Nothing I Have Ever Seen

Chapter 14

Where to run? Where could they possibly go to escape? Thoughts were racing through Draco's mind. The ground between here and the castle were hideously baron- making them easy targets. The only place he could think of going was towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Don't be a fool boy!" he heard his father cry from behind. "There's nowhere to go!"

He didn't reply, but tightened his grip on Ginny's hand as they stumbled through the snow towards to forest. To his surprise Ginny spun around and shouted, "Impedimenta!" Draco stopped in his tracks and turned to look; it was as if time had slowed down, his father was still moving toward them, but so slowly it was as if he wasn't moving. A bolt of light from his wand seemed to be suspended in mid air, and Lucius stood almost motionless with his arm raised and a look of pure fury on his face.

Draco raised his eyebrow approvingly. "Nice one, Weasley. Where did you learn that?"

"Something Harry taught me," Ginny replied, twirling her wand agitatedly in her fingers. "It won't last for long though..."

He looked away and into the trees ahead of them. "We're going to have to go into the Forest," Draco said. "We can lose him in there."

The snow was thinning here, and the ground was easier to cross. They were on the edge of the Forest now, and the trees were obscuring the castle from view. Once inside the shadows, they paused, not sure where to go next. He kissed her lightly. "Don't worry, ok? I know what he's like, but I'm not going to let him hurt you."

Ginny didn't reply; for some reason she didn't seem convinced that Draco could hold back an experienced Death Eater. Reluctant to move too far into the depths of the Forbidden Forest (Draco had never quite forgotten his first experience in there, which had ended- as he had been reminded several times by the God-awful Potter - with Draco running away, screaming like a girl), the two stumbled across the uneven ground into the shadows. Draco felt Ginny holding onto his hand so tightly, and felt very needed.

It was a foreign idea to him, being needed. Being wanted, sure, he knew what that felt like. He had felt it from Pansy and her breathless simpering, and from Crabbe and Goyle with their inability to function without a leader. But being needed was a new experience. His parents had never given him the impression that his presence was needed in the family. He knew that they would never worry about him if he were in danger, or look after him if he fell. Draco had never thought that any such thing might have been missing from his life. As far as he could tell, people who were reliant on others seemed to be missing an integral part of their mind - rely on others and they will only let you down. No good could come of trusting someone else, or needing them. From his own experience, it all ended in tears. However, Weasley here seemed to have missed out on this vital information. She was someone who allowed herself to need someone without seeming too concerned for the inevitable consequences. It was only natural, in Draco's mind, that Ginny should assume that at some point, he would let her down and ruin everything- so why trust him in the first place? Although it remained a mystery, he was glad she needed him- it gave him a strange feeling of purpose which before he had only attributed to his hatred of Potter. Strange.

"He's moving again," Ginny whispered, peering cautiously from their hiding place behind a small group of trees and watching as Lucius paused and looked around, scanning the darkened trees with narrowed eyes. "Draco, we can't do this! There's no way he's not going to find us. I'm scared..."

He looked at her, and even in the darkness he saw the flush stealing over her cheeks at admitting to that. She looked angry, but in a defeated kind of way.

"Ok. All we've got to do it make it back to the castle. He can't do anything with Dumbledore around. I suppose even he has his uses," Draco said.

Ginny gave him a dark glance which Draco suspected would have been followed by the characteristic Gryffindor 'don't-say-that-about-Dumbledore-he's-the-greatest-wizard-of-all-time' speech, but it was interrupted by a sudden movement; a small ball of light glittering like a sparkler hit a small clump of bushes to their left, which promptly exploded into flame.

Typical of his father. Though he loathed to admit it, Draco knew where his melodramatic and sulky disposition came from, and he had learned that when in doubt, scream loudly and/or destroy things. Heart beating with the urgency to get away, Draco pulled Ginny, who was looking rather pale, away from the fire and they ran lightly to the edge of the forest and headed back towards the castle.

The path back to the castle was now clear, and they had a head start on Lucius. It seemed absurd that running away should help the situation but at that moment, it was the only thing to do. Relief ran through Draco as he realised that although they were still hidden in the shadow of the trees they would reach the castle in a few moments, and that they would have outwitted his father. But as always when you think the hero is safe, there is one last obstacle that can make or break the day.

Out of nowhere Lucius appeared in front of them with a terrible crashing sound and a blindingly bright flash which dissipated into small curls of green smoke. Draco and Ginny's wands flew from their hands.

They stopped in their tracks.

"I thought you couldn't Apparate or Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds..." Ginny whispered, holding tightly onto Draco's arm.

"I didn't Apparate or Disapparate," hissed Lucius.

