A Story of the Unrefined

~Chapter 3~

     Draco found himself pacing the hallways hours after curfew. The first day of the new term at Hogwarts had not been one of the greatest. He saw a small earring glittering on the stone floor, he kicked it forwards and it flung back as if it had hit something. With his curiosity perked, he walked forward. He was startled to find a person. He couldn't quite make out who it was until the person shifted a bit, and light from the torches flickered off her red hair.

     He knelt down beside her and lifted the hair from her face. She had a gash above her eyebrow, she had bruises visible on her cheeks, and there were marks of where someone's hands had been, trailing down her neck. There was a bit of blood on her lips, which meant something had ruptured on the inside. Draco was torn. If he just walked away, well, whoever had attacked her could come back, and it wasn't likely anyone else would find her before later tomorrow, and going and asking for help was not an option he would even consider. He fought his excuses of losing his image and lifted her into his arms. He struggled a bit at first, not used to carrying an extra weight.     

     His first thought was to take her to the infirmary, but he didn't trust the woman. She would probably accuse him. Instead, he headed toward Dumbledore's office. He had been raised to despise the man, but he of all people knew that the man was not judgmental of anyone. As he reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office, he realized he had no idea what the password could be. He was about to give up, if he just laid her here, at least he knew she would be found, but at that moment the door opened.

     Dumbledore looked at the boy a bit surprised, but when he realized what Draco carried, he immediately motioned for the boy to follow him. He led them up into his office. In Draco's distress over Ginny, he failed to notice the beautiful interior of the office. Dumbledore led him to a small room off the side.

     "Lay her there, please." Draco nodded, and gently laid her down on the bed. "I must go get Madame Pomfrey, please care for Miss Weasley while I am gone."

     Draco watched as Dumbledore rushed from the room, and he then turned to Ginny. He gently removed her boots and gently pulled the blanket up, to cover her. It was then that Draco noticed the state of her hands. Whoever had attacked the young woman would definitely have marks today. There were remnants of skin and blood underneath her fingernails. No one could not say she was not a fighter.

     Draco sat in a chair near the bed and had buried his face into his hands. His thoughts were all muddled, except one. When he found out who had done this to her, the bastard would not live to see another day. If he didn't make sure of that, he was certain Weasley's brother would.

     Dumbledore re-entered the room, ushering Madame Pomfrey in ahead of him. She shot Draco a questioning glare, but quickly focused all her attention on the young patient. Draco couldn't bear listening to the healer's constant shaking of the head, mumbling about how bad it was. He quickly walked out of the side room. He was about to exit the office all together when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

     "Draco, you didn't have to bring her here."

     Draco barely spoke above a whisper, but Dumbledore caught the words, "I had to, if I wanted to live with myself." Dumbledore nodded as Draco walked out the door, and returned to the room where the young patient lay.

     Draco never slept that night. He knew the Weasel would have to be informed. He smirked at the thought of what he would say when he realized that his worst enemy had probably saved his sister's life, but led him to thinking about how she had looked. He sat in a chair by the fire in the common room and watched his housemates slowly rise with the new morning. He watched Crabbe and Goyle motion for him to join them.

     He rose slowly and it wasn't until he was right beside them that he noticed the odd marks along their faces and necks. Suddenly things began to click in his mind. He hadn't seen them at all the previous night. He felt a cold chill go up his spine. He fought for control of his voice. When he finally trusted his voice once again, he spoke, "Where were you both last night?"

The two shared a smirk. "We just had a bit of fun Draco," Crabbe finally answered.

     Draco's hands twitched. He kept having to recite to himself that he needed to get all the information he could before he did anything drastic. "How many of you were there?"

     Goyle seemed a bit surprised at the question. "Just us."

     Draco nodded, "And who was the play object this time?"

     Crabbe and Goyle shared another look. "Weasel's little sister. We were going to have a lot of fun, but she decided she didn't want to play along." They both roared with laughter.

Draco gritted his teeth. "I'll meet you guys later." Draco walked away, trying to keep himself from doing something stupid to the idiots. He didn't notice that his path would lead him into a confrontation with Weasley, Potter, and Granger.

     Ron, Harry, and Hermione had all been informed about Ginny earlier that morning. Only Ron had been admitted to see her. His report to the other two was shocking. No one knew who had done that to her, but they needed to thank Draco Malfoy for finding her. Ron's first reaction was to blame it all on Draco, but Dumbledore touched him gently on the shoulder and had said, "I left her in his care last night when I went to get Madame Pomfrey, because I wondered a bit myself, but he had laid her gently in that bed, and he had carried her to my office from the dungeons. He has a human side." Ron had nodded his head and walked away. Ron knew he would have to talk to Draco. He just didn't realize how soon their confrontation would be.

     Draco caught sight of them and began to turn around, he really did not want this confrontation right now. Ron and Harry were both deep in conversation and Hermione was the only one that noticed him. She sped up her pace and caught Draco's arm. "Draco, please talk to us."