Ashes By Now

~~~~~~~~

(Dream)

    Ginny turned around, feeling totally and utterly lost. The gnawing feeling at her belly becoming more intense, until it physically hurt. She silently took in her surroundings and realized she was in a cave. A very large cave. She took one step forward and realized she was ankle deep in snakes. They hissed and flick their tongues and Ginny screamed at their greedy pleas. Blood they hissed, give us the blood of your life.

“No!” Ginny screamed, no one was getting her blood, not anymore. The largest snake she had ever seen inched quickly toward her. It wrapped its large body around her and jerking her from the ground rolled her into its scaly, muscled body, bringing them, her and the monster, face to face. She screamed as she felt her body jerk out of her control.

(End Dream)

~~~~~~~~~~

*********************

    Ginny reached up and grabbed the hand on her shoulder. She heard the horrible sound of shrieking and realizing it was her, she clamped her mouth shut. She breathed in deeply, feeling ready to hyperventilate as she often did, and watched as the silence floated about them like down feathers falling from the sky. She looked at Draco Malfoy and cut off his question.

“What are you doing in here?” she demanded roughly, though it came out on a small squeak. It had been a week since he had joined the Weasley women at the Burrow. He was staying in Charlie’s room right next to her and she was feeling light headed, confused and annoyed. He put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

“What happened? You were screaming bloody murder.” Ginny looked around soaking in the familiar surroundings.

Ginny slightly remembered her dream and wished Charlie, or even Ron were there. When she was little she use to climb into bed with Charlie, and after he had left into bed with Ron after she had a particularly frightening nightmare. Weeks, even months after her first year she had slept comfortably wedged between George and the wall. All of her brothers had come together to protect her after that.

    Ginny snapped from her reverie. She felt a cold chill crawl up her spine and dismissed it as the residual left overs of a quickly fading dream. “You know, a hug would be nice,” she said softly to the uncomfortable boy. He pulled her into his arms and squeezed her tightly. She closed her eyes and tucked her face into the curve of the neck, and inhaled deeply. He smelled of the night sky, lemon pepper and rain. She was again amazed at how warm he was as she leaned against him, her arms around his neck. A sharp prick started up her arm and she looked up at Draco startled to see if he had felt it too. He gave her an odd expression, one she could neither read, nor want to.

    Harry walked into the room then. The chill Ginny felt was replaced by sharp cold as Draco pulled away. Ginny looked at the two boys confused. Then she carefully walked to Harry and hugged him. “Hi Harry, when did you get here?” she said, sheepishly smiling. What she wanted to ask was why he was there. Wasn’t he supposed to off on his proverbial white horse saving the world?

“What were you doing just now?” Harry asked quietly, and Ginny frowned at the insinuation.

“I had a nightmare,” Ginny defended herself, although she didn’t have to answer to Harry, and she told him so. He disregarded the statement.

“So you jumped into Draco’s arms?” Harry demanded, hands on hips. Ginny was reminded of the one and only time she had slept with Harry, the day she had jumped into his arms. Or rather had rolled.

    She had been dreaming of Tom again, in her fourth year, and she had whimpered out loud. She had fallen asleep on the sofa in the Common Room and Harry had heard her from his invisible perch in the darkened window. He had walked her to the fifth year boys dorm and she had undressed into her overly large t-shirt and curled up with Harry. That morning Ron had flung the curtains back while bellowing something along the lines of, "Why are Ginny's clothes all over the floor?" Harry had shielded his eyes from the onslaught of sunlight and answered, "Because she slept with me." Ron had growled out in that low predatorial big brother voice, "She better be wearing knickers. Ginny had groaned that they were in Dean Thomas's bed before rolling over and falling asleep again.

“I am not going to have this argument with you Harry Potter,” Ginny said automatically, “Besides, when are you on first name basis with Malfoy!” Harry shrugged, “That’s a bit different,” he protested.

“I’m sure it is,” Ginny said, “God, do all guys twist everything into some form of sexual expression or is it just the assholes?”

“Just us, I’m sure,” Harry said plainly.

“Let me get this straight,” Ginny said, “You can call him Draco, but I can’t hug him?”

“Do you want to hug him?”

“Do you care if I hug him?”

“No.”

“Fine!” Ginny yelled, “Then it isn’t any of your business is it?”

“Can I say something?” interjected Draco, and both turned to look at him.

“Potter, you can’t treat her like a sister, then act like her boyfriend.”

Harry glared Draco’s way. “What I’m saying is you can’t stir the soup with two spoons, milk the cow twice, you can’t have the nookie and the cookie, have your cake and...”

“We get it!” Harry snapped at Draco’s retreating back.

“Did he just?” Ginny squeaked, her jaw open.

“Yeah,” Harry said.

That was what was sad with the conversation, Malfoy was right. Kill me now, she pleaded silently.

“Oh.”

*******************

     “Why didn’t you tell me Harry was coming?” Ginny asked her mother casually.

Molly smiled, “He said he wanted it to be a surprise, wasn’t that sweet?” Ginny could see her mother’s mind working already. She was already planning the wedding and counting the raven-haired grandchildren. Two point five, and the white picket fence...musn't forget the fence.

“Yeah,” Ginny said, faking enthusiasm, really her mind was on exactly how much of a surprise it really was.