"Oh."

With one flick of his wand, Lucius bound Ginny's wrists, ankles and mouth with deep scarlet ribbons. "I do like the old fashioned way of doing thing, don't you?" he asked. "Just as effective as the Immobulus charm, but terribly more dramatic, wouldn't you say?" His lip curled into a smile.

Draco knew the spell that Lucius threatened them with. It was, in the most part, similar to the Love Potion, and came in a handy pocket-size vial. But while the potent ingredients of a Love Potion were something along the lines of essence of starlight, a couple of moonbeams, and the sharpest tip of an arrow, this potion became effective through bottled disgust, a twang of hatred and a handful of crawly insects born under the moonlight for added effect. This spell was effectively known as the Repulsion Potion, and of course was highly illegal and only fully accomplished with the use of powerful dark magic, as was any spell that tampered with natural instincts. But there was a reason that prominent, and generally Slytherin, families stayed pure-blooded over the centuries, and this potion certainly helped. Any offspring that went wayward and fell in love with a Half or Mudblood got slipped a drop or two of the Repulsion Potion, and the family's problems were over. It didn't take a genius to work out what the potion would do, Draco thought, although it struck him as vaguely ironic that his father was intending to use it on a pure-blood such as Ginny. It was as if his father would never be happy with anything he did, which was probably true, Draco thought bitterly.

He breathed deeply, trying to restrain his anger, and also thinking of something he could do. He felt pretty helpless now he didn't even have his wand, and the only other option was to throttle his father with his bare hands; unlikely. Before he could do anything else however, Professor Dumbledore appeared before them in a swirl of emerald cloak.

Lucius stepped smoothly in front of Ginny. "Dumbledore-"

"Lucius, I must ask you not to manhandle my students," Dumbledore said, without preamble. "Release Miss Weasley at once. This behaviour is unacceptable and I will not stand for it on my grounds!"

Lucius' eyes flashed. "This is none of your business, you old fool. I have the right to protect my own son-"

"Pardon me, are you telling me that Miss Weasley here has been threatening young Master Malfoy?" asked Dumbledore with a politeness that bordered precariously on sarcasm. He flicked his wand at Ginny and the ribbons vanished in a mist of golden sparkles. Draco however, didn't rush to her side although it was obvious that she thought that he would. Instead he remained where he was, resolutely staring at his father.

"You know very well what I mean. I want them apart."

"And how were you planning that, Lucius, if you don't mind my asking? Short of performing illegal magic-" Dumbledore emphasised these words, "-I don't really see there is much you can do about it. If this is the path your son has chosen then I feel there is little you can do about the matter."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" Lucius exploded. "This is my son!" He turned and his eyes flashed at Draco. "He knows the penalties for disobeying me."

Draco did. Previous arguments had led to a lengthening list of penalties, including banishment from the Malfoy Manor and a public disowning ceremony, followed by disinheritance and lifelong curses, among others which Draco was not sure were even physically possible. He sighed deeply and stepped forward.

"Father, stop making a scene," he drawled. "You're making far to big a deal out of this. You really can't think much of me if you really think I would do something like this. I'm a teenager. I just wanted some attention. I wouldn't have bothered if I knew you were going to make such a scene. It's embarrassing. I do have a reputation you know."

"What are you saying?" Lucius asked dangerously.

Draco sighed, as if explaining something very simple to a small child. "I'm saying," he said patiently, "that it was just an act. God, I didn't think you'd really believe me. I thought Pansy was stupid enough to fall for it, but not you. I was bored. You seriously think that I would ever have feelings for a Weasley? Bloody hell, if that's not the biggest insult." He ran a hand coolly through his hair, which still managed to have stayed sleek, despite the running.

His father narrowed his eyes and looked hard at Draco for some moments. The look on his face was a cross between thoughtfulness and anger. Finally his features calmed and he said softly, "Do not swear in front of me, Draco. It is not becoming."

"Yes father," Draco replied, looking only at his father.

She had been quiet for far too long, Draco thought. About time for the outburst...

"Draco Malfoy, what the hell are you talking about?!"

... and there is was. He rolled his eyes dismissively, and shot her a bored look. It was the look he often used on Potter, to classic effect. It was like his custom drawl, but in expression.

"Are you trying to tell me that this was all just some little plot to annoy your father?!" Ginny almost screamed at him.

"Well, yes. No, wait..." he paused. "No, yes. Yes it was."

"I don't believe you." Ginny folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"Well good for you. Get over yourself Weasley, why do you think we had to meet up in secret all the time?"

"You just said you were going to tell people!"

"Yes dear," Draco said patiently. "That was a lie."

