a curious cracking noise whipped his mind back to reality. Draco had no time to react before a free-falling sensation hit his stomach and his body tore through the ceiling, landing just inches from Weasley. He was afraid to look up and it seemed like an eternity before she spoke to him.
“Malfoy!” Ginny raised her wand a few inches, the shock evident on her face. “What are you doing here?”
Thanks to Shelly and Judy for the beta work, Laura for the inspiration and delicious plot bunny, and to Shelly again for a much better title. ;)
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