Of course Ginny had no problem understanding why Harry had been so protective of her. It was after both boys left that she had realized she had some how squirmed her way out of her pajama top and was standing half naked with a shirtless Malfoy. No wonder she had been cold when the boy had pulled away, she thought wryly. No wonder the chills, and the odd looks.

“Are you all right, dear?” her mother questioned for the third time and Ginny blushed.

“Yeah mum, I’m fine,” Ginny said smiling, “It’s all good.” Molly looked confused but dismissed the expression; since Ginny had spent her fifth year at a school in America she had the weirdest way of saying the simplest things. She had picked up a lot of things that year.

“Breakfast is about to be served,” Molly said, “Why don’t you fetch Harry and Draco?” Just like that Draco had become part of the household. Not that Ginny could complain about Draco, he did his fair share of chores. Once he even tried to de-gnome the garden. One bit him and after he forced the thing off his finger he stupefied the small man into a wall. Incidentally, the gnome was fine, just a small bump on its rather large cranium.

**********************

     Ginny bound silently up to Bill’s room and opened the door. Harry lay in Bill’s large bed, his six foot frame swallowed by it. Harry slept as he always had, curled into a ball, his back to the door. He was muscular, Ginny knew that, once she had fallen down a hidden well on the Shrieking Shack’s property. Harry hauled her back up and carried her to the hospital wing. Ginny was always surprised that Harry looked so...frail...yes, he looked frail when he slept.

She reached out and touched his shoulder lightly. She had tons of practice waking him, six years would do that to two people. He unfurled himself and blinked twice before his eyes adjusted to the dim light and he reached for his glasses. Ginny silently walked to the window and threw the curtain open, cracking the window for him. Harry loved the smell of morning. Probably because he was amazed to be alive for another day, but she had never asked him, like he had never asked why she loved the smell of night, and could sometimes be found sleeping on her back in the yard, all covered in dew.

They nodded their mutual apologies, and Harry headed for the shower. Ginny on the other hand started for Charlie’s room. She knocked softly before entering, growing accustomed to the small changes Draco made to make the room seem more like him.

~~~~~

(Dream-Draco)

"You think I'm stupid Draco?" Lord Voldemort snapped and Draco took a step back from the Dark Lord. "You think I don't know that you and Potter are friends?" Draco felt the sharp pain leather hitting flesh. The whips. They had pulled the whips out. His father had used the whips on the boy when he refused to obey orders. And at first Draco had denied his father any command, large or small. The whips brought him back to himself. Back to the idea that he was just another possession, just another servant.

"I don't know what you mean," Draco gasped through the pain, felt it connect to untouched skin. There wouldn't be marks, there were never marks.

"Did you really think you could fool us?" Lucius demanded, "All of us!?" Draco raised his eyes to his father.

"Didn't I?" demanded Draco harshly, and his father laughed with Voldemort, while the pale man stared down at him disintrested.

"No," Lucius said softly, crouching to take Draco's chin in the palm of his hand, "I've always known, I saw how you looked at her. Saw the adoration you held for her. You were weak, and it was my fault. I allowed you emotion to the girl because I thought it would go away, disappear with your age." Lucius let go suddenly and stalked away from him, leaving the Drak Lord to crouch mere inches from his face.

"Your father indulged you with every thing you wanted," the Dark Lord stated, "But he should have warned you to stay away from what is mine." The Dark Lord reached for Draco's hand and where he touched him it scalded like hot water over a fresh wound.

(End Dream)

~~~~~~~~~~

    Harry had hidden muscles, where as Draco’s were evident with each movement. Draco had the body of a god and Ginny stood there staring at his bare chest. His blankets were discarded on the floor and Ginny saw he was wearing his vampire duck and penguin boxers, her favorite pair, she might add. He had an entire variety of silk boxers to look at. His right arm was thrown over his eyes and Ginny touched the pale skin below his wrist and he automatically sprang into action. He grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her over him.

“Don’t touch me!” He yelled, and pulling back his left fist he punched her. Her head snapped back with the force of the blow and her brown eyes widened in surprise. Blood trickled out the side of her already bleeding lip.

“Ouch! Dammit Malfoy!” she said and realized two things. The first was that he was asleep and the second was that he was going to swing at her again. She put both arms up to block the blow and this time she crashed into the headboard of the bed. Her head slid down the dark oak wood as she whimpered in pain. She landed on the soft pillows and blacked out for a few moments.

~~~~~~~~~

(Dream or is it delusion?)

She saw the grinning black haired boy before her ringing ears heard him.

"Ginny! How good of you to join me." Ginny groaned.

"I thought I got rid of you," she said snidely. Tom grinned again.

"You can't get rid of what you won't let go."

Was Ginny holding on to Tom? She didn't think so. She had worked hard to block his thoughts, his face from her mind. Slowly she began drawing her mental shields back up, forcing him to move or be crushed. He smiled, a shadow of his sneer and kissed his finger tips, blew it softly towards her. She felt it glide through her walls and strike her cheek. And that was when she knew she was in trouble.

(End of Dream)

~~~~~~~~~

When she opened her eyes Draco was looking down on her with something like concern in his eyes. Harry stood behind him with Molly.

“Ginny are you okay?” Draco said, “How many fingers am I holding up?” And he proceeded to hold up four fingers...or maybe it was two.

“I’ll give you a finger,” Ginny growled, trying to sit up, but falling back down as the world twirled in kaleidoscopic colors.