"Well I could have just told everyone myself, you couldn't have stopped me," Ginny spat.

"Who would have believed you? I mean for God's sake, most of the school still think you're the crazy girl who tried to kill all the students in her first year at school. Out of me and you, who do you think they'd believe?" Draco said softly.

He could tell he'd hit a nerve. Ginny looked like he'd slapped her. Which he had, pretty much, but he was too clever with his cutting remarks to ever need to resort to physical violence. A small smirk lit his face. A tear appeared in her eye, and his smile widened, and he looked up at his father with amusement playing in his eyes.

"Very good Draco." Lucius gathered his cloak around him, and nodded curtly to Professor Dumbledore, who had remained silent throughout. In silence, he and Draco swept back up towards to castle.

"I hate you Malfoy! I HATE YOU!" he heard Ginny scream behind him, but he did not turn around.

*

Despite the explanations, Draco still endured a couple of hours worth of furious reprimands from his father, back in the empty Slytherin Common Room. Not unexpectedly, his father was still violently angry at his son causing such an embarrassment as associating with such a family, and causing him, Lucius, to look a fool.

On Draco's part, he was heartily annoyed that his father had gotten wind of what was going on before he had planned how to best use the situation to his advantage. On the contrary, it had seemed a colossal waste of time to this end. Realistically, he should have realised that there was nothing he could really have done with the bombshell he had planned to drop, as he was too young to move out of home and disassociate with his Death Eater father just yet, and while it had seemed to show that he should have the right to choose for himself what he wanted in life, it hadn't convinced his father, if this evening was anything to go by. But what had he got out of the experience? He pondered this as his father flapped out of the dungeon, apparently in a better mood now his anger was vented.

Draco, on the other hand, was now not in a good mood. He slammed out of the dungeons, glared his way along the corridors and stomped up the staircases until he got to the old classroom in the Astronomy Tower where he had spent Christmas eve with the Weasley. He kicked the door shut behind him and threw himself onto a couch by the fireplace. Immediately, a warm and crackling fire burst into being.

He glared into it, thinking about the disastrous day that had been Christmas. The flames danced and flickered. Draco was annoyed that anything felt it had the right to be look so merry. He was annoyed on the most part with his father, and how he had ruined everything. He was annoyed with Pansy, because she was a self centred bitch who claimed to care so much for him yet didn't have the brains to realise that he would hate her for what she had done. He was annoyed with Dumbledore for not sending his father away, banishing him from the Hogwarts grounds. The whole day had brought about many unpleasant but deeply rooted thoughts. But the deep wine reds, the golden brown hues and the crackling oranges of the fire made him think above all of Ginny. About how their fates were both too ill to ever entwine for long. About how she was a Gryffindor, and he was a Slytherin. She was destined for the armies fighting evil, while he, to all intent and purpose, would be the one she would be fighting. He was the heir of the Malfoy estate... and even if he had really, really wanted...

He sighed. Fire burned.

*

An hour or so later, the classroom door slowly opened. The figure in the doorway saw that Draco was fast asleep, his head resting on the arm of the chair. She smiled to herself and crouched down in front of him, and kissed his lips softly.

*

Snuggled up on the couch, Ginny sighed happily as she rested her head against Draco's chest.

"Good acting today, Weasley," he murmured into her hair.

"Hmm thanks. Seems like your dad believed us anyway." He could almost hear her smile in her words.

"We're not going to be able to tell anyone about us now, you know that don't you?" Draco asked softly.

Ginny sighed. "Yes. I suppose so. But at least Pansy will be off our backs now."

"Yeah. You do know what you're taking on, with us being together?"

"You make it sound like I'm dating You-Know-Who, not one of his minions," Ginny smirked at him.

"I'm not a minion! How could anyone with this pretty face be a minion? I'd be second in command, at least." Draco huffed. "Anyway, you know what I mean."

"Draco, I know there are a lot of differences between us, but we can work them out together. We haven't done badly so far have we?"

Draco had to admit that it hadn't been so bad. They lay silently for a while, just enjoying each others' company. Then Ginny sat up and looked at him, with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Do people really still think I'm crazy, because of that Heir-of-Slytherin thing?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Hey!" Draco laughed as she whacked him with the sofa cushion. "You're just jealous that no one believed that you were the Heir," she retorted.

"Shut up Weasley," Draco said, warmly, and kissed her. She kissed him back happily, and he ran his fingers through her familiar and gorgeous flame coloured hair.

Yes, fire did burn, no matter how pretty it was. Its effect on the ice of the Malfoys could be devastating. But there are some occasions, where such a great contrasts could live side by side.